DEAF CULTURE

When thinking about deaf culture, realize there is a barrier dividing people who are deaf from hearing people, and it is communication. A large portion of deaf culture revolves around this fact of life. Lack of communication inhibits the interaction between people. So, to overcome this, many people who are deaf key in on socialization. Deaf people are famous for "DST," Deaf Standard Time. That is, the Deaf have a tendency to be late because they like to chat for long periods of time. However, not Deaf are involved with the Deaf Community. Not all people who are deaf, especially young deaf children of hearing parents, have access to -- or even know -- other people who are deaf. Nine out of every ten deaf children are born from hearing parents who have no experience or knowledge of the deaf community. There are deaf children whose parents do not know Sign Language. And, there are deaf children who do not know other deaf children. Many have a hard time making good friends because they either don't have the opportunity or they don't share the same language with other children. We feel it is important, like many other deaf sites on the Internet, to raise awareness about these issues.