Writing a (Formerly) Deaf Character

[howdyadoitsnatty]

Hello again, been a little but I've had a few burning questions in regard to one of my characters who was deaf until about age 6 before getting her hearing restored, with her later becoming a musician. I was a bit curious in particular about this because I feel like I know very little about deaf culture / asl so I wanted to ask about a few things, mostly:

• Would it be proper to give this person a sign name or some other sort of thing like that? Would they even still be proficient in ASL after about 18 years time?
• What sort of other things might come from being deaf in early life? How difficult would adjusting to that be, and since the character is a young adult would any of that still be noticeable?
• How are people who have implants and the like considered by other deaf people? Would she be sort of disconnected from deaf culture due to having it restored at a young-ish age, or would she likely still have some sort of connection to it?

Comments

[anne]

This sounds like something you'd want a sensitivity reader to look at...the earlier in the process, the better. But even before that, you should learn as much as you can before you start writing. There are a lot of d/Deaf history books out there! And autobiographies, and d/Deaf artists.

[okrablossom]

Sara Novic's _True Biz_ addresses some of these topics. But I agree with the previous poster that you should get as many history books and autobiographies as possible and read them.

[genarti]

I agree with anne -- definitely read up on Deaf culture!

I am not deaf or Deaf, just an interested hearing person, but if it's helpful, I have read and enjoyed Introduction to Deaf Culture by Thomas K. Holcomb (written some years ago so it doesn't address all modern technology, but very readable and full of info and aiming to be comprehensive) and Deaf Utopia: A Memoir--and a Love Letter to a Way of Life by Nyle DiMarco with Robert Siebert (a memoir of a Deaf celebrity).

More broadly, just in terms of language and cultural connections, a lot of what you're asking is something that you can to some extent finesse depending on what you want to do. Is she still proficient in ASL? Well, has she been speaking it with people? Has she been practicing it on her own but not having anyone to speak it with? Has she not used it in 18 years? Or: would she have some sort of connection to Deaf culture? Well, do you want her to? There's the question of whether she emotionally would, but then there's also the logistical and community aspect. When she regained her hearing, did her parents pull her away from whatever her local Deaf community was, or did she stay in contact with old friends? At age 6, you're still very dependent on what your guardians decide is best for you and what your local situation is; you can't exactly go drive to the next city over to hang out with old friends. There are a variety of ways you could set up the external factors for her, and then how she feels about that 18 years later is a characterization question. So: is this something where something helps your plot, or feels more right for the character or themes? I would consider that while you research the culture and plausible range of options.

[conuly]

There's the question of whether she emotionally would, but then there's also the logistical and community aspect. When she regained her hearing, did her parents pull her away from whatever her local Deaf community was, or did she stay in contact with old friends?

There's the secondary question of: how much connection did she have to Deaf culture to begin with? It is astonishing to me how many people think being normal means pretending their child does not have a disability, and that includes deafness. Lots of people more or less deliberately set out from the start to limit any connections their child might develop in that direction.

[lilacsigil]

This article is a good introduction to the considerations that go into cochlear implants for children and might give you some good starting points for research.

https://www.theguardian.com/society/2024/dec/11/cochlear-question-parent-deaf-baby-should-i-give-implant-to-help-her-hear

[nerakrose]

First of all, cochlear implants do not “restore” hearing. A person with implants is still considered deaf - when the person takes off the external part of the implant or turns it off, they are deaf. They do gain some hearing but it’s not 100% and each person’s experiences with it do differ. It’s also important to note that cochlear implants destroy any hearing the person already has. A friend of mine weighed that up against the abysmal hearing she already had and in her early twenties went for the cochlear implants - for her that was the right decision as the implants were a huge improvement. I also know somebody who regretted it (she only did one side) because she found the type/quality of sound she was getting from the implant to be too foreign that she could feel at ease with it, so she never did the other side and is now dead on the side with the implant because she gave up on using it.

Whether the character knows sign language or not and is still connected to the community is very very location specific and hinges a lot on the culture surrounding it. I’m Scandinavian, in my country the culture is very tight knit and parents usually would give their child access to specialised schools where they can be around other kids like them and learn sign language. Are you based in the USA? I might be wrong but it’s my impression that in the USA there’s a bigger push to teaching kids to talk like hearing people and communicate that way regardless so kids are forced into a communication style based on lip reading and vocalising (which is very very taxing) even when they are deaf - because there’s a ridiculous belief that if kids are taught sign language they’ll never “be normal”. So it’s my impression that in the USA parents often keep kids away from the community so they don’t get a chance to be a part of it in the first place.

You need multiple sensitivity readers from the location & culture you’re writing about. I also want to ask, why do you want to restore this characters hearing in the first place? What is the story you’re telling? Because I can tell you right off the bat that any story in which the character gets Cured of their hearing loss is massively offensive.

[miscellanium]

seconding what others have said about sensitivity readers, and emphatically agree with nerakrose's comment especially the point about cochlear implants.

i am a Deaf person from the usa fortunate enough to have supportive parents who learned ASL and encouraged my connecting with other Deaf people, though i was mainstreamed and given speech training. i have served as a (paid) sensitivity reader for a published project in the past and am willing to answer more questions privately, but i do encourage you to do more research before proceeding.

unless this is taking place in a fantasy universe where her "restored hearing" is 100%, this character will likely struggle with non-percussive instruments. i certainly did when i tried to learn the viola. if your character completely drops ASL (why?) then no, she would not remain proficient. nobody would after not using a language for 18 years.

[(Anonymous)]

Wait thats crazy I actually had this experience! I was born almost completely deaf and grew up deaf until the age of about 4, when doctors figured out that my eardrums were mostly fine but my inner ear hadn't formed correctly so I was able to get surgery to reform my ear canals and now i have almost 100% hearing!

The thing about my experience that may differ from your character is that i was not 100% deaf. I was still able to hear some things but everything sounded like it was under water. So, while learning to speak, i was mostly able to do it but i had the deaf accent. However since i was so young my parents attributed my accent to me being 4. And since I often couldnt hear them, they thought I was just a sassy toddler that ignored what they were saying all the time lol. Because of this, i was never put into ASL classes and never learned at all. Another difference is that i dont have cochlear implants. But! I think I can help with a couple of your questions:

1. Definitely not proficient in ASL. My husband is mexican and grew up with his first language as spanish, but stopped speaking it around the age of 6 or 7 and eventually wasnt fluent anymore, so i think this goes for other languages as well.

2. To be honest, me having been deaf isnt very noticable in my adult life. I personally have a small amount of hearing loss left but I'm able to function in the world as well as any hearing person. My childhood memories are the same as anyones, they just dont have any sound. When youre born like that you cant really tell that anything is different about you yet. Though if youre character was 6 when this was changed im assuming they went to school? This would probably make them notice their own disability more than I did.

3. I've never considered myself a part of the deaf community, being 4 was way too young to understand any of that and I'd think being 6 would have a similar experience. While I cant speak for the deaf community, I do know that some deaf folks have complicated feelings towards cochlear implants so I'd be careful with that topic and really do your research.

I hope my experiences are able to help!