Oh I didn't clarify that most, if not all, of my interacting with the deaf kids in the conventions were one on one. It would be usually my mom would start talking to another parent, so their child and I would be sort of forced to talk to each other to make conversation or play. That type of thing. As for if I signed more... to be honest (and maybe it was because we were children), I probably wouldn't be friends with the kids I met (I am talking about when I was younger). I just could tell they were just.... socially awkward. That does not mean I wouldn't be friends with the other deaf kids who were more outgoing. I did make one friend who knew only ASL, and kept hoping she was there. Now that Im older, and a teeeeeny bit more mature and wiser, I am much more likely to be friends anyone. I guess what I am trying to say is in order to be comfortable with the Deaf community, you have to be fully immersed in it. To me, at a young age, the Deaf community is a bit hard to take at face value especially if you don't know ASL. And I dont mean that they "reject you because you don't know ASL" but because it seems to create inexplicable social barriers other than the obvious communication barriers.
For example: A person who knows mostly Spanish talking to someone who knows only English seems to have total different interaction than someone who knows only ASL talking to someone who knows only English.
