Does deaf mean you can't speak?

By Laura S. Harris
Sep 1, 2021

The term continues to be used to refer to deaf people who cannot speak an oral language or have some degree of speaking ability, but choose not to speak because of the negative or unwanted attention atypical voices sometimes attract. Such people communicate using sign language.

How do deaf people call 911?

Emergencies and 911 People who are deaf, deafblind or hard of hearing may text 911 or call 911 using their preferred form of phone communication (including voice, TTY, video relay, caption relay, or real-time text). ... You may tell them you are deaf, deafblind or hard of hearing, but you are not required to disclose that.

Can deaf people laugh?

Deaf audiences may be more likely to laugh during signing because vocal laughter does not interfere with the visual perception of signing, unlike the probable degradation of the perception of speech by the laughter of a hearing audience.

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References

• https://en.wikipedia.org (Sep 22, 2021) Deaf-mute - Wikipedia
• https://mn.gov (Sep 22, 2021) Emergency Communications and Preparedness / Deaf and Hard of ...
• https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov (Aug 4, 2006) Laughter Among Deaf Signers - NCBI