Cherry

When I’m out with Deaf friends, I put my hearing aid in my purse. It removes any ability to hear, but far more importantly, it removes the ambiguity that often haunts me.

In a restaurant, we point to the menu and gesture with the wait staff. The servers taking the order respond with gestures too. They pantomime “drinks?” and tell us they learned a bit of signs in kindergarten. Looking a little embarrassed, they sign “Rain, rain, go away, come again another day” in the middle of asking our salad dressing choice. We smile and gently redirect them to the menu. My friends are pros at this routine and ordering is easy ― delightful even. The contrast with how it feels to be out with my hearing husband is stunning.

Once my friends and I have ordered, we sign up a storm, talking about everything and shy about nothing. What would be the point? People are staring anyway. Our language is lavish, our faces alive. My friends discuss the food, but for me, the food is unimportant. I’m feasting on the smorgasbord of communication ― the luxury of chatting in a language that I not only understand 100% but that is a pleasure in and of itself. Taking nothing for granted, I bask in it all, and everything goes swimmingly.

Until I accidentally say the word “soup” out loud.

Pointing at the menu, I let the word slip out to the server. And our delightful meal goes straight downhill. Suddenly, the wait staff’s mouths start flapping; the beautiful, reaching, visual parts of their brains go dead, as if switched off.

“Whadda payu dictorom danu?” the server’s mouth seems to say. “Buddica taluca mariney?”

“No, I’m Deaf,” I say. A friend taps the server and, pointing to her coffee, pantomimes milking a cow. But the damage is done. The server has moved to stand next to me and, with laser-focus, looks only at me. Her pen at the ready, her mouth moves like a fish. With stunning speed, the beauty of the previous interactions ― the pantomiming, the pointing, the cooperative taking of our order ― has disappeared. “Duwanaa disser wida coffee anmik? Or widabeeaw fayuh-mow?”

Austin “Awti” Andrews (who’s a child of Deaf adults, often written as CODA) describes a similar situation.

“Everything was going so well,” he says. “The waiter was gesturing, it was terrific. And then I just said one word, and pow!! It’s like a bullet of stupidity shot straight into the waiter’s head,” he explains by signing a bullet in slow motion, zipping through the air and hitting the waiter’s forehead. Powwwww.

Hearing people might be shocked by this, but Deaf people laugh uproariously, cathartically.

“Damn! All I did was say one word!” I say to my friends. “But why do you do that?” they ask, looking at me with consternation and pity. “Why don’t you just turn your voice off, for once and for all?” they say.

Hearing people would probably think I’m the lucky one ― the success story ― because I can talk. But I agree with my friends.

  —  I’m Deaf And I Have ‘Perfect’ Speech. Here’s Why It’s Actually A Nightmare.

Sorry for the Hiatus, if been working on being an author or something. Check out my stuff at @elliottnotyet. I'll try to post stuff regularly on here again

Spider

Sources: SigningSavvy, Lifeprint, ASLDeafined

[Image ID: Spider in American Sign Language. Both hands in clawed 5 handshape, palms stacked with fingers out to represent spider legs. The hands are purple with sharp black nails. End ID]

Wheelchair

Sources: SigningSavvy, Lifeprint, ASLDeafined I also found this video about basic wheelchair skills while researching hand placement

[Image ID:

Wheelchair in American Sign Language. Both hands in S handshape move forward and open in a loose 5 handshape. Movement is illustrated by arms that are translucent green and blue in different stages of the sign. There are black wheelchair wheels with silver rims to help signify location of the sign.

End ID]

Theater

Sources: SigningSavvy, Lifeprint, ASLDeafined

[Image ID: theater in American Sign Language. Both hands in A handshape alternately circle down and away from the torso. Movement is illustrated by arms that are translucent green and blue in different stages of the sign.

End ID]

Gay

Sources: Lifeprint, ASLDeafined, them

[Image ID:

The sign for Gay in American Sign Language. G handshape touches chin. Face, lips and hand are in pride colors (black, brown, red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and purple) in a gradient. Background is white.

End ID]

Study

Sources: SigningSavvy, Lifeprint, ASLDeafined

[Image ID:

The sign for Study in American Sign Language. Hand in 5 handshape palm facing signer, fingers pointed down towards base hand in open B handshape. Hand bounces towards base hand and fingers wiggle. Movement is illustrated by arms that are translucent blue, purple, and pink arms in different stages of the sign. Background is white.

End ID]

Music

Shaheem Sanchez, a Deaf dancer and instructor talking about music and dancing

Sources: SigningSavvy, Lifeprint, ASLDeafined

[Image ID:

Music in American Sign Language. Hand in open B handshape sweeps back and forth over non-dominant arm. Movement is illustrated by arms that are translucent green, blue, purple, and pink in different stages of the sign.

End ID]

Arthritis

Sources: SigningSavvy, Lifeprint, ASLDeafined

[Image ID:

Arthritis in American Sign Language. A handshape palm facing out shakes side to side. Movement is illustrated by arms that are translucent red with cracks running up the arm.

End ID]

Mourn

Sources: SigningSavvy, Lifeprint, ASLDeafined

[Image ID:

Mourn or heartbreak in American Sign Language. Hands in C hand shape mirror each other with one hand palm up and the other palm down on either side of the heart. Then they twist as they close into S handshape. Movement is illustrated with arms that are translucent white. There is also a silhouette of a head and shoulders. The arms and silhouette are divided by lines radiating from the heart. Background is black.

End ID]