Guest Author - Kelli Deister

As deafness editor, my goal is to spend time discussing not only the issues pertaining to the various levels of deafness, but also the differences of age in which hearing loss can occur. My first topic is that of late-deafened adults. Part one will focus on some of the frustrations they feel, in the area of communication.

In the United States, most Deaf have grown up using American Sign Language, while most that are hearing have grown up using English. I was made aware today of just how different these two languages really are. For instance, when asking for scratch paper, a Deaf individual is requesting a sheet of school paper. However, when a hearing individual asks for scratch paper, they are asking for paper that is either cut up into small pieces for taking telephone messages, or previously used paper that can be used to draw on.

Another issue is the grammatical structure between the two languages. For example, with American Sign Language, the adjective follows the noun. However, with the English language, the adjective precedes the noun. Lastly, there are words used in ASL that hold two different meanings for a single word. An example of this would be the words eat and food or fly and airplane. The same sign is used for both eat and food, yet one is a verb and the other is a noun. The same applies for the words fly and airplane.

This article is simply to introduce the many differences between the two languages that can create extreme challenges for the late-deafened adult. This is because they grew up as a hearing individual and possess all necessary skills for writing, reading, and speaking perfect English. Yet, once they began to lose their hearing and found themselves having to learn sign language, in order to effectively communicate, they were faced with learning a second language. Late-deafened adults must learn an entirely new grammatical structure and a new set of language rules, not to mention the adjustability factors involved.

In essence, it is truly difficult for these individuals because they must learn when to use their American Sign Language skills and when to use their English skills. It can become quite confusing for the late-deafened individual, as they struggle to find their place in their communicative world.