'Deaf Gain' refers to all the positive parts of being d/Deaf! It's meant to fight against the narrative that d/Deafness is only and always negative, and terms that spread this idea, such as 'hearing loss'.
Here are some examples of Deaf Gain:
Being able to talk underwater, through windows, and over long distances via sign languages
Being able to sleep without getting bothered by noises
Being able to communicate internationally more easily; since sign languages are visual languages, it's easier to understand a sign you don't know than a spoken word you aren't familiar with
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Deaf 101: a Deaf person's guide to making good captions!
I often see awful captions, they're everywhere! So, I thought I'd make a guide for any smaller creators who want to make their captions the best they can be.
First of all, captions for foreign languages. Let's say your content is in English, but there's a French character who briefly shows up and speaks in French. What should the captions say?
A) "[speaks foreign language]"
B) "[speaks French]"
C) don't write anything
D) "Bonjour. Ça va?" (write an accurate transcription in French)
E) "[in French] Hello. How are you?" (Translate it into English)
The correct answer is D! A, B, and C give deaf viewers almost no information, and E doesn't give deaf viewers the same experience as hearing viewers, which is unfair and can ruin a joke, plot point, etc in some contexts.
Second, stutters and misspeaking. Should you put that in the captions? Yes! Even if it's not important information, it's still information, and deaf people deserve to have access to it just as much as hearing people do!
Third, non-spoken sounds; how do you transcribe them? For this example, let's say someone crashes into something.
A) "Thwak!" (Onomatopoeia)
B) "[Crash]" (write the word for the sound)
This is a bit of a harder one. Onomatopoeia can be really funny sometimes! But usually B gives more information in an easier way to understand. When in doubt, go with B, but sometimes A works too.
If someone off-screen is talking, say who it is in the captions. For example, if Jason is talking, here's some ways to write the subtitles:
Jason: My name's Jason.
[Jason] My name's Jason.
(Jason) My name's Jason.
You can also add 'off-screen' if you want.
What if the character hasn't been introduced yet? Then, you can write:
Unnamed character
Unknown character
[Description of character that's immediately obvious (e.g. young girl, strange man)]
Okay, last few things! Always spellcheck your captions! Never AI-generate your captions - morals and ethics aside, AI is not very accurate at all (at least, not yet).
Deaf 101: What terms should you use when talking about the d/Deaf/hearing impaired/hard of hearing/etc community?
Deaf - d/Deaf is good because it doesn't show d/Deafness as a negative thing. Lowercase 'd' deaf is good if you're just talking about the disability, but if you're talking about the culture, always use a capital 'D' for Deaf. Deaf is capitalised for the same reason Italian, Indian, etc are capitalised; it shows that they have their own culture, language, etc. If you're talking about both culturally Deaf people and people who are just deaf disability-wise, it's best to say d/Deaf, since that includes both communities.
Hearing impaired - hearing impaired is a very medical term. It's okay if you're just talking about disability but deaf and hard of hearing are preferable. Never use it if culture is involved, always use Deaf when talking about Deaf culture.
Hard of hearing - this is okay if you're just talking about disability. It's better than 'hearing impaired'. Again, never use this if culture is involved, always use Deaf when talking about Deaf culture.
Deaf-mute - this is an outdated term. Do not use it.
Deaf and dumb - this is an outdated term. Do not use it.
Note: throw all this out the window if a d/Deaf/hearing impaired/hard of hearing/etc person tells you what term(s) they prefer. Always use the term they are most comfortable with.
Deaf 101: sign names! Note: some people write it as 'sign-name'.
Sign names are a sign someone makes which refers to a person! They're sort of like Deaf nicknames. You can't give yourself one, and a hearing person can't give you one either.
Sign names can come from many different things - a person's appearance, personality, spoken/written name, an event the person was involved in, etc!
If a person comes from a Deaf family who already have sign names, their sign name is often influenced by their family's. For example: a Deaf kid's older brother's sign name is signed on the chest; the Deaf kid's sign name might then also be given a sign name on the chest, because people associate them with their brother.
Some people's sign names are just their initials, however this is less popular now (at least in Australia). Sometimes a person's sign name is an already-existing sign, but with the handshape changed to the letter of their name.
Never ask a Deaf person for a sign name, it's incredibly rude and entitled. You are not owed a sign name. Some people never get a sign name (often because their spoken/written name is very short, and therefore easy and quick to finger-spell or because they're not very involved in the community), and that's okay!
Lip-reading is when someone tries to figure out what another person is saying based on the movement and shape of their mouth while they're speaking. There's quite a few myths about lip-reading, particularly around d/Deaf people lip-reading. Today, I'm going to try and correct some of them!
"Lip-reading is easy": lip-reading is actually incredibly difficult, especially if you don't know what the topic of conversation is. Truly, it's mostly just a guessing game. Lip-reading is also a lot harder if someone has an accent you're unfamiliar with, because accents affect the way your mouth moves.
"All d/Deaf people can lip-read (well)": while everyone can lip-read a little bit, except some blind and low-vision people, not everyone can lip-read well. As I said, lip-reading is really hard! And d/Deaf people aren't inherently better at it than hearing people. A lot of d/Deaf people heavily rely on lip-reading when using spoken language, so they get more practice than most hearing people, but not all of us! I don't consciously lip-read at all, even when I'm speaking to other people, so I really struggle lip-reading!
If you have any questions about lip-reading, feel free to ask me!
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Deaf 101: a basic guide to cochlear implants by someone who's used them for years.
Cochlear implants are devices to help people hear. They replace the cochlear by taking sound and sending the signals directly to the brain. They are very expensive devices and take a while to get used to them. When you first start using them, they won't really do anything; after a while, your brain will slowly learn how to process the information it gives, enabling you to hear. Getting a cochlear implant requires minor surgery (hence the 'implant').
Not all deaf people use cochlear implants. Some people use hearing aids, and some people don't use any hearing devices. If one desires to hear, or if they're a child and their parents want them to hear, they have access to healthcare, and have moderate or profound deafness, then they would get a cochlear implant.
Cochlear implants are completely different than hearing aids. Hearing aids only make things louder for the inner ear to process, whereas cochlear implants replace the inner ear entirely. Cochlear implants help people hear much more clearly.
There is a common misconception that using a cochlear implant means one can hear as well as a hearing person. This is not true. When someone is using cochlear implants, they will still mishear or straight up not hear things more than a hearing person.
A lot of people think deaf people can't/don't enjoy music, but that’s not true!
A lot of deaf people can actually hear a bit, because they have residual hearing, unilateral deafness (they're only deaf in one ear and fully hearing in the other), hearing devices (e.g. cochlear implants), or a mix of the 3. Because of this, deaf people can and do listen to music.
If the music is very loud or, even better, if it's live music, deaf people can actually feel the soundwaves even if they can't hear it. I don't know much about feeling music as I've only recently been able to experience music loud enough to feel it, but when I could feel it, it was amazing! Rather overwhelming for me because I'm autistic and have ADHD, but still very fun!
Deaf people can love music just as much as hearing people! Of course, that isn't to say that all deaf people listen to music or like it, just that some of us do.
