#deaf!elsa

[elsannatexts-blog]

Part I

well here you go, anon.

sorry for being inactive. anyways, here you go. deaf!elsa trying to ask anna out and being really nervous. 

[elsannatexts-blog]

this is deaf!elsa and then there’s normal anna.

im really sorry for this piece of crap bc i made this before running off to watch a movie anndddd, yeah… sorry if this isnt what you wanted, anon, but i made it in a rush and i needed to get this up before leaving. :3

if you request please make it more detailed bc i honestly want to make these up to your standards :) thanks.

[shybowtie]

there's a fic about your deaf elsa fic, signs and silence. Have you read it?

Ahh, yes I have! exixiii tagged me in a post about it and I’m so happy to see it being updated pretty regularly! There is also one by elsannafficsandall called Speechless, which you can find on tumblr. I’m just happy that people like my drawings and felt inspired to write fics for them!

[aspenaten]

Hi! Author of "Speechless" here! Thank you so much for sharing my ffic, I hope you liked it. :) And thank you sooo much for the notes! It was really informative, I feel so enlightened now! I just have a question or two regarding deafness... 1) I've seen a few vids on sign language (ASL and one or two others), they introduce themselves with finger-spelling(?). Why's that? Or is there a universal way of signing names/introductions 2) Is there anything that's universal over all sign languages?

Hi! I’m so glad my work inspired you to write something! I really enjoyed your fic, it was so cute! I also applaud you for sitting there and reading my notes, because man, that was super long! c:

To answer your first question, there aren’t any signs for common names, so that’s why name signs exist. So to tell someone your name, you first introduce yourself through fingerspelling, and if you have a name sign, you demonstrate that sign so the other person knows how to refer to you.

I’m actually not sure about the answer to your second question. There may be some things that are similar across languages, as there are for spoken languages. I thought I'd look into this further, and found this article. It addresses more than you actually asked, but there are some points relating to your question as well

[aspenaten]

Notes for anyone writing fics for Deaf!Anna and Elsa

I don’t want to stifle anyone’s creativity or nitpick, but I thought I’d help out with some information about deaf etiquette and deaf culture for anyone writing fics that would like some help (friendly reminder that I’m not deaf, so I’m not an expert and don’t have the experience of being deaf, but I have learned from deaf people and ASL courses, and these are some of the things I’ve been taught).

This is in no way a super official list of everything you could have ever wanted to know, and some of these things may vary depending on who you talk to, but these are still important things to keep in mind.

Okay! So let’s start this little list off!

Deaf Etiquette!

To get a deaf person’s attention, wave your hand, stomp your foot, or tap the person’s shoulder. Or perhaps a combination of stomping and waving.

If you see two people having a conversation using sign language, and see no other way of going around said people, it is completely acceptable to just walk between the two. No “excuse me’s” necessary. In fact, to disrupt the conversation with an “excuse me” as you’re walking through is considered rude.

Sometimes when we have to critique others or give them an honest opinion about something, we chicken out and sandwich our criticisms between compliments. Some deaf people prefer to be blunt, and in turn may even be blunt with you. Don’t be offended if they tell you something that seems, for lack of a better word, brutally honest. It’s just a part of their culture.

Throwing a party? Some people like to be punctual, but this isn’t as important to deaf people. If a party starts at 7, deaf people may show up a little late, maybe around 7:30 or later. And they might linger after the party is supposedly over. Then again, this is a common thing in other cultures around the world as well.

DO NOT pretend to be deaf if you are not. It’s a bit disrespectful.

About Deafness

When a hearing person hears of someone being deaf, sometimes their first response is to be sorry. Don’t be! Deaf people take a lot of pride in being deaf. In fact, they celebrate it. Just like you may embrace your identity as a member of a certain ethnic group, deaf people embrace their identity as a deaf person and have a culture all their own.

DO NOT refer to a deaf person as “hearing impaired.” The correct terms are either deaf or hard of hearing. “Hearing impaired” implies that there is something wrong with being deaf, and many deaf people do not see anything wrong with being the way that they are.

Hearing Aids

There are various types of hearing aids. One is just a regular hearing aid, worn on the ear and easily able to be removed when needed, such as while sleeping.

Cochlear Implants: I have drawn my Deaf!Anna with a cochlear implant (at princess-anna-sexual’s request, since she has a cochlear too). I briefly explained what a cochlear implant is when I designed Deaf!Anna, but you can find a more informative article here. Basically, a cochlear implant is surgically implanted into your head, using electrodes and a bunch of other stuff. An external transmitter is held onto your head behind your ear by way of magnets (Anna’s is covered by her hair), and there is a sound processor that is worn on your ear (Anna’s is pink). A person may have a cochlear implant on one ear, or both ears.

Note: Cochlear implants are pretty controversial and receive lots of criticism from the Deaf community. While there are plenty of deaf people that do use hearing aids and cochlear implants, others see it as a way to fix a problem that they do not see as a problem, nor in their opinion does it need fixing. It is also not a perfect method for providing the sensation of hearing, as it affects those who have one in different ways. I know some people who have had great success with their cochlear and can hear pretty well with it. I’ve known others that have a cochlear, but never wear the external equipment because they get headaches or can’t hear very well with them. Results vary from person to person.

Sign Language

Sign language is not a universal language. American Sign Language (ASL) is not the same sign language used by other countries, such as British Sign Language (BSL) or German Sign Language (DGS), though some signs in some languages may be similar or easy to figure out. ASL is actually closest to French Sign Language (LSF), since a major figure in deaf history, Laurent Clerc, was French, and helped Thomas Gallaudet, an American, develop a system for deaf education in America. This included helping to further develop ASL.

Facial expressions and body language are very important while signing, since sign language is a visual language. For example, when asking a question, a person's eyebrows will either be raised or furrowed, depending on the type of question. When asking a “yes or no” question, your eyebrows should be raised. When asking a “wh” question (a question asking who, what, where, when, why, or how), your eyebrows should be furrowed.

When signing, a person always leads with their dominant hand. My Deaf!Elsa is left-handed, so if she were to spell her name or tell you her name sign, she would use her left hand. Of course, sign language uses both hands, but in the event that you use a sign that only requires one hand, use your dominant hand, because it is less confusing for the person you are talking to (plus I just now tried to fingerspell with my left hand, and it just didn’t feel right).

Proper ASL grammar and sentence structure is different than English grammar and sentence structure, though not everyone may sign this way. Some deaf people may use English word order, some don’t. These are some of the factors that interpreters need to take into consideration when interpreting, or what my ASL teacher had to consider depending on which deaf student she talked to. 

You may be somewhat familiar with the ASL alphabet, and if you were anything like me, you learned how to spell your name in sign language in elementary school. Fingerspelling is used when introducing new ideas or people, and the rest of your conversations will include actual signs to represent ideas and concepts. Which brings us to name signs.

Name Signs

Name signs are signs given to deaf people, sometimes hearing people, or important figures throughout history (even Hitler has his own name sign). Name signs can be either descriptive or arbitrary.

A descriptive name sign combines an existing sign and the letter of the person’s first name, and shows something about the way that person looks, what their personality is like, or what their hobbies or interests might be. For example, my given name sign uses the sign for drawing with the letter A, since my name is Aspen and I like to draw. 

An arbitrary name sign is a name sign that gives no indication about what that person is like, and is just a hand motion assigned to that person’s name. For example, my ASL teacher’s name was Dawn, and her name sign was made by crossing your dominant arm over your body and tapping the letter D against your shoulder. This sign has no meaning, it was just how we knew we were talking about Dawn.

Note: Typically name signs are given to you by a deaf person, though in some cases a hearing person (maybe your ASL teacher or something) might assign you one. That’s why I felt better asking public opinion on what Anna and Elsa’s might be (and I think I’ve already decided on some signs, which you guys will see sometime soon!)

Accommodations for Deaf People

Lots of objects and services we use daily have accommodations for deaf people. Here are some of them.

Alarm clocks: Alarm clocks for deaf people are either placed on the bed and vibrate to wake you up, or they may even flash. Sometimes both.

Cellphones: On many smartphones nowadays, you have the option to make it vibrate and flash as well. Deaf people may use one of these, or both.

Doorbells: Doorbells in a deaf person’s house will trigger lights around the house to flash when the button is pressed. The same thing goes for fire alarms and smoke detectors.

TTY: TTY is a method for deaf people to make phone calls to one another by typing their messages to one another (though I guess with smartphones, this isn’t always needed anymore). You can only make a TTY call to someone who also has a TTY, and these can be used on cellphones or landlines.

Relay: Internet Relay or Video Relay is another service that allows you to make calls to other people. When you go to an Internet Relay website, you type what you want to say to an operator, and the operator communicates to the hearing or deaf person that’s on the phone (by typing a response back to the deaf person, or by telling the hearing person on the other end what you typed). With Video Relay, the process is similar, except you can sign directly to one another through a camera (much like you can on Skype or any other video chat service), or you can sign to the operator while the operator interprets to another person who may not have Video Relay over the phone, by telling them what your friend has signed. Though thanks to Google Hangouts, Skype, Facetime, and other services, Video Relay might not be as common anymore (don’t quote me, I’m just guessing). 

Captions: Everyone has seen subtitles and captions on TV or while watching a movie. At a movie theater, you can ask about open captioned movies too, where subtitles and captions will appear on the screen (I believe there is also something they use where the deaf person receives a device to see the projected captions while others remain blissfully unaware, but I don’t remember). 

And, of course, now that we have smartphones, texting, and webcams, these all work just as well. 

I hope this helps anyone who was curious about deaf etiquette or deaf culture. If anyone sees something I didn’t talk about that needs to be addressed or sees something that I did not explain correctly, do not hesitate to let me know. Like I said, I’m no expert, but I wanted to help out by sharing the things I do know.

[aspenaten]

Name signs for Deaf Anna and Elsa?

You guys are definitely going to be seeing more Deaf!Anna and Elsa. For now, I have a question: What do you guys think their name signs would be? Does the deaf community have name signs for them? Do they come up with one on the fly when talking about Frozen?

If I don't get responses, I'm going to try my best to come up with a good name sign for them, whether it's arbitrary or descriptive. Though I'd prefer to use a descriptive one. Being hearing though, I kinda felt it was only appropriate to ask any of you guys that might be deaf. Anybody have any suggestions? Send me an ask or reply to this post!

[aspenaten]

Deaf Elsa and Anna! They are too cute for their own good.