If Deaf never had sign language, would you hearing still want to know us??

Honestly, every person is different, be they hearing, HOH, or d/Deaf. Some heavies really only want to learn because they think the language seems cool, or that it something to make them stand out, to make them deem different. While others want to learn based purely on the cultural aspect. You know how some people fall in love with say French or Spanish culture? They love everything about it and ultimately learn the language in order to immerse themselves into that culture.

Based on the ones who do it for culture I'm very sure they'd love the deaf community and everything we stand for regardless if we had ASL or not. It's honestly based on their motivation for learning the language, and if they truly care about or respect the culture at all.
 
I am hearing & although I love sign language , I'm not that type of person . I've always been the type of person that makes friends that are different from me because I love learning new things from new cultures & such . My best friends are all the opposite of me ..... Puerto Rican , bisexual , pansexual , how they were raised , & anything else that makes us different . I want all types of friends . I don't want to become friends with someone from Jamaica just because of their language . I want to learn & appreciate things that make everyone different . I get bored of just knowing about my culture . Lol . & when I make friends , it's always important to me . Great , genuine friendships are hard to find .
 
I understand what you are saying. We have a wonderful and dynamic deaf ministry at Our Savior Deaf Lutheran Church based in Madison, WI. I’m glad that you brought it up. It can be very frustrating trying to get hearing people to socialize and have fellowship with deaf people. We do have hearing people in our congregation. Some of them have deaf or hard of hearing children or have spouse who is deaf or HH. Also we have hearing people that come in for the first time. It’s very understandable that they may be very nervous and scared. They are not used to deaf culture. They aren’t sure how to communicate or come up to deaf person even if they know some simple signs. We do have a deaf Pastor (he used to be hearing due to hearing loss) and it’s very helpful for him to connect these hearing people. He has a great sense of humor and that helps! Having a good fruit of the spirit will help you start friendship with them. We often have students who are taking classes to become an interpreter come to our church to socialize with us and learning more about deaf culture.

Have you thought about setting up like deaf coffee chat or something like that? This can be at your church. It will help to warm up for hearing people to join since it won’t be formal. We have our deaf coffee chat once a month at our church. We usually have guest speakers that come and talk about various topics and then have games and lunch fellowship. It has been very successful at our church.

Also have you thought about asking them to come up to the front of the altar and introduce themselves to your congregation? This would be after the worship. You could start the lead and then you could ask them to sign for themselves even if they are awkward but you can help them. We do this often and it helps to break the ice.

We also have a wonderful Jesus Sign Workshop that our Pastor lead and travels throughout the world to teach hearing people religion signs and how to work with deaf people in church. Of course deaf people are invited to this workshop as well. They offer deaf Bible study to learn more about Jesus as 98% of deaf people do not know Jesus. This is a great place to check it out. If your church would like to host this workshop, let me know.

God’s blessings
 
As someone who hears, my answer is 100% yes. I think deaf people have SO much to say and share, specially cause the things they go through.. for sure can teach us alot. I've met a deaf person who was the aunt of my best friend and she was one of the kindest human beings I've ever met. Also super funny! So for sure no matter what, I would love to meet people who are deaf no matter what
 
deafgam said:
I often wonder.....many hearing say they love the Deaf. But is it the signs the hearing love? if we deaf never had a language, would hearing still want be our friends, help us, want to know us, ????

I personally appreciate the way signing gives the deaf and hoh a way to communicate. I am sure they experience the world differently and I think different perspectives and ways of life are imperative.
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deafgam said:
I often wonder.....many hearing say they love the Deaf. But is it the signs the hearing love? if we deaf never had a language, would hearing still want be our friends, help us, want to know us, ????


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Before I started college, I had tried to teach myself a few phrases in different languages in case I met people from different cultures, which was likely bc I am from a really small town. When I got there, I had befriended a visually impaired man- whom, even though I didn't have to learn a new language for, I still had to adjust to communicate. I love listening to how he interprets life and getting to know him as a person. Yes, it's neat to have a friend that is different from me (having friends too similar to me would be boring) but from getting to know him, I've learned to approach life in a new way which is pretty neat. I didn't seek out a friendship with him because he was blind, but because of who he is as a person. If you didn't have a language in which to communicate, there'd still be good people out there who would want to get to know you and build relationships with you because you are anot her human being :)
 
Lysander said:
I have to say as a learner, the Deaf need to understand how very intimidating you can be. ASL students, myself included, get very nervous about signifying with people. There's a lack of trust with strangers. I have a few deaf friends and I'm much more comfortable looking like an idiot making mistakes in front of them. To do this thing I don't understand yet, with someone who is fluent, whom I don't know, in public. That's asking a lot of self confidence and willingness to fail and be embarrassed of someone. Some people don't know enough to even tell you they don't know. And fluent signers sign sooooo fast. It's like having 20 tennis balls repeatedly thrown at your face. You can barely have time to recover from the first ball before the next one is coming. There's just not enough time to translate before the next sign is there to translate, and then the next. It's hard. Maybe you should take a chance and grab one of them and slowly ask them things a new signer should know. Like what's your name, where are you taking ASL class, who's your teacher, offer to show them a sign you use a lot that might benefit them.

I've learned French and Spanish, and ASL is proving to be very difficult. Not only because learning a new language is hard, but sometimes the Deaf can be really hard on the hearing.
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I'm HoH but until recently I felt intimidated signing with large groups of Deaf people I did not know. I lost my hearing at age 6 from an accident and then grew up using some signed English in addition to my HAs and in class an FM system. I went to Aspen Camp in the summer which was the most exposure to the Deaf community I had as a child. My friends from camp were CODAs, had CIs, were Deaf with Deaf parents, the whole spectrum and we were able to communicate just fine. However outside of my group of friends I felt very anxious and shy because signed English is different than ASL, it's interchangeable but definitely not the same. I'm finally feeling more comfortable working and trying to practice my ASL. I just introduce myself, "Hi I'm K, I'm HoH, I used signed English since I was young, I'm now learning ASL sorry if my ASL is not good I am practicing, thank you." or something like that. I think part of it is being older, I'm in my 20s now, and I feel more secure with myself. It can still be hard sometimes, but I know the best way to learn is to try even if I make mistakes. I don't know if being HoH makes this easier for me than a hearing student or not.
 
Hello Korey Geer! Thank you for noticing about wanting our pastor to travel to your area. I have included a link for you to get more information about Jesus Sign Workshop. http://www.lutherandeafoutreach.org/jesus-signs-2017.html

I am actually one of the volunteers that helps alongside our Pastor to lead the Jesus Sign Workshop. It is a great place to meet other deaf and hearing people. Our Pastor is very funny and energized! He is willing to travel any where in the U.S. and outside U.S. If he can get just enough deaf and hearing people then Jesus Sign Workshop will set up at one of the churches in South Dakota.

God’s blessings
 
Lysander said:
There are so many things wrong with this post. It either assumes that all hearing people are assholes. Or that all deaf people have so little worth that the only thing they have to offer is a language. A language, mind you, that if hearing really only cared about the language they could learn it and just use it with other hearing people.

ASL is just a tool. Just like English is a tool. They're methods that we use to learn more about other people and communicate ideas and instructions and feelings. Saying that people are only interested in a language paints people as really shallow. In my case, I don't care about ASL as anything other than the tool I need to communicate with others. Is it beautiful? I suppose it can be. It's certainly interesting. But it's also a little annoying too. I can't imagine someone would go through all the trouble of learning a second language without ever having any type of interest in the people who use it.
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Agreed. The entire premise of the thread is false. I haven't read the whole thread, but-- if there wasn't a formal sign language, deaf people would invent it. This has happened in many pockets of hereditary deafness. People have an innate need to communicate. It is hard-wired into us. Look at the many signs that are obvious in their meaning.
 
I love the language but I would still want to get to know Deaf/hard of hearing individuals if they didn’t have the language. (This is really hard to explain but I’m going to try my best) To me everyone is equal. It doesn’t matter where your from or if you can/can’t hear or see or whatever, those things don’t define a person. So if I just said “oh they are deaf I don’t want to talk try and communicate with them (if sign language wasn’t a thing) I would be missing out on meeting so many amazing people. Some of my best friends through out my life have been deaf and I would hate to have missed out on being friends. However I started learning sign language as a baby so for me I didn’t want to become friends with people just because of the language since it was just something I grew up with and I grew up around people who couldn’t hear so it’s always just been a normal thing for me. (I don’t think I described it good at all but I tried. Sorry if that makes zero sense)
 
Hearing people make a lot of mistakes out of ignorance. However saying they would leave us if we didn't have a language I dont think is true. Many try to become our friends and while they wont understand the isolation that comes with being HOH or deaf or Deaf they are trying to form a bridge. I have only met about 30 hearing people who have been actively cruel or nasty to me because I am deaf (out of the thousands I have met). Now i come from a hearing family and grew up in a hearing school and have had to adapt and try to teach people where they make mistakes. But I have always looked positively at any hearing person who want to understand me better and I think we all should.
 
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