All about Deaf Culture

It's been more than a year now since i started learning sign language...but it was only recently that i truly understood the term "Deaf culture".



I always thought it was just...you know, stuff and habits the Deaf have cultivated in sync with the fact that they don't hear. For example, how flashing lights are used to call for attention and how way back before vibrating handphones came into play, they used to drink lots of water before they sleep as a way of a "biological alarm clock". Interesting stuff we hearing people take forgranted anyway.



So i thought that was basically it... stuff a bunch of similar people do. What i didn't get before, was that in Deaf culture... deafness was not a disability at all. It was "culture" in the true sense of the word.



Think of it as a language. (like French etc) The Deaf, for one, speak (hmmm or should i say communicate) in a different langauge...that is sign language and they do not speak verbal language (Eg. English)



Similarly, we speak English (or whatever), but we do NOT speak French (or whatever). And that does not mean i'm disabled. Well, you wouldn't consider me disabled right? So dumping me in France and say no one there understands English at all, would be like dumping a Deaf person, in a hearing world.



So because of that, they develop they're own culture which is non-dependent on sounds to go about everyday business. And their function, technically, is exactly that of any hearing person. They can do whatever you do. It's true... Sure, they probably will sing out of tune and can't use the phone (neither can i if the person was speaking French) but they still are physically and mentally able to do those things...not necessarily in the most efficient way.

Well, that's what i understand by Deaf culture at this point anyway. I hope to get more insight as i go along...

Catch phrase of the day:
1st, some introduction....this phrase is to be used when an annoyingly noisy person (from here on shall be referred to as "bugger") needs to be...made to understand that he's a bugger.

1. beat up said bugger, preferably make him land at least a few feet from origin.

2.walk towards him, point your index down at him (he should be on the floor) and say

3. "don't talk too much"

4. let absorp (some time may be needed for those with thicker skulls)

This "how to" lesson was brought to you by Kancho Wong.
(that's how buggers were handled by his sifu last time....haha)