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Tue Jan 20, 2015 9:21 am
EscaSkye says...



Hey guys. I was wondering if anyone had tips about how to write a character that has disabilities, more specifically, a character who's deaf. How would you go around describing sign language? How do you think you can get the emotions you want across without the aid of dialogue?

Thanks in advance!
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Tue Jan 20, 2015 9:26 am
Burrow says...



I think what always helps me, is watching movies based on what you want to write about, there are many movies about the topic you wish to write about, also I suppose research would help, or asking someone who is deaf. If they are up to it. With out dialogue, I suppose you could express through reactions via the face, or nodding and stuff, it sounds weird, but I think it would work, like they ask are you sad etc. They nod, and you can really show how much you are or aren't with nodding.
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Tue Jan 20, 2015 5:23 pm
LadySpark says...



Research.Research.Research.

Has this person been deaf their whole lives? Can they hear a little bit with the aid of an ear piece? Are they completely deaf? Do they have learning disabilities in addition to this? Can they read lips? Can they speak, or are they mute as a result of being deaf? (Make note, deaf people who can speak usually speak oddly because they don't know how to make the sounds properly, and usually deaf people can only speak if they can heart just a little)

As for your questions, it depends on if this story is from the pov of the deaf person, or someone else with a deaf friend/family member/significant other. But to me, I would pretend the sign language is words. Use facial and body clues to aid feeling for what the person is saying, but the sign language is simply words written with hands instead of lips. Think of them in a monotone to which you have to add expression with body language. Body language is veryveryvery important for both the deaf person and those around them that are not deaf.
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Tue Jan 20, 2015 6:54 pm
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Rosendorn says...



You have to keep in mind the sensory experience of being deaf, along with the social experience.

The sensory experience is figuring out how they relate to their environment. Depending on whether or not they can hear a little, you'll have different things that come up. Some people are more deaf to certain frequencies, and just think about how many little things you rely on your hearing for. These include telling when somebody comes up behind you, making sure a button pressed, and a bunch of little things.

Ask people who are deaf what their world is like. That is a really important point because some things writers do around deaf people are wrong and you need to do your research to find out what people actually do.

The social experience is things like Stuff Hearing People Say (Things You Don't Say to Deaf & Hard of Hearing) (The title of the video is censored, but there's only minor swearing in it).

The video points out things like how not everybody deaf or hard of hearing know sign language, and the person's channel has a bunch of things about her experience. There's also comics like The Deaf Guy that detail experiences and show how sign language is interpreted in a visual media. Some comics like this also show the discriminatory attitudes shown from other people. Here is another example. These discriminatory attitudes are pretty widespread, so you'll really have to research this type of discrimination (specifically known as audism).

These two can overlap, with certain social things being harder because of sensory things.

Another really important thing to remember is things like deaf culture and the politics around being deaf. Some Deaf individuals are activists and very strongly identify with being Deaf (hence the capitalization of Deaf), and some deaf individuals do not very strongly identify with being deaf (hence keeping the word lowercase).

You'll have to consider the medical treatment and resources available, because hearing aids don't always work and some deaf individuals (actually, quite a few of them, from what I can tell) hate the pressure to just "Get an implant" because implants only work in very exact circumstances, and often don't have natural sounding auditory input. They can sound very mechanical, distorted, and generally not right. Plus, it's not an option for every deaf person, both because their hearing loss comes from a source hearing aids can't fix, or they just plain old don't want it.

As with everything, you'll want to see how the character relates to that part of their identity. Some people are proud of being D/deaf, some people are indifferent to it, and some people hate it. Some people are all three depending on the circumstance. It's not a one-note experience and every single person who is deaf will relate to it just a little differently. So be sure to develop your character to the point they are a fully fleshed out (deaf) individual.

To address something Burrow raised: I would not watch movies as they often get disabilities terribly terribly wrong. Do your own independent research on the topic from people who are D/deaf instead of people who are not.
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Wed Jan 21, 2015 7:07 pm
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Tenyo says...



Hey Esca! I assume you're looking for techniques on the writing itself rather than the portrayal of a disabled person? If so then this might help.

The beauty of italics
This is great for psychic and silent communication. Once you've introduced your characters then you use italics to indicate that something is signed rather than spoken. Over-describing movements isn't great because it's hard for a reader to specifically imagine what is being said. Even if it's things like nodding or shrugging, dialogue italics will paint a clearer picture and imagination can fill in the rest.

Tone, pitch and volume
The language may be different but signers still have indicators of what they want to express. When passionate, they'll use sharper facial expressions to indicate what we would say in tone. They might flail their arms wildly or keep their gestures very slight and controlled to express things. Even someone who can't sign could still understand their mood from this. Then there's all the subtle things that vocal speakers also do, like sideways glances, pointing, directional nods, rolling the eyes, these kinds of characteristics.

Description (for writing in first person)
This is the really hard part, and requires a strong character voice and a good show-not-tell sense. It's important to have a bit of confidence in the way you describe things, and don't worry if not everything comes across perfectly- to the deaf, it sometimes doesn't. So you could say 'he ruffled his brow to indicate he was angry,' but this is too much telling. Instead, say 'his face screwed up like a pit bull' or 'his angry-vein pulsed at the side of his head.' In both cases it's almost completely obvious what is meant.
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Wed Jan 21, 2015 7:44 pm
Holysocks says...



Hey Esca!

This is so cool! I've actually been very interested in the Deaf community, and I've been really looking into sign language and Deaf peoples culture!

Most Deaf people ( or a great amount ) don't see being deaf as a disability at all! Which I think is one of the reasons many don't get implants. Facial expressions seem to be a big part of their communication, they even teach you to use your expressions when doing certain signs.

I would recommend YouTube, but stick to the ones done by actual Deaf people, not the 'how to say: I love you' ones ( unless you want to see the other side of it ). One YouTube channel I found really great is the Coda Brothers- it's done by two brothers that were raised by Deaf parents. This is one of my favourites by them: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wrzXRnvePEs It's on Deaf driving, and it's quite interesting/funny. These guys are quite humorous! The other thing that's nice about the Coda Brothers, is that they can talk, so they do a voice over ( it's nice if you want to watch the signing ).

Ted Talks are your friend. Here's one about a lady who was born deaf, and learnt how to talk: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uKKpjvPd6Xo
Not that your character would probably learn to talk, but for interest sakes.

There was another good video that was a guy telling his story about how he was treated by his adoptive family, growing up deaf. For instance he talked about how rude and hurtful it is when hearing people cover their mouths if they don't want you to see what they're saying- not many Deaf people can read lips, like it's assumed... but if you grew up with hearing parents I could see a person picking it up. Also not a lot of Deaf people can read or write, despite what people think.

Anyway, I hope that was helpful! :-P Just read up about it a LOT and do some YouTube surfing. And if you can, talk to someone who's deaf.
Last edited by Holysocks on Wed Jan 21, 2015 7:52 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Wed Jan 21, 2015 7:47 pm
Holysocks says...



The other thing I forgot to mention is there seems to be quite a few different dialects... so pay attention to where your character lives, because it might be different... I suppose you might not be able to notice too much over writing, though keep it in mind. :-P

( and we can talk later too... there's LOTS to say )
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Wed Jan 21, 2015 8:06 pm
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Rosendorn says...



Just jumping in to say "dialects" is both a correct and incorrect term to use.

You can be multilingual in sign language alone. One of my friends knew five types (including tactile signing). There's a very long list of types of sign language, and these separate languages would not be called dialects. They are separate languages.

However, within those sign languages, you have regional variation and dialects. One example that comes to mind is African American sign language, which uses different signs to convey similar meaning along set linguistic rules (similar to how AAVE developed).

So there is variation in sign language, both along language lines and dialect lines. You have to be aware of both!
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Wed Jan 21, 2015 8:21 pm
Holysocks says...



Also keep in mind that ASL is it's own language ( what Rosey said reminded me ). It has it's own grammar and sentence structure. A lot of people think that it's just the signed form of English. There is Exact English signing, but ASL is not that, so I've read. :-P
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Thu Jan 22, 2015 3:38 pm
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Cole says...



I'm actually partially deaf and have been struggling with being hard-of-hearing for most of my life. I'm a little busy at the moment, but if you still need help, I'll definitely lend a hand and give you some advice!
  








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