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

[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