How do deaf people...?

There is this assumption that deaf people cannot hear. Right "deaf" means "cannot hear" but this refers to without hearing aids. The majority of deaf people have between 95% to 55% hearing loss which whatever hearing residue is left can be enhanced with the aid of hearing aids. Those who are 100% deaf would not be able to use hearing aids with the exception of getting a cochlear implant, and that is not every deaf person, just a portion of them.

I am 85% deaf, profoundly deaf that is, and I've been wearing hearing aids since I was 18 months old. I have been speaking, lip-reading and yes, listening with my hearing aids since that age. A lot of people don't realize that I'm actually deaf because I speak so well.

I'll explain how I was taught. In order to teach a deaf child to speak, lip-read and listen requires the use of hearing aids and a lot of time spent on developing these communication skills from teachers. As soon as a baby or child is discovered to be deaf, it is imperative you start right away regardless of their age, so their communication skills can be developed.

An example of teaching me sounds, like each letter of the alphabet, the teacher would use a feather in front of our mouths to teach us how to say "p" with the output of the air, and to teach us how to say "m", they would put our hands on their face and/or neck and on our own to feel the vibrations and try to help us mimick those sounds, and so on.

We learn to lipread, one word at a time, and learn how to speak each word correctly at a time. We just do it all the time as much as possible. There were a lot of excercises or game to encourage a lot of speaking practice.

As for your question whether deaf people think in words, sign language or pictures, it really varies from deaf person to person based on their level of hearing, when they lost it, what type of education they had, and so on. There are different types of education methods for deaf children which are: oral education (speaking and lipreading only, that's the one I had), total communcation (speaking, lipreading and signing both together, speaking skills are not as good as less time is spent on this skill), and ASL only (This includes reading and writing English). But ALL deaf people that sign are bilingual, did you know that? Both ASL and English. I mean how can we go through school without learning how to read and write English?? Think about it.

So for me since I've been speaking all my life, not learning sign until my early 20's, I think in words almost kind of like you would, only that it is not really more about auditorally, it is more of my own perception of how words are spoken. My brain understands the association between the words and the sounds that I know of those words, my brain does not require perfect sound in order to think. In my dreams, I dream in regular conversations, words in written format, and pictures too. I do not dream in sign language as that is not my native language.

Those that sign as their native and sole means of communication besides writing English, would probably think more in signs, and words shown in their visual format, like a combination of those two.

A 4 year old going deaf still has to go to school, so how can they go to school without learning to read and write? I mean that is not too hard to figure. A parent isn't going to keep a 4 yr old child at home avoiding school, it's required by law to send them to school. That is why there is special education, if a deaf 4 yr old needs more time to catch up with language skills, but then again a 4 year old would already know how to speak and lipread, probably pass almost hearing with hearing aids because they had four years to develop those listening and speaking skills. That child would do fine growing up developing language skills at a normal pace.

Without the sounds, a deaf person can't write really well to understand how the grammar rules work by rhythmic sounds. But if this deaf person has been heavily taught in the English or any other language. They will like a sound like a hearing person.

I am now not profoundly deaf however do have a listening to impairment. My mum is BSL informed in signal language so has taught a bit lady for decades who's deaf, I have additionally met many peers of hers that have been/are deaf.

hi

Deaf people are exactly that people...they do think in words because they aren't blind they know what words are...and they know what they look like...

I would like to say that i have learned sign languge in high school that how you can talk to them from betsy Wilcox from boise,Id

That's a good question.

that is a good answer