The World Federation for the Deaf estimates there are approximately 70 million deaf people worldwide. This vast and diverse population results in a wide variety of communication methods.
Auditory/ Oral Communication
Deaf people who communicate by speaking and reading lips are known as oral deaf individuals. Less than half of speech is visible on the lips, so a lot of skill and guesswork is necessary. Oral deaf people may use amplification devices such as hearing aids or FM systems, or undergo cochlear implant surgery. Some also use Cued-Speech, a series of hand shapes that correspond with spoken sounds to aid with lip-reading.
Sign Language
In the United States, signing deaf people use American Sign Language (ASL). ASL's structure is different from spoken English and uses visual grammar and vocabulary made up of different hand shapes, locations, movements and facial expressions. Signing deaf people might communicate with hearing people through interpreters, who translate between ASL and spoken English.
Misconceptions
Despite popular belief, there is no universal sign language. For example, though English is spoken in both the United Kingdom and America, British Sign Language and ASL differ greatly, and even have different alphabets.
Technology
Deaf people can use the teletypewriter, or TTY, to communicate on the telephone through an operating service. However, as new technology develops, deaf people have increasing access to pagers, email and video phones.
