I was, unfortunately, unable to study abroad. Instead, all my experience interacting with the Deaf community and in using American Sign Language has been through my classes and with the local Deaf community. It has been interesting learning about Deaf culture. The differences between Deaf and hearing cultures and customs are interesting, but it makes sense once you understand their history. 

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One thing that has been reiterated repeatedly during my time at Clemson was that being deaf does not mean you are Deaf. There is a difference between “deaf” and “Deaf.” “deaf” is hearing loss. People who identify as deaf are not part of the Deaf community. They may have become deaf later in life and most likely don’t use sign language preferring to try to read lips and vocalize. They also view their lack of hearing as a disability. This is completely different from being Deaf.

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Being Deaf does not mean having a disability. The inability to hear is not a deficiency but instead a gain. DeafGain means that no matter where a Deaf individual goes they can connect with others like them, they have connections through the Deaf community across the globe. They are not worse off for not having the ability to hear; instead, they are better at other things. Having one sense taken away means their other senses are more in tune and they can do more. A Deaf individual typically has significantly better facial recognition and peripheral vision than a hearing person. DeafGain includes gaining a new language and gaining a community of people who will support you.

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One custom I have found interesting though is that Deaf individuals don’t lock their doors during the day. Locked doors mean there is a barrier and any information that is being given behind the door is lost to the Deaf individual. That loss of information has been constant throughout Deaf history. When around hearing people deaf individuals are left out of conversations. Hearing people would say things like “I’ll tell you later” or “you wouldn’t understand” leaving the deaf individual out of the conversation. Loss of communication and restriction are also common themes in Deaf history. Not only were Deaf individuals left out of conversations but their language, ASL, was almost taken from them. Oralism was the preferred method of teaching and communicating with the Deaf. Hearing people decided that sign language was inferior to English and therefore should only be used by oral failures. Hearing teachers would smack their hands with rulers if they were caught signing or gesturing instead of reading lips and vocalizing. This is something that has caused the Deaf community to be so in love with their language and to have traditions like keeping the doors open and unlocked. They also just walk into people’s houses and expect others to just walk into theirs because they can’t hear if someone knocks on their door.

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The Deaf community is also very proud of their language. Signing is beautiful and a more full way of communicating than spoken English. ASL is expressive and not limited by words, it includes body language and facial expressions. You don’t even have to use specific signs to tell a story you can just depict it. ASL is an actual language too. It meets all the requirements to be a language, meaning it cannot be inferior to spoken languages. 

Due to signing being a visual language there are some different social rules than there are with spoken languages. In group settings for spoken languages it doesn’t really matter were you sit or tand because you can hear in any direction. It is polite to face the person who is talking but not always possible like in classrooms or really crowded areas. This is considered rude in Deaf culture though since it cuts off some people from having access to what is said. Deaf gatherings are held in open spaces where people can form circles so that everyone can see everyone and no one is left out. Deaf spaces also include lots of light, preferably natural light to make sure everyone is visible. In Deaf culture, when two people are talking and someone needs to go through them and can’t go around they just walk through quickly. They don’t say “excuse me” or “sorry” they just walk straight through. This is becuase you don’t want to break their eye contact. When someone just walks through quickly the two people can still see each other and the signs, there’s isn’t an interruption and the conversation or story continues on as normal. When someone steps in between them and starts saying “oh I’m sorry” “excuse me” and so on the two signers have to break their eye contact to look at the distraction. 

Another custom in Deaf culture that is different from hearing culture is their long drawn out greetings and goodbyes. When a Deaf individual is new to an area and meeting the Deaf people in that area they introduce themselves by more than just their name. They don’t care about how they became deaf either. Instead they introduce themselves with their name, name sign (if they have one), when they started signing, where they learned how to sign, where they went to school and other stuff like that. This is done to make connections with other people and find commonalities. If they have a location in common they might also know some of the same people and this helps build their community. When Deaf people are leaving a Deaf event they have long drawn out goodbyes because before texting and video calls Deaf individuals didn’t know when they would be able to see that person again. This also helped to prolong the time they spent around other Deaf people before they had to return to the hearing dominant world.

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The Deaf community has a culture that is theirs. They have things they do that others cultures don’t and it makes them all the more special for it. Deaf people aren’t disabled as the hearing world would say they are. They are fully capable of living their lives without have hearing people intervene. They have their own language, culture, community, and traditions.