In a message dated 12/23/2001 7:18:43 PM Eastern Standard Time,
[log in to unmask] writes:


> Sorry for the lecture. I did not mean to run on like this.
>
They were thought provoking comments.  You reminded me of a hearing guy I
knew at Gallaudet.  He was from Philly, and was the son of deaf parents and
siblings.  He wasn't always at the school, but because he lived so close, he
would come down for certain events. He was the only one in his family who was
hearing, as I recall.  He signed better than a few deaf people I know.

This is funny to me.  The first time I met him, I didn't even know he was
hearing until the end of the conversation.  He signed so well that I
automatically assumed he was deaf, so I signed the whole time.  He must have
assumed that I was deaf too since I was only signing.  That happens at times
at Gallaudet because there are a number of hearing people on campus for
various reasons, but one or the other person usually discovers that there has
been a mutual case of "mistaken identity" long before the end of the
conversation.

He was totally assimilated into deaf culture, but seemed to feel comfortable
in the company of hearing people too.  I thought that was pretty cool since
his whole family was deaf.  Maybe that's routine for hearing children of deaf
parents.  I only knew this guy, but if it's true generally, that would
certainly be consistant with the findings about ab kids of pwds.

I mention this because some aspects of deaf culture are ball games unto
themselves.  Hearing children of deaf parents are often the interpreters of
the family.  I'm thinking of the many kinds of situations in which these
children might find themselves placed, and how they might be impacted by
their level of responsibility in the family.

Betty