Eli

[deafcruz]

Heart turned deaf at the tender age of 13 years it he went deaf right at the beginning of Covid-19’s The isolation started cause of COVID, Thailand's procedures were like, most non-US countries had lock downs it could have just been a matter of them intending to fully isolate him, just using COVID as an excuse to keep him cooped up once the pandemic was no longer regarded as a threat in Thailand. Heart's mother loves her son, she doesn't realize what she has done to him by keeping him isolated like this, and she don’t understands (until the fight with Heart and Li Ming) that writing notes and doing simple hand gestures is not good enough. she is (probably intentionally) truly unaware of how much pain Heart has been in for all these years Heart had to do his own research, search up videos, learn a new language and methods to communicate all the while being almost fully isolated, both mentally and physically. He watched videos from the deaf/hoh community to give himself hope that his life wasn't over, and that life did get better. He had to teach himself to hope that one could do anything in life despite being deaf.

Heart's parents have never made the efforts to even acknowledge heart's disability, never made the efforts to understand how to adapt to heart's new circumstances and not even try to reach out to the deaf community ever. They've left him alone to adapt to his new, frightening and totally unknown circumstances.

As we see in that pivotal confrontation scene, Heart's dad stands there doing absolutely nothing, apparently being totally confused as to what to do. For some reason, he thinks that leaving his own son (who just told them that he thinks they're ashamed of him) to wallow in his own room alone was the right thing to do.

He probably understands that his parents are overprotective of him because they're worried about him. Heart's mother said he couldn't drive because he was deaf due to can’t hear

As hearing folks, his parents probably think with how those who are deaf, they can’t hear anything, making them unable to survive something seriously dangerous.

Hearing folks think that if the person driving can't hear, how can one drive? They've grown up with hearing folks, who hear sirens and horns honking. They never have to think twice about how easier life is for them due to them being able to hear.

As we see in that pivotal confrontation scene, Heart's dad stands there doing absolutely nothing, apparently being totally confused as to what to do. For some reason, he thinks that leaving his own son (who just told them that he thinks they're ashamed of him) to wallow in his own room alone was the right thing to do.

Heart didn't actually expect Li Ming to like him out of anything more than pity, kind of like li ming feeling sorry for him. He was grateful that Li Ming took him outside to see various places.

It wasn't until Li Ming took Heart to the church to let him meet more members of the deaf/hoh community and learn about the lives of deaf/hoh people for himself did he get that Li Ming was serious about his friendship with Heart and appreciated Heart as just another normal person.

As we saw in the episode, Li Ming saw Heart's curious and innocent nature and felt protective over him and ask him about his dreams for the future, treating him just like any other teen friend. Heart saw Li ming's efforts to learn more about the deaf such as requiring physical touch to attract attention before signing or speaking or that the fact the deaf don't like the term mute someone who can't speak it would refer to heart not being silent, but speaking out in his own language and since the mother doesn't know it assumes he's mute, something which li ming shows her is untrue. This, when compared to the total lack of efforts made by his own parents over the last 3 years of his deafness made Heart feel immensely angry and hurt. The look on Heart's face when he realised that his mother was unable to sign even a simple sorry at him was powerful in its visible sheer disappointment and heartbreak.

Heart's mother felt immense sadness at the realisation that she is unable to understand her son at all while a stranger can. they did not see how bottled up Heart felt at being trapped inside his own house for the last 3 years, unable to even communicate with his parents because of them never making the effort to even meet him a part of the way in an effort to communicate with him.

Even after realising the hurt she caused her son, Heart's mother calling out to Heart desperately just showed her inability and unwillingness to meet Heart half way due to her ignorance.

coming to another participant in this whole scene, an unwilling one though he may have been, Jim, Li ming's uncle. Both Jim and Heart's parents are a representation of the generational gap and how differently the two generations are willing to adjust to change.

Jim, like Heart's parents thought that it was better for the deaf child to be kept inside, safe from harm because of Heart's inability to hear. Jim is afraid to challenge the status quo, willing to take the blame so as to not rock the boat (do something that disturbing on existing situations) Jim wanted li Ming take blame and stop arguments with Heart parents he considered them powerful members of society

This is in total contrast to Li Ming, who, within months of meeting Heart, did his research and learned enough to actively communicate with Heart, whom he considered his friend, on Heart's terms,His efforts gave Heart enough confidence to speak up to his parents, on his terms, using the language that he learn myself , confident in the knowledge that person in the room can understand him. He being voice heart through heard him made them realise just how badly he had been hurt by them, and how poorly they treated him the last 3 years and make them realise their wrongs. All of this because of the fact that Li Ming was willing to be the interpreter for him and his thoughts.

After this confrontation, we see Heart breaking down, and finding the comfort and acceptance he so desperately needs in Li Ming's arms, the one person who was willing to listen to him.

[wei-ying-kexing-apologist]

The Moonlight Chicken Sign Language Index (aka signs that are the same or similar between Thai Sign Language and American Sign Language)

I asked, literally one person answered, and I kind of already had this assembled because of a conversation with @respectthepetty but that's enough for me at this point so...I'm basically just gonna copy and paste what I already had from that one reply in to it's own post.

DISCLAIMER: I am a hearing person with a minuscule (self-taught) knowledge of ASL and no knowledge of MTSL. My intention in making this post is not to teach anyone ASL, that is not my job and I should not be doing it because I am not Deaf. I am simply identifying signs I recognize. ASL is a beautiful language that I do hope to one day be able to learn properly because it is, personally, a very important language to me. I invite any Deaf or CODA people who may be reading this post to give me any critiques, or if anyone with actual knowledge of ASL, not my self-taught knowledge, identifies any more signs from the MTSL in Moonlight Chicken to ASL I would be incredibly interested to see them!

I am making this index partially because I really enjoy seeing where and how MTSL and ASL are identical or at least similar. Sorry they are not in alphabetical order.

The first couple are from @respectthepetty who also did a write up in the original post of this about finger spelling MTSL versus ASL.

So without further ado and in whatever order I feel like...The Signs:

TODAY/NOW

NOW

Tell me why when I google TODAY sign asl gif I get signs for literally every holiday "st patricks day, labor day" but not DAY on it's own. It's essentially the same in ASL although in ASL instead of a flat palm moving down it's can also be the letter D in sign language

DAY

SAY/NAME

NAME

Side note, this is the sign for HEARING in ASL but in Moonlight Chicken the same/similar sign seems to mean SAY:

DEAF

Unfortunately I don't have gifs of all of the signing in Moonlight Chicken so screenshots will have to do for some of these unless I stumble across them but. DEAF is MTSL is two fingers sliding from ear to lips, compared to:

DEAF

(i don't) UNDERSTAND

UNDERSTAND is the first part of this gif where he sticks his finger up next to his ear, it's essentially the same in ASL.

UNDERSTAND

To say I DON'T UNDERSTAND in ASL you would use the same finger motion but also shake your head no.

Double side note, sorry all of these ASL gifs are of white men, the Google Images market is absolutely overflowing with gifs of these two in particular.

DIFFICULT

Another screenshot so unfortunately you can't see the motion but he does tap his fingers together before this. Compared to ASL:

DIFFICULT

WORK

Again, unfortunately I can't find any gifs of this scene to show the movement of the sign, but Li Ming is tapping his fists together here when asking Heart about wanting to work.

WORK

HOME

HOME

If memory serves, Heart does not slide his hand from his lip to his cheek, just taps his cheek.

BEFORE:

This appears to be identical in ASL

BEFORE:

STUDY:

LEARN:

YEAR

My kingdom for some actual fucking gifs or gifsets that have the signs so I can show the actual movement of the sign and not just give you some mediocre, stagnant, screen shots.

YEAR

Clapping in MTSL:

Clapping in ASL:

And that is all I have so far. I linked it above, but please click through to the finger spelling write up that respectthepetty did because it also discusses Gloss and comments on Black Sign Language which is it's own sign language form in the US and is not ASL. I will update this post again if I find other signs that seem to correlate. There are a couple of more signs I discuss in the previous post about this, but I didn't include those in this index because they are far more speculative sign comparisons than these ones are and I don't want this index to have potentially incorrect information on it

Edit: Okay I know I literally just said above that I didn't want the index to have potentially incorrect information on it, and this bit of signing is not translated through caption or through Li Ming saying the words so I cannot be 100% certain that this is correct. However, I am posting this one because given the context of the scene (this is when Li Ming goes to Heart's house after his big fight with Uncle Jim and Heart sprays Li Ming with the hose) and how similar the sign is, I think it means the same thing. I will only put the word down for the ASL just in case I am wrong, I don't want to attribute the wrong word to the MTSL sign but...

I'm going to use this screen shot even though his hands are a little blurry and that is to show you all that there is motion behind this sign, namely that Li Ming is shaking his hands just like you would if you were signing...

PLAY in ASL

[deafcruz]

Please contact me on Twitter @deafcruz thank you I was struggling contact you through this I was new to this for message

[deafcruz]

“applauding" you typically do the clapping movement without actually making noise. raise their hands straight up with the palms of (one's hands) together repeatedly, as in to applaud Deaf audiences will use a more visually expressive variant of clapping. Deaf audiences can see visual clap

[deafcruz]

It someone sent me pic make me crying because he kept poster for inspiration keep continued learn sign language it once he lost hear he don’t know what to do he lose confidence can’t hear own hear he find sign language pic .

He can find hope again can talk in sign language once he find pictures put posters keep continuing learning sign language

Heart find hope once he see them sign language in talking and researching with everything while his parents just lose completely and don’t know what to do with it information his son becomes deaf completely it since three years compared where to born deaf they know what to know with deaf children , so it showed his parents busy with job they don’t have time learn for sign language.

[deafcruz]

Someone ask me it good catch for it possible deafblind Tactile signing is a method of communicating using touch that's used by person let them know by number and felt music top and below where is it it different beat and rhythm

It possible deaf can too not only deafblind deaf can know where is it by number person had interpreted for them let them know it can play which number sound rhythm and deaf can touch number and felt

It possible be heart involved with music scale he had no idea he can play music again with devices (CI,hearing aids)

[deafcruz]

Loneliness amongst those who are deaf / hard of hearing is not easily overcome often in hearing families.

Often hearing folks themselves will not learn sign language, and instead focus on the deaf/HoH people in learning the native language and putting them in speech therapy.

Deaf and HoH people rely on reading facial expressions and eye contact in conversing. Without eye contact, it is significantly harder to converse as the reading of lips alone is insufficient to get information on emotions. At times, the rejection of eye contact could also be due to frustration or annoyance with conversing with a deaf/HoH person, which makes the individual feel guilty (contributes to depression and anxiety)

Deaf community when they go to hearing gatherings, they will feel left out. When they want to feel included in the celebrations and understand what is going on, they are faced with hearing family members not explaining stuff to them or getting told that they'll be told later, which never ends up happening, as they end up forgetting.

Deaf people may worry about mishearing what others are saying to them and/or feel guilty about misunderstandings due to miscommunication.

The ‘deaf person nod’ is a common habit deaf people slip into usually when they aren’t comfortable with asking for clarification. It may seem like the deaf person is nodding along like they totally get you, when the individual has absolutely no clue what you’re on about — this is because the deaf person feels guilty for being annoying when they constantly get others to repeat themselves when they do not understand (eventually stop asking because of someone's annoyed reaction)

Deaf / HoH people are very frequently being left out of conversations amongst hearing folks.

it always feels uncomfortable to them because they feel it never expresses their feelings. Deaf /HoH people often may seem cold to their families or other people, despite not being as such in reality. They are often undeservedly called selfish, narcissistic and self absorbed.

The insecurity can lead the deaf/HoH person to experience paranoia and believe that others are talking about them, especially when they repeatedly experience embarrassment and discomfort from social situations. To make matters worse, individuals tend to start skipping social events like birthday parties, dinners, holiday gatherings, and other events where large groups of people gather in noisy settings (on to isolation and loneliness)

The mental exhaustion from dealing with such social situations can cause them to simply give up. It often find deaf people sitting in the corner at these events, unable to socialise with others, wondering when they’d be able to leave.

They may also feel like an outlier within their own families and social groups - it becoming an observer in life rather than an active participant.

The internal struggle and inability to connect to emotions results in themselves having lower empathy for other people's situations, as well as a lower self esteem. Standing up for rights and speaking up would be a much tougher journey for them.

This also contributes to deaf people being scared to ask people for help.

Deaf children from deaf families are comparatively more confident in expressing their emotions and thoughts, and are unafraid in standing up for their rights.

This is in contrast to deaf children from families who have no hearing issues, who tend to hold back their feelings and not express well, even to the point of being understood as an unemotional person.

Other deaf people like me often talk a lot with themselves. They constantly deal with societal isolation and feel more comfortable talking to themselves than talking to someone who won’t understand them.

Comparing this to deaf families who are more open with their feelings and expressions. They often understand each other better.

Deaf families have CODA ( Children of Deaf Adults) and deaf families always put them equally, the deaf and those hearing. They communicate in both of their languages, spoken and sign language because deaf /HoH adults often do have experienced language deprivation.

Coda ( children of deaf adults ) referred to hearing children with their deaf parents

Deaf families with CODA gone to speech therapy and watch television with closed captioning on as it gave them access to venues of entertainment comparable to hearing families.

Deaf and HOH people are likelier to have mental issues than those who can hear. They have to deal with casual ableism (both intentional and unintentional), feeling left out , lack of equal access to things and people’s unwillingness to talk to deaf people when they say they've never seen or interacted with one before. Often, they have to see people run away from them when they learn of their deafness.

Dealing with such stuff day in and day out, along with the already many struggles one has to face by the virtue of being deaf in a world of majority hearing folks can get very frustrating for even the most patient of people. It can be a lonely existence for most.

[deafcruz]

5. Limited access to emergency services*

In emergency situations, deaf individuals may have difficulty accessing critical information, such as evacuation orders or emergency alerts, if they are not provided in a format they can access. In the near future, service that would be helpful to the community, though it is largely dependent on a reliable connection to work well.

*6. Employment discrimination*

Deaf people may face discrimination in the workplace due to employers' lack of understanding about the needs and abilities of deaf employees. This can include difficulties in finding employment or experiencing discrimination and exclusion in the workplace.

*7. Limited access to education*

Deaf children and students may face barriers to accessing education due to a lack of resources, teacher training, or inclusive curricula. This can impact their learning outcomes and future opportunities.

*8. Accessibility at airports / transport*

Deaf and HoH people fear of missing flights/transport as announcements for flight changes are usually done via audio. They are usually forgotten even when special note is made that they are Deaf/HoH. (There are times when a wheelchair is even weirdly passed to deaf travellers). Travelling is most of the time, not a fun or leisurely activity for people who are Deaf /HoH.

Similar concerns also apply to flight baggage claim announcements. Deaf/HoH people will have to take extra care to remember the faces of people and clothes from the same flight in order to follow them to get their own baggage later on.

All these examples above are just snippets of what goes on every day, globally, that makes individuals in the deaf community feel like we are less important and have lesser rights. Other problematic situations include videos without captions or transcripts, no flashing lights for fire alarms, no hearing loops, on top of not having sign language interpretation. I hope that we can be more aware to care and to be more inclusive of deaf people.

Addressing these accessibility issues requires a concerted effort to increase awareness, provide adequate resources and support, and make changes to the built environment, technology, and policies to ensure that the deaf community can fully participate in all aspects of society.

In summary, there are several practical ways in which society/the common person can become more inclusive for deaf individuals. Here are a few examples:

*1. Sign language interpretation *

Providing sign language interpretation at public events and in workplaces is a crucial step to improve inclusivity for deaf individuals. Sign language interpreters can translate spoken language into sign language, allowing deaf individuals to participate fully in conversations, presentations, and meetings.

*2. Closed captioning*

Closed captioning on televisions, videos, and movies can help deaf individuals follow along with the spoken dialogue. Closed captioning can also be provided in public places such as airports, train stations, and hospitals, allowing deaf individuals to receive important information.

*3. Visual alarms*

Visual alarms can alert deaf individuals of important sounds such as fire alarms, doorbells, and phones. These alarms can include flashing lights or vibrating pagers, ensuring that deaf individuals are aware of important sounds. (Note: Visual alarms tends to get expensive)

*4. Written communication*

Providing written communication, such as emails, notes, and text messages, can help deaf individuals communicate with hearing individuals more easily. This is especially helpful in work and educational settings.

*5. Assistive listening devices*

Assistive listening devices such as FM systems, hearing loops, and personal amplifiers can help deaf individuals better hear and understand sounds in public places, such as classrooms, lecture halls, and theaters.

*6. Accessible websites*

Websites that are designed to be accessible to deaf individuals include video content with captioning or sign language interpretation, and written content that is easy to read and understand.

[deafcruz]

2. Limited access for communication in Social and recreational activities / Public Media / General public *

While there is a small growing effort to include sign language interpreters in public media, the content/stream is often clunky or unnecessarily complex for the deaf community to access. Deaf individuals may also have limited access to social and recreational activities due to a lack of inclusive events or activities in their community, which can lead to social isolation and exclusion.

3. Unequal legal protections*

Deaf individuals should have equal legal protections under the law, including protection against discrimination, harassment, and abuse, and access to legal representation and due processes. It is not uncommon in some countries to experience police brutality and discrimination against deaf people as such offensive behaviour against deaf people are easier to get away with via the use of language barrier as a reason for the ‘misunderstanding’. This often results in longer detainment or jailtime for the confused and frustrated Deaf/HoH individual.

4.Limited mental health help*

Deaf individuals face unique mental health challenges related to their communication needs, cultural identity, and experiences with discrimination and isolation. Unfortunately, the state of mental health services for deaf people is often inadequate, leaving many deaf individuals without access to the support and resources they need. To make matters worse, it is not uncommon that families do not understand what their deaf family member(s) are going through. Key issues related to mental health services for deaf people include:

A) Communication barriers: Many mental health professionals do not have the training or resources to communicate effectively with deaf individuals, which can make it difficult to form a therapeutic relationship and to access appropriate treatments and services.

B) Lack of qualified providers: There is a shortage of qualified mental health professionals who are fluent in sign language and have experience working with deaf clients. This can result in long wait times for services or limited access to specialized care.

C) Stigma and discrimination: Deaf individuals may face stigma and discrimination related to their hearing loss, which can make it difficult to seek and receive mental health support.

D) Inadequate screening and assessment: Mental health screening and assessment tools are often developed for hearing individuals and may not be culturally or linguistically appropriate for deaf individuals, resulting in misdiagnosis or underdiagnosis.

E) Limited access to resources: Deaf individuals may have limited access to resources such as self-help materials, support groups, and community-based services that are available in sign language or other accessible formats.

To improve the state of mental health services for deaf people, it is essential to increase awareness of the unique mental health challenges facing the deaf community and to provide specialized training and resources to mental health professionals. Additionally, efforts must be made to reduce stigma and discrimination and to promote social and cultural inclusion for deaf individuals.

[deafcruz]

Lack of Inclusivity for the Deaf Community Accessibility Issues:

Deaf people face a range of challenges related to inclusivity, which can vary depending on factors such as the individual's degree of hearing loss, preferred communication method and cultural identity. Many of the top issues of inclusivity for deaf people are linked to accessibility, and important ones are listed below:

*1.Health care disparities / Medical services*

Many deaf individuals rely on sign language as their primary means of communication. As such, deaf people face barriers in accessing quality health care, due to a lack of qualified interpreters and inadequate communication accommodations. Access to qualified sign language interpreters is often limited, particularly in medical settings, schools, and workplaces. (These are generally relatively feasible to obtain for medium-sized institutions and above).

Such interpretation services are important for healthcare appointments and should not be left to the individual who is already in distress due to the medical condition at hand. While many healthcare departments are well-meaning in their welfare options, the search for a sign-language interpreter should not be left to the last-minute, especially in cases of family emergencies where urgent life-concerning decisions have to be made: funeral/church services. It is extremely sad that individuals in the deaf community are at times not informed in family emergencies until it is too late, which makes the community question their importance as human individuals to the society at large.

In technology called is VRI ( Video remote interpreter) Video remote interpreting (VRI) is a form of sign language interpreting that allows people who are deaf or hard of hearing to communicate with a hearing person at the same site via videoconferencing instead of live, on-site interpreting. Wifi connection quality not work it make them frozen in middle of conversation during with doctors .

we don't still have quality access to diagnosing via video conferencing

[deafcruz]

The term "hearing impaired" is often used to describe people with any degree of spectrum mild to profound It often in general used with words. There are different terms that are known to represent certain hearing situations.

The term “hearing impaired” can be considered offensive to people are deaf or Hard of hearing

This term can be taken to mean that people who have difficulties hearing are not enough in some way, or imperfect .

Many individuals who are deaf or hard of hearing prefer the terms are deaf and Hard of hearing because they consider them to be more positive than the term "hearing impaired," which made them something is wrong that makes a person less than whole it is negative term.

The current terms in use by the deaf community today are deaf and hard of hearing In 1991, the World Federation of the Deaf voted to use the official terms deaf and hard of hearing. The National Association of the Deaf supports these terms, and they are used by most organizations involved with the Deaf community.

The correct term

[deafcruz]

The symptoms of some people are born without being able to hear, while others suddenly become deaf due to an accident or illness. For most people, symptoms of deaf progress gradually over time.

* Mild: The person can only recoogize sounds . They may find it hard to understand the words other people are saying, especially if there is a lot of background noise.

* Moderate : The person can only identifty sounds . Following a conversation using hearing alone is very difficult without using a hearing aid.

* Severe : The person only hears sounds . A severely deaf person must either lip-read or use sign language in order to communicate, even if they have a hearing aid or cochlear implant.

* Profound : Anybody who cannot hear a anything’s at any level sound fully deaf used a Communication is carried out using sign language, lip- reading or reading and writing.

The Spectrum of deaf and hard of hearing

[deafcruz]

It is possible that Heart has been sneakily drinking alcohol whenever his parents weren’t around. This is perhaps due to the change in treatment when Heart became deaf e.g. overprotectiveness in hiding/isolating Heart at home forcefully (away from danger) as the parents were not aware of the right manner to act for and around their deaf child.

It seemed that Heart did not understand the conversation in the room (Parents, Jim and Li Ming) as he was frantically reading lips and seemed confused at the heated argument, while being frustrated that no one understood him. *Heart also repeatedly signed that he did not understand but no one responded to this. (this was also not subtitled, on purpose it seems)*Perhaps it is Heart’s first time meeting other people (Jim and Li Ming) since becoming deaf.

Heart’s parents, being upper class, seemed to be snobbish and overprotective in assuming that Heart would not drink/touch the alcohol. They needed someone to blame for the expensive loss of the alcohol.

From the event above, we can tell that Heart lost confidence since he could not hear his own voice and seemed to have learnt sign language for communicating with anyone who was willing to talk to him.

It also seemed that the parents did not put Heart to a school for the deaf but kept Heart at home (either because they did not know or they chose not to). It looked like Heart had profound depended on sign language, writing, reading and could not use his voice at all and did not have hearing devices (CI, hearing aids) – which shows that the parents were likely ignorant about this. (From off-screen interviews about the character, we also got to know that Heart has been deaf and isolated for 3 long years.) Either that, or the parents are fearful of people judging Heart as deaf as it may affect their high standing as rich/powerful individuals *this is a direct rejection of Heart as a person and can cause loneliness and depression due to the isolation with no meaningful social interactions with other people. It would not be surprising that from all these, Heart lacks a sense of belonging in this world, coupled with confusion on his identity and self-worth. * Heart is likely to lose hope in having a relationship with anyone as he loses confidence in himself and the society from his abandoned world*