Good morning everyone.
I would have commented yesterday but I was out of posts.
I'm actually an certified ASL interpreter and yes it is a real language and deaf people do have their own culture....Everyday I have to facilitate between hearing and deaf culture....sometimes I can do this easily and some days not so much, and in my experience the cultural misunderstandings do not happen on the deaf side....99.9% of the time, the cultural conflicts/misunderstandings happen on the hearing side. The deaf in my area, are great to work with and understand hearing culture and try to walk the line so there is no communication break down. The hearing people on the other hand....There are times where the ethnocentric attitude comes in and there is a break down of communication. It's sad because most hearing people I have to work with just don't get it.
Some of the questions I get asked all the time.
1) Oh, where did you learn Braille? "Um what I do is actually American Sign Language, Braille is for blind people"
2) Oh do you have a family member who is deaf? "Um no, I have no deaf family..I went to school to learn how to do this and worked very hard to become nationally certified"
3) Oh is signing easy? "Well signing is easier than interpreting, they are two different things"
4) Are you a student here also (I do a lot of work for the community college in my town)? "No I'm done with school and doing this professionally"
5) Oh, do you get paid to do this? "Yes I am paid to be here" In my head I'm thinking "You idiot! would you work for free? I don't think so!"
This comment always gets me. After doing a stage job or a big class, I always get at least one person come up to me and say "Oh you looked just beautiful up there, and you did such a good job." I've become more sarcastic in my my response. "You know sign language?" "Um no." Then I get a confused look on my face and ask "Then how did you know if I did a good job or not?" Then the person walks away with their tail between their legs.
This is a clip us interpreters think is just funny, because it shows what we have to deal with sometimes with hearing people... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1cqv84ywBSE
I know the deaf in my area are trying to get the general public educated, but it's an uphill battle with trying to educate hearing people.
I'm not sure who made the comment about American deaf being able to talk to French deaf...the reason ASL and FSL deaf can communicate is because ASL actually developed from FSL. Way back when, a French man Laurent Clerc, came over here to the USA in the 1800's and taught FSL to deaf educators and that is where ASL was developed....so down in our day, ASL has many of the same signs and grammar structure of FSL. I can watch FSL on youtube and understand about 80% of the message. British sign language (BSL) I cannot understand any of it. I just wanted to share that little bit of history.
Now about the deaf masturbation video. OMG the deaf in my area love it! They think it's the funniest thing out there. I was horrified the first time I saw it, but now it's famous here in my town. They all (deaf and interpreters) make fun of it and make fun of the JW's. All I have to say is that guy was enjoying himself way too much or he has a lot of "practice" time. hehehehe
