Zach LaVine Quotes

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

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.

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.

Say what you want about the deaf.

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.

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.

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.

Before working with Deaf West, I had never met a deaf person, and now I can't imagine life without ASL.

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.

While taking sign language in high school, one of our assignments was to go out and participate in the deaf community, so I really got to know a lot of the group from that. I felt like they needed a little bit more of a voice because people treat them different just because they're hearing impaired.

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

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

Texting has definitely improved the communication between the deaf and hearing communities, but it shouldn't be... a substitute for learning the language to really connect with someone, especially someone you want to date or have a relationship with.

I am the fourth generation of being deaf.

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.

Deaf people can do anything, except hear.

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.

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

Sign language was a great experience. I have a deaf aunt that I am able to communicate with because of that class.

There are two worlds: the deaf world and the hearing world. There are some people in the deaf community that feel that hearing people look down on us.

There are many issues within the deaf community but, for me, none more important than access to education for deaf children.

I was very shy. I didn't really hang around with hearing people very much. Mostly I had deaf friends.

I'm happy being deaf. I'm happy with my life and my family.

In the deaf community, there is exactly that - a community. It's like nothing I see in the hearing world. It's old fashioned, I guess, and beautiful.