The Core

What the deaf can teach us about listening — and making ourselves heard.

"When they interact with one another, deaf people act in ways that let them communicate more rapidly and accurately than hearing people. Some of these behaviors are simple and obvious, but it’s remarkable how often hearing people do the opposite. To improve your “hearing,” consider some of these lessons from our experiences and training sessions."

http://www.strategy-business.com/article/li00076?pg=all

My other half is now v. big into the deaf culture and I found this article a couple of weeks ago for her BSL site.  It has something for everybody and everyday business.  I emailed the author and he tells me it is becoming a book and will be available by the end of the year.

It's interesting. I've wondered about this a bunch since the only deaf person I've spent much time with was also about the most impatient person I've ever met. I've wondered since what passes for normal communication in deaf culture.

Because I don't sign, we would write notes back and forth. I would try to write "Bob won't come unless he can get out of work early" but I would only get as far as "Bob won't come" and she would grab the paper and write "Might make it." We would go through this many times before I would have to write on the paper "Let me finish!"

>>Look people in the eyes

Of course, that frustration  paled in comparison to the fear of signing with her while driving down the highway. I remember her looking me in the eye (as the article says) and signing "beautiful" in reference to the scenery as we veered into the oncoming lane and the tractor trailer truck was hammering the horn (pointlessly) and I was yelling (pointlessly) and pointing out the front window (with minor effect) until she calmly veered back into our lane just before a head-on collision. Scariest drive of my life. The truck driver looked like he almost wet himself and I barely avoided it myself.