Hi! I'm currently writing a short film script as a final project for a class. One of the main characters is Deaf and another is HoH. Their friend group includes hearing people who know ASL to varying degrees. I was wondering if it would be appropriate for them to simultaneously talk and sign when they're addressing the group as a whole. I know it's rude to do so when you're one-on-one with a Deaf person, but I was wondering what the verdict is when it comes to mixed company.
SimCom (Simultaneous Communication) where you sign and talk at the same time is very hard to do. In fact, only those with lots and lots of practice can even attempt it without butchering one of the two languages. I would just have them sign when the Deaf/hoh people are around? The people with less fluency can get by with a little help on words they don't know, or use fingerspelling.
Its kinda like if you were in a group of friends where there were two people speak spanish and the rest know some spanish also. You’d speak spanish as best you can and get help from everyone else to fill in the gaps you dont know so that no one is left out.
In either case, if someone who doesn’t know the language comes into the conversation, someone else translates for those not in the loop so that the group is fully engaged.