#Deaf folks: I'm writing a character who's dealing with sudden hearing loss, and I'm discovering fuck-all for what to do once that happens to you. Looking at all the US based hearing loss groups & state resources, and there's social support & medical, but literally nothing about learning ASL nevermind anything resembling "here's what you need to know re your new life challenges & how to cope"

a) wtf?!
b) What does learning #ASL as a deaf adult look like?

@masukomi When you become deaf as a kid the school system usually is tied to all of the state systems that help provide education and resources but if you become deaf as an adult (or remain Deaf into adulthood as I have) resources are few, rare, and means tested. Learning ASL as a deaf adult if you are lucky enough to live in an area with a school for the Deaf or a high Deaf population there's usually classes available at those schools in the evening. Otherwise online is usually your best bet.

@honeybrew_coffee That… sucks.

Can you speak to why all these deaf resource groups like Hearing Loss Association of America (HLAA) and Association of Late-Deafened Adults (ALDA) have literally zero mention of ASL on their sites? Ditto for the state resources I've checked.

I see so many situations where ASL would be useful even if you only had loss in one ear or other forms of partial loss.

Almost feels abelist like "oh you don't need to learn that. Just get a hearing aid/cochlear implant"

@masukomi You can thank Alexander Graham Bell and his ilk for that, eugenecist/audist. Audism is deeply ingrained in America, so an oral-only approach is preferred by most institutions (including and often especially for Deaf children, which leads to language deprevation). ASL is the better option, studies back that up time and time again but these orgs would rather put the onus on the Deaf to wear CI and HA to make things easier on the hearing instead of making ASL more accessible to everyone.