Any Deaf People here? (Just Curious)

[curiouswill]

I'm deaf myself and are very new to this whole teardrop things but I've had a plans for a design since last nov or so. I'm asking to see if anybody deaf here might have some advices with how to deal with whatever particular cases that I michg come up against over whatever travelling I might do once I finish my design. So,

Anybody deaf here?

[Arne]

Not me, but my hearing is bad enough people ask me if I am... I especially have trouble with young female voices. They are high pitched and they talk fast... often I tell people that they talk fast and I hear slow when I ask them to repeat themselves, which is often.....

I do have hearing aids that I wear for specific functions, but find them a pain in everyday stuff... for one thing, I find my van has a lot more wind noise and rattles when I wear them.... I use them for meetings and family get togethers.....

Any handycap like that makes life more difficult, whether it is hearing, seeing, bad knees, etc..... good luck with your project. Most of the time being hearing impaired doesn't matter much, but those times when it does is a pain. At home the only phone I use is the one with a head set where I can control the volume.

[asianflava]

Someone has "ASL spoken here" in their signature line, I don't remember who. I wou assume that it means American Sign Language but you know what happens when you assume.

[apratt]

Yep that be me I am severely hearing impaired and my wife is deaf. We both sign ASL. Good to hear from you Curiouswill. I don't have a teardrop yet, but really want to build one bad. Hopefully I'll be able to start on one this winter or at lease by summer.

[curiouswill]

Good to hear from you too, I don't have any teardrop (or any trailer anyway) and I really want to develop one just for me ( http://www.tnttt.com/viewtopic.php?t=5913 ) I sign too though my sign language is a bit of a mix of ASL and exact english (i used to live in germany for a few year when i was little and they taught exact english sign language)

apratt: do you live near the mt. helen in washington? My brother (just got in the army a year ago) is stationed somewhere around there and I may plan to travel there If I managed to get the money for it and finish my trailer in time before he have to get transferred to korea.

[apratt]

As a crow flies I live about 50 miles from Mt. St. Helen.

[Ira]

Not deaf here--just stupid.

The biggest problem you're going to have after you finish your TD is people coming up to you asking a million questions. Which I've learned is a pain in the a** at times to EVERYONE--hearing or not!

I plan to put together a small trifold brochure to hand out to people, a questions and answers thing that I can give to them so they'll leave me alone. (I'm a graphic artist.)

However, I'll personally explain it to any hot girls who are interested.

If I ever get the time to actually do it, I'll post it here and offer it to anyone who wants it, and to take everyone's revision input. It'll be a PDF file that you can output at home or have copies made at Kinkos.

[curiouswill]

lol i was thinking along the same line . I used to go to college for computer science (had to quit cause of unemployment) and right now I'm trying to learn GIMP and Blender3D and stuffs. I was thinking of making a HTML version cause that would be the best way for me to customize the layout and stuffs (I'm more fimialar with HTML than microsoft word or anything like that) Why not add the info about this forum for anybody who become "inspired" by the idea of such a trailer you have? just a idea so people won't be stuck on the info on the info brochure and to help cut down on people trying to ask you different question about your trailer should you go to the same campground and meet the same people who r curious.

Well, If you don't have the time, let me know what I should include in my version should I get to it too.

[Ira]

I was definitely going to reference this site in the brochure, as well as photos of TDs of old that outline its history.

I already started a piece on something for another purpose that I can probably repurpose for this. It's just that until my TD is done, it hasn't been a major priority for me.

I'm having too many problems with my sink!

I also plan on listing the links for our "favored" manufacturers here.

[curiouswill]

oh ok cool.

[Ira]

My older boy is Autistic (Aspergers Syndrome), and he starts high school next month. (He'll be 15 in two weeks.)

He has the capacity to speak very well, but 99% of the time, he DOESN'T. And I'm trying to get him interested in learning sign language because there's a club for this at his new school.

Is ASL the most widely used form of signing? I figured that I would get a book and learn it at the same time he does, if I could just get him interested in it.

It seems a pretty good match for some autistic kids who hear everything, but don't verbally respond to things in the appropriate way.

[curiouswill]

ASL is the most popular in american but if you are worried about his grammer then i would suggest that he learn exact english sign language or something like that. ASL is great for people who can't speak well but unfortunately some of the worst reader and writer i've seen was deaf student who learned ASL. I used to live in germany and they taucght exact english sign language. Cause of this my reading level at the end of middle school was around 12th grade and at the deaf school i used to go, the high school seniors there reads children books (picture books) This is no discrimination aginst deaf for those of you who would think so but this is the truth as i've seen in the deaf institution.

If you can't find any exact english sign class, then I would suggest that he still go to the ASL class but keep an eye on his writing and reading skill to be sure that the ASL will not affect it too much.

[apratt]

That is true, ASL is not english at all really. But I do find ASL a lovely language, it use a lot of body langauge. SEE ( sign exact english ) is better for english grammar and sentence structure, but is a very dry langauge for everyday use. In my opinon.

p.s. you may want to check if there is a deaf commuity in your area, maybe they can offer some more info of what availble in your area.

[curiouswill]

yeah i agree. that why i sign in ASL but instead of ASL grammer, I follow the conventional english grammer and skip the usual stuffs such as "I", "is", "his/her" and stuffs.

[Ira]

That's the thing--his grammatical skills are SUPERB both writing and speaking (when he speaks loud enough to understand him). That's why ASL interests ME so much for him:

It DOES seem like a beautiful way to express himself, bringing his hands and facial expressions into play. As it is now, when he DOESN'T speak legibly, he uses facial expressions to try and get his point across.

Don't get me wrong--he is VERY high functioning and can speak well when he wants to. I want him to learn ASL because:

1) It will give him a special skill.

2) I think he would be good at it and really enjoy it.

3) And finally, maybe it's something he can take with him and give him an advantage into an adult career.