I LOVE this article by a young, hearing, girl. who was raised by two deaf parents. Not only is the background for her musical upbringing a beautiful testament to good parenting and unconditional love, but her ability to give that back to her parents through this list of wonderful things she's learned by being able to compare both her hearing and non-hearing experiences are awesome.
A quick look at her list is the following:
1. Eye Contact
2. Don't Interrupt
3. Be straightforward/direct
4. If you don't understand/know, ask
5. Remove distractions
6. Be expressive - My personal favorite, because she explains the ways in which deaf people need to reach others on an emotional level through their body language and facial expressions along with their words, like artwork. She also explained that they have less fear of what others think because they recognize that who they are and how they feel is ok to be expressed in whatever way necessary, crying and distorted looks, included! I thought that was a really nice choice for #6!
7. The details
Obviously, for the full explanation, I would suggest reading her brief original article (I think she took her own advice from #3! Thank you for the reminder. Sometimes when people are "missing something" they are actually gaining so much more that we don't even take the time or energy to notice! Enjoy the reminder of the things we CAN gain even in the hearing world from our non-hearing people!
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