Tattoos and ASL

[musclegroomer]

I am new to the site and just beginning my journey into learning ASL (I am almost finished with ASL 1). My question is concerning tattoos and signing. I am very heavily tattooed (including my hands, chest, face, etc.) and would like to know how those in the Deaf community and fluent signers feel about this. Is it considered distracting or "noisy"? Obviously i can't remove the tattoos (nor do I want to, lol) but do people usually prefer certain accommodations to be made (i.e. wearing long sleeves for example)?

 

[Yadriel]

I suppose for some people who tend to get distracted easily it may be a slight problem, but most in in the deaf and hoh community have learned to cut distractions out when focusing on communicating and etc.

I personally wouldn't but that's because I have a obsession with tattoos and I think why would you get them if they are just gonna be hid, ya know? This is just my opinion, maybe others have different thoughts. I just think it varies on person.

 

[DeafDucky]

Nah... for the most part it's fine in normal conversation. Agree with Oliver, most deaf/HOH people tend to block out the 'visual noise' when communicating.

BUT if you were to get into interpreting, it may be a good idea to cover up some of the tattoos (arms, shoulders... not sure on the neck- a blouse/shirt will be fine). That's only my opinion- I don't know if there is a rule of thumb now regarding tattoos and professional interpreting. It was interesting to see how my interpreters "interpreted" what to wear to their assignment :P.

 

[peekaboo]

I think it would be a bit of a distraction as they will be looking at your face and facial expressions most of teh time. would be a good idea ... maybe wear some make up. Not sure... like others have said, It varies with certain people's preference.
Good luck with interpreting for the Deaf community

 

[Mark Falso]

I am new to the site and just beginning my journey into learning ASL (I am almost finished with ASL 1). My question is concerning tattoos and signing. I am very heavily tattooed (including my hands, chest, face, etc.) and would like to know how those in the Deaf community and fluent signers feel about this. Is it considered distracting or "noisy"? Obviously i can't remove the tattoos (nor do I want to, lol) but do people usually prefer certain accommodations to be made (i.e. wearing long sleeves for example)?

Umm, no offense, it does distract me with all the tats when signing. Sorry! If you can, as I can see your picture, wear a turtle neck long sleeve shirt, pants or long skirt to the floor, but makeups are fine. If you have tats on your face,.. thats um.. a good question how we go about this. If you can get creams and foundations that matches to your skin, you can use them to cover your make up. There are spray paints that can cover like some Hollywood studio do that for actors to cover their tattoos that would not make total sense for their characters. I have seen somewhere they talked about that and they do that. You can do that covering. When that is dry (foundation, cream, or spray paint on face), then you can sign in ASL but do NOT touch your face. Sorry about that. Remember dark clothes to make signing easier. Hope this helps!