Being deaf • Hacker News Board

Re: Being deaf

#131

Post by daeken » Tue, May 22, 2012, 12:41 AM UTC

AngryParsley wrote: post #89

pwim wrote: post #73

Have you considered doing your own start up? From reading your story, I saw several opportunities. In particular I don’t know if it’s whether they never saw my note, whether they rejected my resume silently, or whether they attempted calling my phone number (which doesn’t take calls). stood out to me. It wasn't clear to me what happens when someone called the phone, but seemed like it rejected calls. Why not have an…

That sounds like it would work pretty well. Set up voicemail, but have it mention that the person is deaf and that an SMS or e-mail would be more convenient. The tricky part is transcription. If you want better transcription than Google Voice, you have to use a human.[1] That means Mechanical Turk or a TTY operator. My main concern is how viable such a product would be. Depending on who you ask, 0.2-0.4% of the popul…

> Depending on who you ask, 0.2-0.4% of the population is considered deaf. That's not a very big potential market.

It's definitely not a very big potential market, but it's a substantial sector of the population that's very, very underserved. I think that there's a lot of potential to make a decent chunk of money while doing a lot of good. I've been thinking a lot for the past year or two about technology for the blind (both in terms of assistance devices and games) and I've come to the same conclusion there, largely.

Re: Being deaf

#132

Post by Kluny » Tue, May 22, 2012, 2:07 AM UTC

becho wrote: post #116

Kluny wrote: post #114

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Hey, I'm also deaf and studying programming. I had an internship at a web design company, which ended badly, mostly due to my misreading of social cues. Do you have any advice on how to avoid that in the future? And is there some kind of meet up forum where I can meet other deaf programmers? Most of the deaf people I meet in everyday life are semi-literate, and, though perfectly nice people, not very interesting to t…

I commented above; posting here so you see it too -- We would like to host a meetup (in the Bay area) and have a drink and get to know each other. If you'd (and anyone else, all are welcome) be interested in that, email me at bobby at brilliantecho.com and I'll put something together.

Hmm, I live a bit far from the Bay area to make the meeting. I really want to have some sort of community, now that I know there's a couple of us. How about a facebook page? Would all of you contact me, shannon at rocketships.ca, so I can invite you?

Re: Being deaf

#133

Post by Mz » Tue, May 22, 2012, 2:17 AM UTC

Kluny wrote: post #114

captdeaf wrote: post #43

Hi. I'm 32, I'm deaf, and an engineer. Formerly of RIT (though I left long before graduation). Currently located in the Bay Area of CA. My first job was with Amazon. I was their first deaf corporate employee, and had to fight for every interpreter hour I got. Quit after a year. Did remote contracting for a year and a half, then went to Google. Quit after 2.5 years, and now I work in an office with deaf friends, we do…

Hey, I'm also deaf and studying programming. I had an internship at a web design company, which ended badly, mostly due to my misreading of social cues. Do you have any advice on how to avoid that in the future? And is there some kind of meet up forum where I can meet other deaf programmers? Most of the deaf people I meet in everyday life are semi-literate, and, though perfectly nice people, not very interesting to t…

Re social cues: See if you can find a socially savvy friend to kind of mentor you. By that I mean someone who might hang with you, critique what you do and help you find a means to bridge the gap. I have done a lot of that for my two sons. They are not literally deaf but are ASD, which I have described as "socially deaf" (in other words, they just don't read social cues well or instintively know how to react appropriately). It has made a big difference.

Take care and best of luck.

Re: Being deaf

#134

Post by Kluny » Tue, May 22, 2012, 2:17 AM UTC

caffeineninja wrote: post #102

David, that was a very eloquent and well-written post and I certainly hope that you came away from writing that with a better sense of well-being. I, too, am deaf, but our experiences are different. I was born deaf and am profoundly deaf with 85+ db loss in both ears. At the risk of sounding conceited, I'm what you would consider a success story. A background: As a child, I lived in San Diego, and my parents (at the…

Heya, I'd like to start some sort of community for those of us who are deaf and work in technology. I'm studying programming in Victoria, myself. Want to contact me, shannon at rocketships.ca, and I'll invite you to a facebook page? If you have a better idea than facebook, let me know, too.

Re: Being deaf

#135

Post by Kluny » Tue, May 22, 2012, 2:18 AM UTC

veb wrote: post #111

caffeineninja wrote: post #102

David, that was a very eloquent and well-written post and I certainly hope that you came away from writing that with a better sense of well-being. I, too, am deaf, but our experiences are different. I was born deaf and am profoundly deaf with 85+ db loss in both ears. At the risk of sounding conceited, I'm what you would consider a success story. A background: As a child, I lived in San Diego, and my parents (at the…

I'm deaf too, however I don't have a cochlear implant and like you I learned how to read lips and body-language when I was a child. I agree with you too, much easier to control (hehe) or engage in the conversation rather than be the fly on the wall. What really gets me though, is when you see those micro expressions flash over peoples faces and then you start to doubt what you perhaps misheard or what you should've s…

I'm reposting a comment from earlier to make sure you see it:

Heya, I'd like to start some sort of community for those of us who are deaf and work in technology. I'm studying programming in Victoria, myself. Want to contact me, shannon at rocketships.ca, and I'll invite you to a facebook page? If you have a better idea than facebook, let me know, too.

Re: Being deaf

#136

Post by Kluny » Tue, May 22, 2012, 2:19 AM UTC

Joakal wrote: post #31

I had similar issues with you, sarenji: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2111278 (Ask HN: Deaf wannabe entrepreneur faces networking issues. How to work with it? | Hacker News) As for love, all the people I've dated were 'normal' as in, they didn't have hearing problems like I did. They didn't mind. In fact, I even met people on OkCupid despite them knowing I'm deaf. Of course, it's hard if you're a developer and…

Reposting earlier comment to make sure you see it:

Heya, I'd like to start some sort of community for those of us who are deaf and work in technology. I'm studying programming in Victoria, myself. Want to contact me, shannon at rocketships.ca, and I'll invite you to a facebook page? If you have a better idea than facebook, let me know, too.

Re: Being deaf

#137

Post by jarek » Tue, May 22, 2012, 3:34 AM UTC

tjoff wrote: post #97

deltaqueue wrote: post #88

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Just another anecdote, but every Dutchman and Swede I've met has a much better grasp of the English language than any other country, and they all attribute it to how much American TV they watch. Probably just a corollary relationship given how English classes start at an early age, but I can't imagine the practice hurts.

I find it quite easy to find a correlation between countries that dubs their TV/movies with poor English comprehension. It really helps and without it people wouldn't be in contact with English that often (at least before the internet) and if you never refresh your knowledge it will most definitely fade. Yes, we start learning English at an early age but a lot of students excel way faster than teaching allows once th…

I don't think it's quite as simple. Poland has been dubbing foreign TV/movies since the early 90s (in addition to having a rich homegrown tradition of children's entertainment) and English among younger generations is widespread and quite good, if not Scandinavia/Netherlands good.

I'd be willing to bet a correlation with country's population and relative economic power would be much stronger.

Re: Being deaf

#138

Post by wesbrown18 » Tue, May 22, 2012, 3:58 AM UTC

deafscribe wrote: post #100

49-year-old deaf professional here. Used to work as a web dev in the 90's, until the dot.com crash in 2000. Last gig was working for the Washington Post. I can relate to everything sanenji's described - I'm quite like him but older. Been married twice, once to a hard of hearing woman, now with a deaf woman. Raised two fantastic children, do freelance writing on the side (here: https://influentialprose.wordpress.com/…

Amen to this -- my parents knew that if I was deaf, that I would need to learn by other means, ergo, reading. My father read to me every day since I was a child -- it did not matter that I did not understand him, it was the association and encouragement that helped. I was behind as far as literacy, until I started taking a real interest at 8. By the time I was 11, I was reading Star Trek Giant Novels.

Re: Being deaf

#139

Post by wesbrown18 » Tue, May 22, 2012, 4:01 AM UTC

driverdan wrote: post #123

jeffool wrote: post #38

Warning: A long meandering post, about multiple things, because my day job is at a relay center, taking calls from/to deaf people. I absolutely understand his fear of letting a relay operator help him here. Now, obviously this fellow can write in English awesomely, and like any other place my coworkers are great people and (the vast majority are) trying to do their job well, so on paper you'd think it could work... B…

Your comments about ASL and English are interesting. There are people who only/primarily speak ASL and don't speak English? Does this account for the low literacy rate the OP mentioned?

Exactly so. The main issue that I have is with people who tie literacy in English as a measure of intelligence and functionality. Some of the most brilliant and eloquent orators and storytellers in American Sign Language I have met were functionally illiterate -- but through their beautiful hands, magnificent images were painted in space. It is also a failure of the education system, trying to teach English in Signed English or Spoken English. The most effective teaching of English that I've seen is by a fluent American Sign Language speaker who can explain the different parts of speech.

Re: Being deaf

#140

Post by saizai » Tue, May 22, 2012, 4:16 AM UTC

I have kinda the inverse issue. I'm hearing, but I have a neurological disorder that causes occasional unpredictable periods of mutism, during which ASL is my primary means of communication. Sometimes that also requires emergency communication because I need immediate help, and especially in those situations I can't use a pen 'cause of spasticity; it's literally either ASL or yes/no grunts. :-/

I learned ASL just 'cause it's an awesome language, and I find it sad that this option is totally ignored by most people. As languages go it's very easy to learn, most d/Deaf people are happy to help, and it's far less clunky than cued speech or that godawful SEE.

So I can empathize with the frustration of not being able to communicate — for me it's on the other end, I can understand everyone around me but can't get them to understand me.

I kinda wish everyone would just learn some ASL. It's often useful even if you're talking hearing-to-hearing, signed mode is just plain different from spoken mode in lots of neat ways, ... but I guess most people aren't language geeks like me.