Hello! This week is International Deaf Weak .
I am making three videos which are about deafness
and I am aware that there is a dog
making a noise
when there's a noise it's probably a dog
They are staring at me guiltily so it was definitely a dog
The 3 videos I'm making this week are
The second was
and the third is
You can find the other 2 on my channel
Pointing out that I don't sound deaf it's probably the first thing that most people do
when I meet them
Also rather humorously, they rather tell me as if this is new information to me . like
Oh! Gosh I had no idea! No one ever mentioned it before!
I don't know how I sound today right this very moment but I could hear not perfectly
but I could hear pretty well before the age of 15 so I know how my voice sounds like
People around me do say that my voice has changed since going deaf
What I think people mean by this is that I don't sound slurred
which is the voice that people seem to typically assume a deaf person has
A slurred voice and it doesn't have the pronunciation of most syllables
People around me has said that my voice has actually become clearer since becoming deaf
and there is a reason for that, because I worked really hard on it and I do work very hard on my voice
I worry I suppose about my voice becoming more slurred so I practice
I just make sure to say all of my words clearly
Because when people speak to me in a very clear way it's much easier for me to understand them
So I assume that if I attempt to speak in the clearest way that I can it's going to help other people hear me
Also a lot of it has to do with muscle memory in the I remember how to speak clearly
I remember how to do accents
'Why I don't sound deaf?'
That's terrible! See I even know my accents are terrible
'Oh what I can and can't hear'
That was meant to be Irish. Did I do it? Did it work?
Anyway yes, so my voice is so incredibly clear because I work very hard on making sure that is clear, I pronounce everything
I don't do it consciously as I way to not sound deaf or
as a way to be more English, I think we reached peak point of British right now
It's just the easiest way for me to remember how to make sounds
Having a voice that does not sound deaf can be a negative
In the much like the word disabled is a great thing because that is a label that helps me
It gets me the things that I need in order to live life as a disabled person
Having a voice that does not sound deaf is a problem
in that makes people think that I can hear
Which I cant
So when Imeet people for the first time they have no idea that I am deaf
They'll just chat to me or they will lean in... oh the lean in...
That's always awkward because they lean in to talk in my ear and I push them back so I can lip read
but also i push them back and I stare at their lips so they are kind of assuming 'oh my god did that girl think I was going in for a kiss?'
'I was not going in to kiss her, this is really weird, this is very awkward. Do I say something like Oh my God I wasn't going to kiss you
Wait does she think, does she know, does she know I know, Does she know I know she knows?
Oh my god!
Also having a voice that doesn't sound deaf is not a helpful thing on the internet
Hi, internet
Because people write a lot that I don't sound deaf
and it makes them believe that I am not deaf, but why someone would fake being deaf
I have yet to know...
As I said in my other videos this week, deafness is not one thing
There is not a set way to be deaf, it does not mean that you have 100% hearing loss
You can't hear a thing, you are brought up with deaf parents, went to a deaf school and you've never talked to hearing people before
You only use sign language, you never use your voice
That's not deafness, that's a type of deafness, that's a person who is deaf and is living their life, doing their thing
You can also have been born deaf, gone to a mainstream school, used your voice, lip read and then get older
and be like damn it I wish I could sign
You could also be born hearing, loose your hearing, then your school says
We can't help you learn sign language now deaf kid, but we can provide you with an interpreter
So helpful!
I've never actually had sign language classes, no, I just taught myself using the internet and books
And watching my sign language interpreter that my school and the local council were happy to provide
But not classes!
That was a sticky few months...
/ year of confusion
Also my sign language, I only use SSE
Which is called 'Signed Supported English'
Confusing...
It is very different from BSL, British Sign Language
This are 2 very different things
They use the same signs... also makaton, makaton is a different thing
BSL and SSE use the same signs but in a different way
For example, SSE is actually just the English language but with added sign
So you would say: Hello, What Is Your Name ?
But then in BSL you would say: Name You What?
Oh you would also say hello, you don't have to be rude
Do you see the difference?
BSL I think it's quite like French in it's grammar structure
it takes all the words and it puts the most important word first
If you want to ask someone how old they are, you would say: Age You What?
It's the most important part first, so the person inmediatly understands what this question is going to be about
I use SSE because it's much easier for me, I was obviously brought up hearing
I have that sentence structure in my mind already
I generally interact with people who are hearing
They are speaking in such a way that if I am lipreading, it's pure english
and then the interpreter is standing next to them, if I miss a sentence they have said and then I'm like hmm
I turn to the interpreter, the interpreter can easily pick up what they are saying but just sign it
Whereas when there is BSL interpreter I find it quite hard
I'll be lipreading someone like
Yeah yeah... oh I got a bit stuck there
and then you turn to the interpreter and the interpreter would tell it in BSL and you are like
And I get it, I get what the signs are but I need to switch them around in my brain
and considering I already got cognitive issues, uh!
I'm actually like a little... clogs turning in the brain
Uh, other things you might not now about sign language is that different countries have different sign languages
There are different sign languages across the world, America for instance has its own sign language
Even though we speak the same language
There are... dun dun dun
Maybe 300 different sign languages in the world
I know, I'm as shocked as you are, I just looked that up
There are so many sign languages because, sign language is a kind of ever evolving thing
Also, some deaf schools just create their own
Claudia and I have our own kind of version of sign language because she's being quite slow to learn
I think she is a bit scared because she doesn't like trying things she doesn't already know she's good at
We kind of organically created our own
But I need to teach her the proper stuff, and I will
I hope you have enjoyed these videos about deafness
Deaf stuff..
I hope you've had a good International Week of The Deaf
I am going to let you know how Claudia gets on with learning sign language
Give a thumbs up if you have enjoyed this video, leave a comment down bellow with what you think
it's the easiest way that I can teach Claudia and bare in mind I'm a terrible teacher apparently
I'm pretty good at teaching through video, I'm not good in person because I correct every little mistake
and then you can't get to the end of the sentence. It's incredibly annoying but I can't stop doing it
And of course subscribe, if you are new here, welcome, and I'll see you next time!