- “Wow, I never would have known you are deaf!”
- “You don’t look deaf.”
- “She was so beautiful, you would have not known she was deaf.”
- “What’s reading braille like?”
- “Can you have children?”
- “You speak so well!”
- “You don’t sound like a deaf person.”
- “What? There’s no need for captions. Here, I’ll turn up the volume, I don’t mind.” (turns up volume on t.v. really loud, smiles and gives the thumbs up).
- “Oh, never mind. I’ll tell you later.”
- “Turn up your hearing aid!”
- “Why don’t deaf people just get cochlear implants?”
- “Oh, I love sign language! “A… . .B… . .C…”
- “Why don’t you ever listen to me?”
- “I bet you are just pretending to be deaf, huh?”
- ”What is your problem? You were hearing me fine just a second ago. Are you listening?”
- “Oh, he’s probably not deaf. Selective hearing, right?” (laughs)
- “GEEZ! I…SAID… WHAT…DO…YOU…WANT…TO…DO?!!!”
- ”Doesn’t it make you sad that you won’t hear your child say, “I love you.”?
- ”Can you read their lips and tell me what they are saying?”
- “Oh, how do you sign @#%^, *#$%, %@!*&, and !@@#$%& ?
- ”Can you hear me now?” (laughs)
- ”You don’t need an interpreter. We can understand what you are saying.”
- “Oh, you are deaf? Like Helen Keller! Cool!”
- “Gosh, you deaf people are so angry and militant!”
- (Whispers) “Look! He has a hearing aid, just like you!” (points)
- “Didn’t you hear? Oh- Eer, um…so sorry, um.” (laughs nervously)
- “Oh, you’re deaf? Sorry.”
- “CAN YOU HEAR ME NOW??”
- “i can see your hearing aids, WHY CANT YOU HEAR ME?”
- “I’ve always wanted to learn sign language!”
- “this one time.. on a bus.. i saw some Deaf people!”
- “Your accent is interesting! Where are you from??”
- “So like, what CAN you hear??”
- “Does it hurt?”
- “Dont you wish you could hear music?”
I’ve gotten at least half of these… some other ones I’ve gotten are:
- “I know this is probably inappropriate to ask but do you make noises while you have sex?”
- “Why do you make weird clicking noises while you sign?”
- *runs up to me without knowing me at all* “HEY! I know how to sign!” *makes gibberish hand gestures*
- “You’re deaf.” *tearfully* “God bless you.”
- “Hey can you say something for me? Come oooon. Just one word. I wanna hear what your voice sounds like.”
- “Oh you can’t hear. Um… nevermind.” *backs away quickly*
- “HA you looked at me just as I started yelling behind your back. YOU CAN HEAR! I KNEW IT!”
- “OMG YOU’RE DEAF, GIVE ME A SIGN NAME!”
- “Wow, you’re really smart for a deaf person!”
- “Oh cool you’re deaf. TEACH ME HOW TO SIGN RIGHT NOW.”
- *asks a million questions about my upbringing as a deaf person and about ASL before asking me ANYTHING non-deaf related, like what I do for a living for example*
- “Are you allowed to drive?”
- “Oh don’t worry about it. The conversation is soooo boring. You don’t want to know what we’re talking about.”
- “Sometime I actually wish I was deaf. It must be so peaceful.”
- “Oh you’re deaf… uh…” *looks at hearing friend standing right next to me* “Does she know her own name?”
- “I really want to study sign language so I can ~*help*~ deaf people.”
- “Well ~*I*~ think sign language should be universal, what’s the point of having so many sign languages?”
- *makes random hand gestures* “So, what does that mean in ASL?”
- “Why aren’t you better at reading lips?”
- “It must be so quiet living with deaf people!”
- “It must be so terrible being deaf. I’m sorry”
- “Hi it’s nice to meet you…. so tell me what you think about Deaf culture. Is it real?”
- “Signed English sounds so much better than ASL!”
- “You grew up using Signed English? That must be why you’re good at English!”
- “I can kinda sign!” *pretends to be a mime*
Reading some of these things made me feel like I was crumbling into a smoldering pile on the floor, sort of the combination of sheer absurdity and embarrassment that these are ACTUAL THINGS PEOPLE SAY. And then I remember that people have actually said some of these things while I was around and then I think I actually crumble into a smoldering pile.
how. what. no
- Isn’t it so sad that Beethoven / Helen Keller / etc lost their hearing???
- Don’t you ever wish you were hearing?
- OMG TELL ME ALL OF YOUR OPINIONS ABOUT COCHLEAR IMPLANTS RIGHT NOW
- omg hey did you see that deaf character on that one tv show that one time
- You will be hearing in heaven! (Note: my parents, who are hearing but cool, responded: “God probably knows how to sign.”)
- I don’t know how to sign, I can’t possibly communicate with you now
- I’M AN ASL MAJOR!!
- why don’t you go to Gallaudet??? it’d be sooooooooo amazing and wonderful and great and amazing for you
(Source: thatdeafchick)
