Communication FAQ

[wwrench]

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

American Sign Language:

American Sign Language is a manual language whereby information is transmitted through movement and expression as opposed to voicing. It is a natural language, which means it fulfills the necessary linguistic parameters to be considered a complex and systematic means of communication. As such, it is not "gestural English." It is not a derivative of any other language, but rather a complete language entirely unto itself. An important consideration, then, is that an individual who learns signs in relation to English words has not learned American Sign Language. To simply assign a pattern of movement to an English word and string said movements together in an English syntax is not an accurate representation of American Sign Language.

The Foreign Service Institute (FSI) of the U.S. Department of State has a list of languages categorized by their difficulty for learning for native English speakers. Researchers of ASL have argued that the difficulty of learning the language should be ranked somewhere around Category 3 of 5. In general, this means it would take the average serious learner over 1000 hours of concerted instruction to reach a proficiency level that would satisfy routine social demands and limited work-related interactions. THIS DOES NOT INDICATE FLUENCY.

There is no universal sign language. American Sign Language is predominantly utilized throughout the United States and its territories, as well as parts of Canada. As manual languages formed largely independently of spoken languages, countries that share a common spoken language may not necessarily share a common signed language.

International Sign is a pidgin or contact sign language developed through interactions with Deaf individuals from across the world. It does not meet the parameters of a full and natural language.

"Deaf" versus "deaf":

The term "Deaf" (with a capitalized 'D') relates to the Deaf culture, while "deaf" (with a lowercase 'd') refers to the medical condition of deafness. It is entirely possible for an individual to be deaf without being Deaf, and many believe the inverse is true as well. A person can be an active participant in Deaf culture without being medically deaf. These terms come with a general understanding of a person's lived experience, but their meaning can't be applied universally.

Individuals who are Deaf are those who participate in a culture created and influenced by the medical condition of being deaf. This represents a particular way of perceiving and relating to the world. While Deaf individuals may share many of the same characteristics, beliefs, and experiences, it is important to note people are still individuals.

(I want to acknowledge that I've seen some community pushback on this point lately, and I think the arguments are solid. However, I continue to use capital-Deaf to refer to a cultural group deserving of a proper noun designation.)

American Deaf Culture:
( Partially adapted from Laurent Clerc National Deaf Education Center.)

The values, behaviors, and traditions of Deaf culture include:

⟶ Perpetuation of Deaf culture through a variety of traditions, including films, folklore, literature, athletics, poetry, celebrations, clubs, organizations, theaters, and school reunions. Deaf culture also includes some of its own music and poetry, as well as conventions around dance.

⟶ Inclusion of specific rules of behavior in communication in addition to the conventional rules of turn taking. For example, eye contact and visual attention during a conversation is expected. In addition, a person using sign language has the floor during a conversation until he or she provides a visual indicator (pause, facial expression, etc.) that he or she is finished. Pointing is considered a linguistic marker and is not viewed as rude.

⟶ Inclusion of unique strategies for gaining a person's attention that hearing may consider intrusive, such as:
▸ gently tapping a person on the shoulder if he or she is not within the line of sight,
▸ waving if the person is within the line of sight, or
▸ flicking a light switch a few times to gain the attention of a group of people in a room.

⟶ Deaf culture in the United States tends to be collectivist rather than individualist; culturally Deaf people value the group, and may feel an obligation toward one another's wellbeing.

⟶ Information is to be shared, and taboos which limit frank and earnest discussion are generally ignored. Deaf individuals may openly discuss and debate salary, medical information, financial status, interpersonal relationships, etcetera in ways that make hearing uncomfortable. ("Deaf Blunt")

⟶ A positive attitude towards deafness. Deafness is not generally considered a condition that needs to be fixed, and attempts to mitigate hearing loss may be resisted or refused. ("Deaf Gain")

COMMUNICATION WITH WRENCH

Does he voice?
No.

Is he mute?
No.

Does he lip read?
Studies have projected that roughly 30% of English language production is distinct and visible on the lips. This means that 70% of all spoken is not easily accessible through this method.

Wrench is a skilled speech reader: he distills clues received from the lips, context, posture, expression, and body language. The more he comes to know a person, the better he is at making reasonable guesses when it comes to their speech patterns, their values, and their intentions. This will prove helpful in a pinch, but will never provide full comprehension.

Additionally, it is important to consider the environment under which communication is occurring. Is his line of sight unobstructed? Are all parties in full light, with no shadow? Is the speech influenced by strong emotion, heavy accent, drugs and alcohol, facial hair, or other external or internal means?

I'm tempted to inflate my character's knowledge of ASL for the sake of communication.
Less than 1% of the population of the United States uses American Sign Language on a day-to-day basis. Tagalog, Arabic, and Urdu, for example, have significantly more daily users in America than ASL. For the continued sanity of the muse and his writer, this means that most people Wrench contacts with will not be well enough versed in ASL in order to effectively communicate with him. That is more than okay. This writer encourages other individuals to take the opportunity to explore the dynamic this could easily lead to. While I understand it is a natural human inclination to want to make communication and self-expression as easy as possible, please think about whether or not your muse would have genuine cause to know ASL and be able to carry on complex conversations in the language.

Okay, so how DO we communicate?
So glad you asked! Here's the thing: Wrench has very few close canonical relationships, but they are strong. And not all of them originated with individuals who knew ASL from the jump. He's had a lifetime of learning how to be patient and how to best mitigate communication between himself and a hearing majority. While the writer doesn't shy away from issues raised by lack of commonality in language, the last thing I want is to make interaction with Wrench more trouble than it's worth. He genuinely craves interaction, familiarity, and understanding. So here's what we can do:

▸ gesture
▸ writing
▸ texting
▸ telepathy (with prior conversation)
▸ (limited) speech reading
▸ voice-to-text capabilities
▸ through a signing intermediary
▸ utilization of physical cues
▸ ask to be taught some signs!

NOTE: The writer of wwrench is Deaf.