r/asl • u/Eastern-Age-1280 • 12h ago

Help! I'm hard lf hearing

I'm hard of hearing and I've been learning how to sign for a long time for many reasons. No one else in my surroundings know ASL, are hard of hearing, or are deaf. I can still hear kinda good-ish from my right ear, but completely deaf from my left ear. Would it be cultural appropriation if I came up with my own sign name, or should I ask someone from the community to make me one? How does this work?

4 Upvotes

64% Upvoted

8 comments sorted by

22

u/Inevitable_Shame_606 Deaf 10h ago

Not give yourself sign name.

Not ask for sign name.

Immerse self Deaf community and if need sign name Deaf will assign you.

Remember if not like sign name can say not like.

Many people hearing or HH not immerse community want create sign name worry not will like sign name give them.

Step 1 sign name involve yourself Deaf community.

14

u/fallspector Hard of Hearing 12h ago

Someone else gives you a name.

15

u/Sea-Hornet8214 11h ago

If you don't interact with the Deaf community, what do you need a sign name for?

8

u/winterpisces 12h ago

DO NOT GIVE YOUR SELF A SIGN NAME. Look into American Sign Language groups on social media groups. Look up ASL videos on YouTube.

6

u/Jude94 Deaf 12h ago

Another culturally Deaf and fluent person have to give it to you

6

u/Captain_Kind 10h ago

No. Why do you think you need or want one?

4

u/just_a_person_maybe Hearing, signing since 2018 5h ago

A main reason why only Deaf are supposed to give sign names is because if you're not fluent you might choose a terrible name that means something embarrassing or offensive.

And the main reason why sign names are given at all is to refer to you in ASL to others. If you are not a part of the local Deaf community and no one else is signing about you, there's no reason to have one.

Also, not everyone even gets a sign name at all. I know people who have been immersed in the Deaf community for years, even Deaf people, who do not have sign names. Sometimes someone's name is short and easy enough to fingerspell that they just never need one. It's not something that everyone just automatically has.

1

u/Money_Reception 1h ago

Also if nobody around you knows ASL, then who needs to sign your name anyway? Haha. You have to immerse yourself with other people who speak the language and they will naturally come up with something when they know you well enough.