What Language do deaf people think in?

[Hijacc]

O_O

 

[evanescencefan91]

that is an excellent question hijacc, I have no idea, I suppose they think as in visulize sign language perhaps

I've also wondered, if color blind people can visulize color at all

maybe we can google it

from
http://www.fluther.com/disc/4564/how-do-deaf-people-think/

one guy wrote

irstly, the voice you hear in your head isn’t something that you’re born with… it’s something that your brain develops. a person born deaf can think perfectly well, but given the lack of that specific experience, will not develop that particular thinking technique.
secondly, the voice in your head isn’t that actual thinking happening… that’s just the “interface” that you have found most useful for interacting with your thoughts. so i think it is quite unlikely that a deaf person would be at any sort of mental disadvantage due to the lack of this “interface”... they would simply develop a different one.
language is not only aural, it’s visual too. we print words on a page and read them, a folks who know american sign language, or any other sign language, can sign words in space and interpret them visually. ASL is, in fact, a highly efficient language and can express complex ideas in very graceful and often very simple ways. it stands to reason, therefore, that a native ASL “speaker” might develop a highly functional spatial method of representational thought.
lastly, i for one do not really use a lot of language in my thoughts. i often describe the results of my thoughts to myself using language, but the first stages of thinking about something are usually not verbal. i mean, i know i can think faster than i can talk. so why slow myself down with silly words, when i can grasp larger, more complex ideas directly, and then translate into words later? right?

another guy a sign language interpreter ( where are the deaf people on the internet) wrote

ike samkusnetz said, the voice in your head is simply an interface that allows you to make “tangible” the thoughts you are thinking.
As a sign language interpreter I feel like I’ve met my fair share of Deaf people, and yes they have a subconscious mind, yes they can “think in their head” without having to “sign out loud”.
The problem comes in the state of deaf eduction (especially in America). Many times for various reasons a deaf child grows up with a lack of exposure to native language. Either they are stuck in an oral program and don’t have enough residual hearing for it to be successful, or they are taught sign language at school by someone who is not native, and comes home to parents who have never learned sign.
This lack of exposure to native language can severely hinder anyone’s cognative development deaf or hearing. Developing a native language allows us to do/think many things that we would not other wise be able to.
But You do ask an interesting question because there are many people who are studying this exact question in neurolinguistics, So if you do want to know, you can look up some of the current theories.

aw here's what one deaf person wrote

read and do not hear a vioce I just know what the words are and can read without a voice and I just read knowing what all the words are I automatically reconize the words.

here's a pretty good article about it

http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/2486/in-what-language-do-deaf-people-think

 

[shells]

I just wanted to add an interesting fact (?), a college classmate who studies ASL, says that there are different ways of signing for each language. It's not universal.
Makes me wonder why it hasn't been considered a foreign language.

 

[SophiaGrace]

Sometimes when I read something I see the sign for it in my head. (I go to a deaf university, where everyone is hard of hearing). Like, I can read something and picture how it'd look like if it were signed.

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I just wanted to add an interesting fact (?), a college classmate who studies ASL, says that there are different ways of signing for each language. It's not universal.
Makes me wonder why it hasn't been considered a foreign language.

Actually there's a seperate sign language for each country.

Btw, Danielle (on the forum) has her Associates in ASL, so lets hope she posts on this thread.

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But I am hard of hearing so I can read things sub-audially. I think deaf people have images they use to think with.

 

[evanescencefan91]

cool that helps

thanks for the input lurker

 

[SherryGee]

It is depends on their hearing loss, if they can't hear AT ALL, they only think in sign language and pictures/visual in their local language. It is hard to explain to hearing person because they learn language with their ears rather than their eyes like deaf people.

 

[paulo]

seems a bit silly to call it "studying" stuff like that doesnt it.
isnt "studying" how a deaf person thinks just going out and ask em ?

interesting stuff to thing about though, i might just go out and find a deaf person myself.
well maybe i would have if i had the guts to go out and talk to people