I rely on lip-reading to understand speech and most people in my life turn to face me on reflex when speaking. Then there are those who need to be reminded every time we have a conversation. When that happens, I start to feel that the person is being dishonest and doesn't want to look me in the face while they're telling a lie. I realize, though, some people are just scatterbrained and need to be reminded about everything, so I'm curious at what point other lipreaders feel like a speaker is being malicious by not facing you. One of those people is my own mother, which is why this question is weighing so heavily on me.

does anyone else with hearing implants (cochlear or baha) experience significant hair loss around the areas where the internal device lies? it’s so frustrating for me and i’ve had to shave the sides of my head because of the thinness of the hair.

I am interested in finding a daycare that would teach my child, who is not deaf, ASL. Does anyone know of daycares, especially in Brooklyn, NY, that offer ASL immersion daycare and accept hearing children?

I can't do ASL myself beyond flashcards that I am working with and online sign language resources. I am not adequate to actually teach this language by myself, especially the grammar. Besides, I see it recommended over and over again to get an actual deaf teacher as the gold standard.

However, when I look at programs (New York State Education Department Deaf Program and others), they require that a child be Hard of Hearing/Deaf, or have a family member be Hard of Hearing/Deaf. We don't fulfill either requirement.

I can't even find options that accept hearing children, even though I see other multilingual daycares available in spoken languages. So I would really appreciate any tips to set me in the right direction.

Posting this just in case there is anyone in Virginia's deaf community that is unaware - on July 1, Virginia's new open caption law took effect. Now all Virginia theaters with five or more locations must have regular open caption screenings. If there are less than five locations, they have to offer an open caption screening within eight days of getting a request.

So if you live in Virginia, check your local AMC, Regal, Cinemark, or Alamo Drafthouse - they will have open caption screenings regularly from now on.

https://preview.redd.it/3bcmvg1b77bh1.png?width=895&format=png&auto=webp&s=84a91b8b87e4e1eff7683b5cd8003433ebc75fdd

(May cross post this to r/deaflind).

I’ve been blind in one eye all my life, I can still do most things. I can drive a car but I can’t get a CDL license for forklifts, buses, semis etc. not that I would want to anyway. But I have a hard time knocking into things because I can’t see how close they are to my right side. Even my family home that I’ve lived in and out of for 26 years - I still knock into things.

I started losing my hearing 6 years ago. It’s always just been my left ear, but back in April 2025 I was told not only did my hearing get worse, but both ears are going now. I finally got hearing aids in December.

I feel more deaf having them in than I do without them.

I’ve lived my whole life being expected to live normally but I’m tired of yelling when my family can’t hear (hearing loss in hereditary in my family, 3 hoh and 2 deaf). They all refuse to learn sign language.

I tried to get assistance from DVR, and they offered to pay for my hearing aids but it still ended up coming out of my pocket. I then asked about ASL classes and they denied me saying that I cannot do that unless I want to switch jobs and become an interpreter. But I like my job, and DVR is about not only finding you work but also keeping the job you currently have. Every single counselor I’ve had keeps trying to convince me to get away from the field I’ve been working most of my adult life and I don’t understand why. I kept being asked what stuff I want from DVR but I don’t know what they offer. Because I couldn’t answer that question, I was dismissed.

I was introduced to the Helen Keller National Center, told that they can, not only help argue my case with DVR because they are practically depriving me of communication by not allowing me ASL classes. But also HKNC have sources of their own.

I had a meeting with them and the entire time they were talking about ASL but that’s not the only thing I want. I’ve lived my entire life pretending to not be disabled, I don’t know what’s out there. Both HKNC and DVR expect me to just know everything they offer and ask for it. I got put on the back burner because of it. I didn’t get any help about my DVR case like I was told I’d get either. Only received sympathy for my situation.

Even with that, not one of the people I spoke with in the meeting was deaf or blind? They even admitted that nobody on staff is deaf, not one of the 4 people on this call knew ASL either.

I know that I can still walk, talk, kind of hear, and see. But I still have limitations and feel nobody is listening to me. Even anytime I go to an eye doctor, they don’t believe me when I say I see absolutely nothing in my right eye. No shapes, no lights/shadows. It’s like that eye doesn’t exist at all. They don’t believe me.

I don’t fit in the physically abled category, nor do I fit in the disabled category. I don’t know what to do.

Does anyone else struggle at work, I work in civil service and we do tea breaks everyone goes onto canteen has a coffee and a chat.. I always attempt it to not seem antisocial but then all background noise starts and everyone’s chatting amongst each other and I end up just looking at the phone or pretending to know what the conversation is about.

I’m profoundly impaired - but still hearing it all just sounds like mumbo jumbo.
Anything that helps you? currently not using my hearing aids as I find they don’t do much just increase the sound of the mumbo jumbo.. 😅

Time to look into a cochlear implant perhaps.. 😅

I moved recently and my new neighbors love fireworks. Like, they’ll light them on a random Wednesday evening if the mood strikes them. While the noise is a bit of a problem, there’s something that’s been bothering me since the neighbors started lighting their 4th fireworks (yes, I know it’s the 2nd but try telling them that)

After particularly loud fireworks (I’m talking like the ones that shake your house) I’ll feel a weird sensation in my ears, coupled with a nasty headache. The only way I can describe the sensation is the emptiness you get after popping your ears coupled with inner ear pain. The last big boom was maybe 20 minutes ago at the time of me writing this and the sensation has mostly subsided but I still have some lingering pain, especially in my right ear. On a scale of 1-10 with 10 being ER worthy pain, I’d say it’s a 1-2.

Does anyone else feel the same way, especially fellow SNHL folk, or is this something I should speak to my doctor about?

Curious what others do in the event that your toddler wakes up crying at night, say, because of a dirty diaper or nightmare. Do you turn on the light in their room? Do you wear your CI/hearing aid (if have one) in the darkness and communicate verbally? Both?

Hello, lovely people! I wasn't sure whether to ask this here, or in the ASL subreddit.

I am not fluent in ASL by any means, but I've learned a little through the years. I started teaching my (hearing) 21 month old a few signs before he could talk. Since he still doesn't speak much, I've been trying to teach him more signs to help him communicate as he will repeat signs, but not spoken words. I've been wanting to teach him how to sign for family members. My question is whether I should teach him generic family signs such as grandmother and uncle or if it would be okay to create more specific signs for people? For example, my mom goes by Gigi, not grandmother. Or, would it be okay to teach something akin to a name sign for my brother rather than teaching him to fingerspell the whole name? I don't know any Deaf people IRL to assign anyone official sign names.

I don't want to appropriate ASL or offend anyone in the Deaf community. I do plan on raising my toddler with English as his first language, but I think basic ASL could be a great tool! Thoughts?

If it matters, I am technically HoH with hearing aids, but identify as hearing since I can get by without them.

Hey all, sorry to be an annoying hearingish person basically asking yall permission for smth, but I dont wanna cause any harm with my actions. Ive seen posts in this community that say its acceptable for people with severe auditory processing issues to use the term Deaf or Hard of Hearing, but heres my dilemma:

I have severe auditory processing issues due to autism, and the autism element of that is not something i am comfortable discussing every time i mention that my hearing is wonky. In my experience, when people disclose that they are hard of hearing, they are often asked follow up questions, which i would struggle to answer. I have had multiple friends who are deaf in one ear, and the only follow up theyve been asked is which ear. Would it be offensive to the Deaf community for me to decide on an ear to be "deaf" in to avoid constantly explaining my neurological issues?

Hello lovely people of r/deaf! Back again with my penultimate post!

Last post went a bit off the rails in the comments section. I think perhaps there were some misunderstandings. I am well aware that my opinions about sign language writing are the minority opinion.

But I want to write this to show what is possible ~ so that people can make informed decisions about whether they want to write in sign languages, and if they do choose which systems in an informed way. And even if you don't want to learn one, feel free to stick about and learn something new in the process :)

So in this post I want to show actual uses of sign language writing in real life rather than just theories or proofs of concept. Because I think some people periceve this to be just some random thing nobody in real life ever uses. While they are correct that it's rare - I would quibble with "never", so let me show you what uses of SL writing IRL I have found!

As per usual this is the mirror image of my blog which can be found here: https://lukapona.blogspot.com/2026/06/how-to-write-sign-language-part-6-sl.html

⸙

 Whether you are new to sign languages or a native signer who has signed your entire life - you probably haven't heard about sign language writing systems. Spoken languages around the world have writing systems so surely sign languages can too? Well, many have been tried and used in brief corners of the world but none have been widely adopted by Deaf communities.

 I recommend these resources if you want to learn more about all of those attempts and their histories:

• Sign Language Dictionary - Writing History
• The Hunt for The Perfect Sign Language Writing System (© 2025 Zrajm)

 But in this mini-series of posts I want to explain the different types there are so that you, intrepid future sign language writer, may better understand the options and pick which to learn or make.

 In the last part I talked about the uses of sign language writing systems. And wow that one was very divisive over on Reddit! In this post I want to go through some uses I have found in real life.

Part 1: Logographies (Reddit Post & Comments Section)

Part 2: Pojectional Systems (Reddit Post & Comments Section)

Part 3: Parameter Alphabets (Reddit Post & Comments Section)

Part 4: History, Grammar and Gloss (Reddit Post & Comments Section)

Part 4.1:  Deaf People Before Deaf Schools - An Open Letter to Helen Scarlet Fever 
(Reddit Post & Comments Section) 

Part 5: Useful or Useless? (Reddit Post & Comments Section)

Part 6: SL Writing IRL <= You are here

Setting the Scene

Sign language writing systems are, admittedly, niche. But I think many people might be surprised in what places they have found purchase. And it is from such niches that any successful writing system will might eventually flourish.

So let me take you on a journey across the world, from Brazil through America to Britain - to show you where sign language writing systems have already been used in real life.

 To make it clear I will not include dictionaries, grammars, sign language classes, other learning materials, proofs of concept and most academic work, unless there is a clear reason why it should be an exception. I want to find natural organic uses of sign language writing, ones that show the potential it has.

Sutton Signwriting in Brazil (and more)

 Sutton signwriting is perhaps the most internationally adapted and successful writing systems. It was pushed heavily across multiple sign languages. There are examples like Bibles being written in it, the UN declaration of Human Rights, ASL + LIBRAS + Tunisian SL Wikipediaes and other books.

The Bible in SignWriting

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights in Signwriting

A Page From the TunisianSL Wikipedia

A SignWriting Book (Snow White)

• Museum of the Bible
• SignPuddle & Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (ASL) written in Sutton SignWriting
• M537x541S30a00482x483S33e00482x483S16c48479x461S18551504x460S18535510x522S29a04522x482S37a0a456x470S3770d456x510 - Wp/tse - Wikimedia Incubator
• SignWriting Shop
• More here: SignWriting Library

 But in most places it has mostly flown under the radar. The primary major exception being Brazil. In Brazil the main national sign language is LIBRAS. There signwriting is far more widely taught, known and accepted. It is taught in 12 schools and 18 universities! It's unclear precisely what capacity they use it in (as I am unable to read Portuguese) but it appears they mainly use it to help teach LIBRAS to Deaf children and perhaps also hearing learners.

SignWriting on the Side of  School

• Brazilian Sign Language - Wikipedia
• A arte de escrever em libras

 Here are some items found with SignWriting from Brazil:

A physical book printed in SignWriting (O Sonho De Isabella)

A physical book printed in SignWriting (inside)

Water Bottles with Sign Names Written in SignWriting

Thanks to Nulpoints for helping me find these images, originally sourced from the Sutton Signwriting Whatsapp group.

 Additionally SignWriting is popular in Deaf academia, so much so that an entire dissertation was written and accepted in SignWriting in 2015.

The Cover Page

The Abstract / Introduction

A Comparison of the Same Page in Both LIBRAS and Portuguese (the whole thing is like this)

• SignWriting Symposium

 This is all to say that Brazil, and to an extent the rest of South America in its wake, have adopted SignWriting more than anywhere else on the globe.

 But this comes with a caveat. While some parts of the Brazilian Deaf community have adopted it, others do not use it. It is not the language of ever-day Brazilian Deaf people despite being taught for quite a while now.

The SI5S Boom and Bust in the USA

 In around 2013 Si5S made an explosion onto the scene! Originally conceived of in 2007, it wasn't until 2013 that the textbook was published. This kicked off a wave of interest and support for it.

 This video is from roughly that time, where Robert talks about and shows examples of people using the writing system. He talks about other Deaf folks asking him to write their life stories, and about teaching Deaf children, and them being "hungry" (in his words) to learn.

Robert Arnold Augustus at TEDxIslay

 Additionally across social media there was a flood of posts using and supporting Si5S, promoting workshops in classes across the country.

Si5S Superbowl Advert

People posing with their Textbooks

People posing with their Textbooks

  Thank you to Nulpoints for finding these images from old social media posts (I believe mainly Facebook).

 Additionally at one point Si5S was adopted and taught within Gallaudet. I have heard this from multiple people at this point, although the support doesn't seem to have spread much beyond the classroom and these nameplates.

>When I was at Gallaudet, sign language writing systems were a mandatory part of the curriculum. Every Gallaudet student learns si5s (or in the past, Stokoe).
[...] 
faculty nameplates in the ASL and Deaf Studies department. 

Creating a writing system for (American) Sign Language? : r/aslr/asl

 But just as quick as it had exploded onto the scene it fizzled to nothing. I believe this is only in part due to the internal fracture between Si5S and ASLwrite - though I haven't heard much about it's creator in the intervening years. More importantly I believe it just lost momentum. While it is remembered today by some, it is a far cry from the impact that its creator and early adopters had hoped.

The Stokoe Birth Certificate in the UK

 One lovely story of sign language writing comes from Britain. Both parents were Deaf, I am unable to find out where the baby was or not. She was named: Hazel UbOtDDstarL.

Also to be clear about this section - all information and images I have used are in the public domain. Beyond what is already out there - we should respect Hazel UbOtDDstarL's privacy.

Right: Hazel UbOtDDstarL , Left: Someone* Signing \"SMILE\" (*possibly either the linguist, or her father)

Hazel UbOtDDstarL's Birth Certificate

• The BSL Birth Certificate | AIMS

 The parents even faced a legal battle, originally being told no at the Registry Office (as UK naming law allows refusal of names that are "impossible to pronounce"), but hired a solicitor who helped them secure the right to name their child as they'd like in their native language.

 "UbOtDDstarL" means "big smile", and is this sign here: BSL SignBank. They consulted with a BSL linguist to produce this, though it isn't stated who this person is, as they are just labelled as "a linguist" by most publications. The version of Stokoe being used is likely the ASCII adaptation which can be found here: Stokoe notation - Wikipedia

• U = chin
• b = prone arm as an orientation (aka palm down) (this is on the left side of the handshape in ASCII Stokoe, but on the right side in regular Stokoe)
• O = O handshape
• t = towards the signer.
• DD = most likely a typo
• star = * (open up)
• L = L handshape

Thank you to Nulpoints for helping to check my work on this.

 Unfortunately the DD seems to be a typo or mis-understanding from this part of the Wikipedia page (or whatever reference the linguist used):

Likely origin for the DD typo

The Ds shown here are meant to be stand-ins for the Dez (aka handshape) and are meant to be replaced with something else. Additionally I presume that '*' was changed to 'star' due to UK naming laws which refuses names with symbols/punctuation.  Thus the name would read: "UbOt*[L]" or "UbOtstarL" to remain compliant with UK naming laws.

Thus a more typical Stokoe rendition would look something like this:

Nulpoint's rendition using the Stokoe Font in Latex

 That being said - it's still a lovely name and it's via these sorts of mistakes that language evolves. Hazel UbOtDDstarL will be around 13 at this point, and I hope she is living her best life :)

While this didn't exactly trigger a wave of people doing the same - it definitely offer's a format for how people could incorporate their sign names into their legally recognised names if they wanted to. I could change my name to "Olivia Ow" (Ow being O handshape + shake, the BSL for "olive") or "Olivia cvz55vz" (in reference to my long hair) for example.

The ASLphabet Homework in the USA

 A random use of written sign language I found in the wild was this use of ASLphabet in a child's homework! Sadly the original Reddit post has now been deleted but these are the pictures I got from it.

Homework in ASLphabet

Anyone can tell me is my kid (grade 1 Deaf school) did her work correctly? : r/asl**r/asl

 This is a fascinating example of sign language writing in use in an actual real life educational setting - occurring seemingly spontaneously. I can't tell if this is linked to any wider examples, though it doesn't seem to be so far as I am aware.

 But it demonstrates the principle that a writing system could indeed be useful in education. The children were, in-fact, able to match the handshapes to the relevant signs - demonstrating they had learnt the glyphs and were gaining phonological awareness.

 I have reached out to someone purporting to be the maker of said worksheets, and will update if I hear anything back from them.

 Additionally I have found a website called ASL Clear, which seems to be an educational website using ASLphabet to teach educational signs alongside videos!

ASLclear Website

Conclusions

Sadly this isn't much, but I think it demonstrates what could be. These are the useful niches that people have found sign language writing useful within, and from which it can grow. Even spoken languages started out used only within niches - by traders and priests who found it useful to keep track of goods and myths, and from there more and more of society began to use it.

 Perhaps the hurdles to sign language writing are too high ever to leap. Or perhaps they just need the right combination of when, where and how. I think it shows us that we need to learn the lessons of these systems and take what works. Either we can build upon what we already have, or building something new with these foundations.

 I'd suggest though, that we do need to consolidate. Notice that these different occurrences are spread out quite far and wide and across numerous different systems. Ideally we would come together and write to one another. Create a community of sign language writers who use the systems in our everyday lives to show how useful they can be. 

 But the looming question remains... which system to choose? More on that in my next, and final, instalment! ;)

Also - as Reddit only lets me post 20 images in a post I will be sharing a few more images in the comments.

I got some certificates in administration assistant, both Level 1 and Level 2 from local college, but recently I joined this new deaf employment job agency GLAD EDD, my job coach told me it’s kinda tricky, cuz it’s not a popular common jobs, since techs took over lately. Also, since I’m hard of hearing, worried about using the phone part, because I don’t hear well sometime, or hearing people don’t understand my voice well. I do work at a retail store part time, but I do avoid phone parts. Same thing volunteering at animal shelter, I avoid the phone as well too! I guess it’s good that I got these skills, but for jobs it would be hard to find one would accommodate me well. I know there’s VP, Subtitles Closed Captions, and others accessible things for us deaf/ hoh people, beside I guess office related jobs has changed a lot since years ago

i’ve been dating this chick for a while. We texted for a month before meeting up , and we’ve been going on dates for about a month . It’s so in total, maybe two months

Any ways she’s deaf. We haven’t really talked about her deafness. All I know she has a cochlear implant, but doesn’t like to use it. I’ve never seen her use it. And that’s about it.

I know that there is a wide variety of hearing impairment.

Honestly, the biggest issue that I wanna know is , when I’m loudly singing in the car, can she tell how bad of a singer i am? cause I kind of love that I get to drive and sing with her. And I low-key don’t wanna lose that.

so would it be rude to ask her how much she can hear?

Hello! Hard-of-hearing. I grew up with a hearing family, we didn't know I was HoH until I was 19 (22 now), I started learning ASL a year after getting my hearing aids a bit after finding out I was HoH, as well as ingraining myself in the Deaf community. My whole life I've struggled being able to know whether someone is talking down to me or are just being real with me. People have advised me that if I feel bad, then they are belittling me, but I haven't really been able to figure out what to feel upset about, so sometimes I'm offended by things that shouldn't, and vice versa.

I've wondered this for years while associating myself in the deaf world, but just today I panicked and wondered when someone is being blunt or condescending. I know this Deaf man at Deaf events, he's like a tutor at a college he goes to, I was talking to him today. We were talking about school, he asked how old I was and I told him I was 22. He said that I'm still very little, that I'm a baby (mostly in Spanish. This part didn't get to me, I actually think it's endearing. It happens a lot on Mexico). He asked me if I work. I told him no, and he asked me how I financially support myself. I told him that I have leftover money from my last job and that my parents help me. He then pretended to be me, begging "mommy and daddy" to pay for my stuff, my gas, my food. He told me I can both go to college and get a job, telling me who works and goes to college, as well as those who have kids.

I was so embarassed, because to be honest, yes I am ashamed that I don't have a job. There are other reasons I don't want to get into much, but an eating disorder is one of them, and I feel ashamed that I'm the reason I allow this eating disorder to get me, and it makes me feel useless only going to college.

Now, I don't think he said it to pressure me, but probably to encourage me to keep pushing myself. He's a jokester too, and he was probably being sarcastically mean, and I probably didn't pick up on that. This is the most recent example I can bring up.

I need help figuring out how to improve on my social skills in understanding people faster. I was already struggling in the hearing world, now I have a whole other culture with different mannerisms to work on. 😅

I am hard-of-hearing and a college student. I grew up homeschooled so this is my first classroom experience.

At first I didn't think I needed to put in for special accommodations, until one teacher last semester was hostile towards me for not being able to hear, and accused me of faking. She even threatened to kick me out for disrespect. Thank goodness she got fired for something else.

When my attempts to clear things with her just escalated her behavior, I asked for assistance from the assistant dean. She was fairly helpful and diplomatic, but strongly suggested I get special accomodations to back myself up with paperwork.

Now, I finally have my recent hearing test and all my accommodations paperwork in order and am doing well in class by reading the book. I thought this was the end of it. I was wrong.

When my accomodations got approved the first thing they suggested was that I take my tests in a quiet room by myself with more time. This makes absolutely no sense, I don't have a learning or attention disorder. I told them this and they said it will still be in my accomodationa but I don't have to use it if I don't want to.

I said all I need is written instructions for anything that isn't already in the materials or posted. And she said I can use AI to listen to the lecture and ask it to summarize what is important.

They are completely disregarding what my audiologist and I wrote, and are giving me this random junk that isn't helpful.

I am nearly at the top of my class without being able to hear the teacher. I am not learning disabled!

This is only mildly infuriating because I can read English very well, and am doing fine academically.

I am a hearing father with a deaf son. My son is struggling with reading and I am struggling with how best to teach him to read. I was hoping that people here could give me some advice or recommendations on how to approach this. Are there any tools available (like flash cards or books that show a word with a picture of ASL handshapes/motions) or any methods that people have found that work effectively? Thanks in advance.