Michael Arden Quotes

The deaf culture is portrayed very accurately on 'Switched at Birth' because the writers did the opposite of the norm. They did their homework before portraying anything on television.

Growing up, I was always involved in the deaf community.

I just have a connection with sign language. I always thought the deaf community was a different community to be a part of. In high school, me and my friend took sign language.

I was a sign language interpreter from when I was 17, but I don't do that anymore. Both of my parents were deaf. I grew up in a deaf household. I don't do any jokes about it really, but yeah that was my day job.

I started to realize that there are a lot of people who are unaware of deaf culture, and I've been given a great platform to reframe the deaf community.

Say what you want about the deaf.

I know a little bit about deaf culture because a friend of mine has been in the deaf culture for awhile. Over the course of 25 years, she and I have talked about many of the issues and concerns for deaf people and deaf culture.

The deaf community relies so much on eye contact, expression and body language. It's such a huge part of who we are.

The deaf community is nearly never portrayed accurately on television/film because most writers never took the time to immerse themselves in the deaf culture before portraying it on television. They also never got to know their deaf actors.

I am fourth-generation deaf, which means everyone in my immediate family is deaf. So I grew up always having 100 percent accessibility to language and communication, which was wonderful and something so many deaf people don't have.

At Gallaudet, deafness isn't an issue. You don't even think about it. Students can pay attention to accounting or psychology or journalism. But when a deaf person goes to another college, no matter how supportive it is, that person doesn't get the same access.

In the deaf community, in order to play a role of someone with a hearing loss... you have to have hearing loss.

In the deaf community, there are different types of people who have different philosophies. Some believe that they should only sign. Some believe they should only speak. Some people say you should use cued speech. Some say you should use cochlear implants. Some say you shouldn't sign. Some people say you should sign.

To really understand a deaf person's experience, you need someone that is deaf to be able to tell you what their experience is.

There are so many deaf kids out there being deprived of their own language.

I am the fourth generation of being deaf.

Since I knew my deaf identity since birth, it wasn't hard for me to be comfortable, confident, and independent in a hearing world.

Deafness and sign language are extremely close to my heart.

Raising awareness about the Deaf culture is a huge cause that I advocate. Because both of my parents are deaf, I am passionate about it in an entirely different way.

The students at Gallaudet University deserve our congratulations. They educated the nation about deafness, and won a long overdue victory for all disabled people.

You can knock on a deaf man's door forever.

Deaf people can do anything, except hear.

How many deaf people do you know in real life? Unless they live in a cave, or are 14, which seems to be true for most people in this business, what could I possibly tell them that they don't already know?

One of the things I did when I was in New York, which has a wonderful deaf community, is I have worked on making Broadway more accessible to deaf people.

The deaf community is hungry to see itself in the most positive way.