[00:00] Hello. My name is Brent Lee.  I was born deaf.  When I was growing up, I noticed people asking questions. My dad and my brother would be chatting, the two of them are hearing people, and they would be having long, in-depth conversations going on and on. When they were chatting I would feel like they were ignoring me, or sometimes they would try to include me, but they would talk to me like I was a five-year-old, or use really basic words. And I would say “no! I want to have in-depth conversations just as you have with my brother. What’s the difference?”

[00:31] If you want to be educated or know everything, it starts here. So it’s not treating other people as though they are superior, but I should be treated as an equal. It’s the same as other hearing people. They would look down on me and think that I can’t play football or basketball. But I proved them wrong. I can play football and basketball.

[00:52] A lot of times hearing people, you know, they can learn from deaf culture. You know, they can learn a lot about how you’re raised, you can learn about the different challenges, you can learn about the different things that we go through. And then you don’t have to be nervous. So you don’t have to be scared to meet a deaf person. So many people are scared.

[01:09] Okay, how do you meet them? Whether you tap them on the shoulder, or how to learn sign language. Or you can offer ASL, or show them an ASL app. You can go to a college and take sign language classes there. What’s important for me is that others learn the ABCs first. So then you can learn to communicate with me. It’s just as simple as learning the ABCs. You’ll be fine with that.

[01:32] Most hearing people know the signs such as “thank you.” Some people might say “you’re welcome.” It’s important for hearing people to develop their sign skills by socializing with the deaf community.