Hearing Loss & Deafness Support Group

Okay, if you lose hearing before gaining speech, you have to be taught to make sound. If you lose it afterward, you tend to use your voice as hearing people do - mentally and physically.

Important note: the term Deaf-mute is very offensive to Deaf & HOH the community. Some deaf people are verbal, others aren't for a number of reasons, few of them physical.

To answer your basic question, you would have to find someone who signs only and ask that person, then compare that answer to a deaf, but verbal person's answer. Speaking as someone who lost some of their hearing later in life, yes, I do still have internal debates using spoken language. By the way, I also sometimes visualize words for the purpose of spelling.

Let us know what you find. I'd be interested to learn if some think in sign internally.

Let us know if you have any more questions.

thats very helpful and interesting thank you. when you say you sometimes visulaize words for spelling do you mean you think of the way its spelt or the actual thing itself?

Im very grateful as i want to get the truest point of view across. people talk about loss... do you feel grief for your lose, like the death of something

and does it make you more withdrawn in terms of talking?

I think i visualize words because I'm a writer by nature. I shape words and form them like clay.

For me it's an annoyance, having to ask people to repeat or requiring closed captioning. It's not like an amputation - It's like growing older and needing a cane to help you move around. If you ask ten people you'll probably get eleven answers.

As for becoming withdrawn, I may not be the one to ask. I was always pretty much a loner growing up. I'd get home from school, grab my one of my guns and my dog and I would go spend time in the woods alone. My dad tried hard to get me into little league, scouts, and band and such, but I always preferred solitude.

Hope this helps. If you need help writing, PM me for my e-mail. I'm a published novelist, so maybe I can help with your character.

Thank you much. I have found everyone ii have spoken to on this site to be very warm and open and very creative.

i will definately take you up on your offer of help so i will send you a message. i want to get the hearing audience an experience through sound and visual effects of what it maybe like, but like you say it will only be some aspects of it as everyone has a different experience of what its like. Although the character is deaf i dont want that to be the whole story... it must be about life, love, experiences in life etc.

thank you again x

Hi,
I am deaf. I was born HOH and became deaf in high school. I internally think in both sign and verbal language. But mostly in sign and sometimes pictures. But I know some of my friends who deaf from birth think in sign langauge. If you have questions feel free to ask. smiles.

I just became deaf 2 months ago after being given medications when I was ill. I am certainly grieving the loss of my hearing permanently, and the fact that I may never hear my kid's voices again, or hear them perform their musical instruments or sing in the school play. It's a huge shock and loss; I didn't ask for this or even get consulted before I was given the meds. But today, I was tested by an audiologist and declared a good candidate for a cochlear implant, so I may be able to hear again in the future. That is exciting!

god... so many of you are sharing very private things and i feel very lucky. I had to go off line for a while to get so many of your thoughts into my head. i am meeting up with a deaf theatre company in london... the definately theatre company and i will be spending some time talking to them and watching their show. i thought people might recent my curiosity or be annoyed at my ignorance and i realise more and more that the reason people dont discuss issues like these is because hearing people are so frightened of insulting or getting things wrong, but i also realised that that is not enough of a reason... if something makes you feel uncomfortable thats unfortunate but its not a reason to shut something out or pretend its not there

Abby, You'll do a good job. Relax!

let me know if you still have questions...i have some poems that may help or can just answer other questions...let me know...-idgie

i would love to read some of your poems that would be great thank you x