Is the Deaf community open to ASL learners?
Deaf people are individuals and have individual opinions about ASL students. Many Deaf people appreciate that students are learning ASL and–in the right situations–are happy to interact with these students. Some students, in their enthusiasm, approach Deaf people at inappropriate times or in inconvenient places to sign, and their feelings are hurt when the Deaf person doesn’t want to chat. Like hearing people, Deaf people generally don’t want to be interrupted by a stranger to chat about some subject that is of no interest to them. Always respect a Deaf person’s (or anyone’s) privacy and respect their desire to be left alone. Community events, pizza parties, and your classes are safe places where Deaf people are expecting to be approached by students. In these situations there is rarely a problem.
