Love, Friendship, Romance in the Deaf Community
Matchmaker, matchmaker, make me a match. Find me a find, catch me a catch — and make him or her deaf or hard of hearing. As the deaf community expands, so have opportunities for finding that special someone in the deaf community, or expressing your feelings for a special someone in a "deaf" way.
Online Matchmaking
Although general disability dating services exist online, there are also services specifically for the deaf community. Several services have sprung up, giving deaf and hard of hearing singles many choices. These services offer free registration, but in order to be able to actually contact someone a subscription must be purchased.
About Deafness forum - The forum at About Deafness/HOH has a "Making Friends" folder that seekers can use to post "advertisements" for friends or partners, and they can post pictures of themselves using HTML code.- To do this, select the "Source" option when composing a new message on the forum and post your picture using this code:
. In addition, you can e-mail someone by clicking on their user name; this pops up a box. The box has a button labeled "send e-mail." This allows you to send an e-mail by filling out a form. This is not a matchmaking service, but it is free. - ASLSingles.com - Pay matchmaking service. Can not browse without registering first.
- Deaf Match International (Deafmatchinternational.com) - Deaf Match International is a pay online matchmaking database that allows non-subscribers to browse, but in order to be able to send messages, seekers must pay for subscriptions. Photographs are optional. Searches can be done by age, sex, sexual orientation, location, or keyword.
- DeafSinglesConnection - Pay matchmaking database. Provides notification of when people sign on, post, and join.
- Deafs.com also requires registration to be able to view photos.
Food
On Valentine's Day, you can be romantic AND spend your money in the deaf community by purchasing cookies, etc. from Gimmee Jimmy's, a cookie company established and run by a deaf man, Jimmy Libman. (Of course, you don't have to wait for Valentine's Day)
Cards and Dolls
DeafResources.com offers free online e-cards with deaf valentine's day themes. Cards and dolls with deaf themes can be bought via vendors of deaf/hoh products.
Stories
On the PBS American Love Stories web site, there are stories of true love in the deaf community:
- Deaf and Hearing - A hearing woman describes her romance and marriage to a deaf man.
- We Listened to Ourselves - A hearing man describes his romance and relationship with a deaf woman.
Deafness in Romance Novels
Myshelf.com, a book review site, has a special page devoted to deafness in romance novels.
My Own Love Story
In January, 1984 I was the editor of the NTID Student Communication Center newspaper. One evening, when I was working in the SCC office in the basement of the NTID Dining Commons, Bob stopped by. He wanted to be a photographer for the newspaper, and I "hired" him. (I like to say that I'm still his boss today!)A friendship began to develop, and soon Bob and I were doing things together every weekend for three months straight. We also shared some meals in the cafeteria and did laundry together as well. Then, around April, we just stopped doing things together although we still talked to each other.
After I left NTID in 1985, we did not see each other or hear from each other. One day in 1989, we found each other again through an early deaf newsgroup. We exchanged a few e-mails and then again lost contact.
There was no contact again until early 2000. One night I was chatting with someone via AIM who had known both me and Bob. I said to him, "I remember my old buddy Bob..." and he put us back in touch with each other. Bob and I began to chat, and the chats grew longer and longer.
He came to visit in October 2000 and we saw each other again for the first time in fifteen years. It was a bit of a shock. The boy had become a man and I, the girl, a woman.
Bob moved in with me later that Fall, and we have been together since then. As it turns out, both of us had never forgotten each other during those fifteen years apart.
How did you meet your deaf/hoh partner? Online? In college at NTID or Gallaudet? Share your deaf love story!
http://deafness.about.com/cs/friendshiparticles/a/signsoflove.htm
