Sign Language Question

[jacks]

I have a question about the growing use of sign language in political speeches and news media. First let me say I'm very hard of hearing, having worn hearing aids practically all my life and have been told I really need a cochlear implant to function. I also know a fair amount of ASL and have taken a number of classes in it.

However...I really don't get why all the signing. There are only about 600,000 deaf people in the U.S. (about .22% of the population.) If you include hard of hearing you can get up to about 6 million, though most of them are over 65 and don't know sign language. So even including people who aren't deaf, deaf people and their families a high estimate would be maybe 2 million people know ASL. It would make much more sense just to use Closed Captions or if you really wanted to reach out sub titles in Spanish. (About 43 million people in the U.S. use Spanish.) This isn't unique to the U.S. you can watch Canadian, New Zealand, European speeches and there is the ubiquitous signer, happily signing away.

Personally I'm glad, since I know it a bit, but even then I get more comprehension from closed captions, even when they aren't perfect. Why is it so prevalent? Does the Deaf community have a powerful lobbying effort or is it more helpful than I realize? Any thoughts?

 

[SkyWriting]

I have a question about the growing use of sign language in political speeches and news media. First let me say I'm very hard of hearing, having worn hearing aids practically all my life and have been told I really need a cochlear implant to function. I also know a fair amount of ASL and have taken a number of classes in it.

However...I really don't get why all the signing. There are only about 600,000 deaf people in the U.S. (about .22% of the population.) If you include hard of hearing you can get up to about 6 million, though most of them are over 65 and don't know sign language. So even including people who aren't deaf, deaf people and their families a high estimate would be maybe 2 million people know ASL. It would make much more sense just to use Closed Captions or if you really wanted to reach out sub titles in Spanish. (About 43 million people in the U.S. use Spanish.) This isn't unique to the U.S. you can watch Canadian, New Zealand, European speeches and there is the ubiquitous signer, happily signing away.

Personally I'm glad, since I know it a bit, but even then I get more comprehension from closed captions, even when they aren't perfect. Why is it so prevalent? Does the Deaf community have a powerful lobbying effort or is it more helpful than I realize? Any thoughts?

The hand waving helps convey that it is important to everyone. But it's mostly distracting. I use closed captions about 90% of the time.

 

[returntosender]

Doesn't closed caption need a script? Sign is needed for anything without a script?

 

[jacks]

Doesn't closed caption need a script? Sign is needed for anything without a script?

Really good accurate ones do, but you can just have speech to text programs. I use them on my cell phone, when people talk to me, it shows up as text. They aren't perfect, but they are good enough to get by and they are getting much better.

 

[SkyWriting]

Doesn't closed caption need a script? Sign is needed for anything without a script?

That sounds like the right answer. Because signing can be done live easier.

 

[returntosender]

Really good accurate ones do, but you can just have speech to text programs. I use them on my cell phone, when people talk to me, it shows up as text. They aren't perfect, but they are good enough to get by and they are getting much better.

Pardon me for asking but how do you use a phone with your deafness? Just curious. Do the deaf still use relay?

 

[jacks]

Pardon me for asking but how do you use a phone with your deafness? Just curious. Do the deaf still use relay?

I think automatic translation has gotten so good, it is no longer really necessary to have someone transcribe for you, though that might be the most accurate. I have an Android and use an app called InnoCaption. It gives the the option of either automatic speech recognition or translation by live stenographers. I've never had to use the live stenographers, the computer based recognition is about 98% percent accurate for me. If you looked at Google Play or the Apple app site, you can find many others.

I also use Deaf Communication, Live Transcripts and Speech Notes, they are all free. (It is something like these I think the live broadcasts should use.) Often I use these when talking with people in person. As they talk, it translates their speech to text, that I can then read, very handy at the doctors office, where it really matters what is being said. In most social situations if you just smile and nod your head, people think you are a friendly, great listener.

 

[returntosender]

Wow that last invention is wonderful. The technical inventions they achieve the last decade are astounding. It's good to know they continue to strive for the deaf! I am glad that you are up on the latest inventions that make communications easier for you

 

[Bob Crowley]

Some deaf people have literacy issues and find it easier to keep up with signed language, which is their usual "spoken language", than they do with subtitles.

I'm the opposite in that I like subtitles, although I'm not deaf. I'm hard of hearing, and while I have blue-tooth headphones for the TV, and can use my hearing aid if I wish, I find subtitles a bonus.

They may be a small minority, but they have the same rights to public communication as everybody else.

 

[Bob Crowley]

In most social situations if you just smile and nod your head, people think you are a friendly, great listener.

In my situation as a hard of hearing person in noisy backgrounds, when I'm nodding my head I'm saying I haven't got a clue what you're saying, but you'll move off in a minute and talk to somebody else, so who cares?

 

[jacks]

In my situation as a hard of hearing person in noisy backgrounds, when I'm nodding my head I'm saying I haven't got a clue what you're saying, but you'll move off in a minute and talk to somebody else, so who cares?

I think what your describing is a type of Dinner Table Syndrome. It's when deaf or hard of hearing people aren’t able to follow the conversation, they end up feeling lost or confused, and though it’s not intentional, they feel excluded.
It happens to me quite often, and when it does I tend to just go into my own private world of my thoughts. Then people just think I'm spaced out or worse yet have dementia. I think deaf and hard of hearing people are often thought to have a mental problem, when all that is wrong is they can't understand what others are talking about.

 

[Bob Crowley]

About three years ago a bloke I play sport with and against came up to me and said "Now I know why you don't join in much" (general conversation). Apparently he lost about 40% of his hearing overnight and was wearing two new hearing aids.

They thought a virus caused the deafness.

But he said he found it a lot harder to join with group conversations. He remarked "I used to be pretty good at backchat".