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comment by Kaius
Kaius  ·  4185 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: 10 Things You Should Never Say to a Deaf Person

    much of what we "say" face-to-face is communicated via other vocalizations that are not part of speech as well as the "tone" of our body language and gestures

This is a really good point, I have on occasion called my boss a bastard to his face but because my tone was playful the message was received as I intended. When I ask my wife whats wrong and she says "Nothing." I know I'm in trouble.

We do it without thinking, imagine how difficult it is for a deaf person to communicate with a hearing person who is constantly using tone to increase the amount of information they send when speaking. That has to be tough. It may go a long way to explaining why there is such a divide between the two groups.