Life as a Signer: Deaf People's Perspective

May 12th, 2025 - June 4th, 2025

Wellington, NZ     ->     Rotorua, NZ     ->     Auckland, NZ     ->     Melbourne, AU     ->     Sydney, AU

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Expectations vs. Reality

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When I tell people I studied abroad for my American sign language (ASL) degree, the first reaction I get is confusion. Truthfully, I had the same response when I found out I would be studying abroad halfway around the world. It's a common misconception that ASL is universal, however, every country has their own signed language. Just like spoken language, sign has developed differently in each country and has influence from a mix of existing signed languages. For example, ASL is rooted in Old French sign language while Auslan and New Zealand sign language (NZSL) come from British sign language (BSL). As a result of the vast difference between ASL and Auslan or NZSL, I struggled to understand why the ASL department wanted the students to study in these countries.  

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It wasn't until several days after arriving in Wellington, NZ that I understood the brilliance of the trip's location. A requirement for participating in the trip was to be declared fluent by the faculty director, Dr. Jody Cripps. Each student was expected to only use signed language while abroad, so a high level of skill was required for participation. The goal of the trip was to give students an idea of a deaf person's perspective of daily life. Partially, this perspective was gained through watching the hearing world interact with our group when they saw us sign. Many people would stare, some would try and ask questions about our group, and many thought that we were all deaf due to our use of signed language. Student's also gained perspective by experiencing how the deaf community overcomes language barrier. As many hearing people have experienced, traveling to a new country without knowing the language is daunting. Often it feels embarrassing or rude to try to communicate in another language. This was not the case, however, within the deaf community.

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Due to the expressive nature of signed language, learning NZSL and Auslan was not embarrassing or disheartening. While each signed language is grounded in a set of linguistic rules and signs, they also rely heavily on creating a visual picture for the receiver. In casual settings, signers often use classifiers and occasionally gestures to better create visuals for the audience. These skills are incredibly helpful when signing across a language barrier. Feeling comfortable using facial expressions and gestures linked with classifiers to describe and idea makes it possible to maintain a basic understanding of those who sign in a different language. Learning the alphabet of each new language is also incredibly helpful, as they are both rooted in the English alphabet and while it is not an efficient way of interacting, it can be helpful for conveying important ideas or asking questions. ​​

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Gaining a deaf person's perspective through these two avenues dramatically improved my understanding of deaf culture and my used of ASL. There will always be more to learn and I by no means think I understand what it is to be deaf. However, gaining even the smallest insight into another culture can be invaluable when learning that language and connecting with the people who use it. 

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Experiencing Deaf Culture

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​When learning about different cultures, we often find there are social norms, faux pas, and rules that differ from our own. While we may do our best to learn and fit into these different cultures, we often do not understand exactly where they come from. In my time in the study abroad program I was often mistaken for being deaf. Hearing people would ask me questions when they realized our professor was deaf and since I was not in charge and did not know everything we were doing or want to make decisions, I had no answer for him. I was never pretending to be deaf, but I often could not answer their questions and did not want to answer for my professor or tour guide, so I remained silent. One day, a bus driver got frustrated trying to communicate and asked me if I was deaf. I responded that I wasn't, and signed at the same time. I was not trying to be deceptive or lie. He asked me why I was signing if I was not deaf and this question struck me. I realized that he really thought that it was strange for me to choose to use a language that was not English. He thought there is no reason someone would choose not to speak if they could, showing the power that society gives spoken language on a daily basis. 
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As a result of many people thinking I was deaf, I experience several people starting to interpret for me. One afternoon, the group was attending a lecture and I raised my hand to ask a question. I started to ask my question in sign language as the presenter was deaf. My question was interpreted into English for some of the viewers who were hearing and this was my first experience understanding why interpreting is not as simple as knowing sign language. Interpreters need to not only know vocabulary, but they need to be able to express tone, find the perfect word in English to match each sign, and they need to know the underlying meaning of each word used. While the interpreter was speaking for me I kept thinking to myself, that's not what I mean, or you missed some of my signs. Relying on another person to retell your thoughts is a deeply humbling experience and it made be better aware of why deaf people should not have to rely on interpreters. They are not the solution to including the deaf community on a daily basis and they are not an excuse for not learning sign language and getting each story and thought from the source.

 

Reflection​

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Over the course of the trip I became increasingly comfortable with signing in public, even when I was only with my classmates. I used to feel rude if I used ASL when it was not a necessity. I saw signing as something I could use to connect with and include a different culture, but I thought it was not mine to use for myself. Through this experience, however, I learned that the most powerful part about a group of hearing students being immersed in deaf culture for 21 day is not that they may become good enough at signing to be interpreters, or that they may become doctors who know sign language. While these are important ideas, it is not about what a hearing person can do for the deaf community, it is about spreading the acceptance and normalcy of signed language. 

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It is important to recognize that the acceptance of signed language is important not only for current members of the deaf community, but also generations to come. We saw amazing accomplishments by the deaf communities in New Zealand and Australia such as NZSL being declared an official language of New Zealand, a federal board for the deaf community to advise the government in New Zealand, and the K-12 Victorian College for the Deaf in Melbourne. With all of these amazing steps, however, we also saw deaf schools being shut down, deaf club attendance dwindling, and low enrollment rates in current deaf schools. With doctors often still advising oral methods for deaf children, mainstreaming and cochlear implants are becoming increasingly common. Many deaf children do not learn sign language or have access to nearby deaf schools and are instead sent into a hearing school with an interpreter. Normalizing signed language does not only help with inclusion of deaf people but it would also ensure deaf culture thrives.

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I have been lucky enough to travel to many regions of the United States and countries around the world. While I have seen beautiful monuments and tasted amazing food, I have never seen a more connected community as I did visiting deaf establishments in Australia and New Zealand. Our first day of the program, our group sat in on an NZSL class for hearing students at Victoria University. After the class finished, we continued to hangout with the students and even days later planned dinner and walked around the city. Towards the end of the first week we headed to the deaf club in Wellington and were sincerely welcomed by some of the most established members of the deaf community. We also visited the deaf club in Auckland were we socialized for hours learning to play pool and sharing stories. These are a few examples of the ways in which signed language connects people from around the world and creates a community which welcomes strangers with open arms. I have always found it amusing how my professors will mention famous deaf actors and actresses, writers, and advocates, then proceed to talk about the different times they have met. Now, I understand why the deaf community is so small and it is not due to the number of people. It is the way a large population of people are so connected and welcoming to each other that relationships seem instant.​

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