How do deaf people formulate ideas in their head if they can't hear language?

I get that they can formulate ideas, as (obviously) hearing impairment is an issue of the ear, not the brain. But when we think of things like, "I'm hungry, I'm going to go get an orange" - How do they do that?

• it has a name!

  Annie%20Sullivan

• Anyone?

• They probably play images of the signs in their minds.

• Gee, I don't know, OP. Can deaf people learn, like, words and shit, you know through reading?

• Interesting question OP. If a deaf person has never heard any sound, can they imagine sound?

• [quote]Gee, I don't know, OP. Can deaf people learn, like, words and shit, you know through reading? Gee, I don't know R4, how do they, like, sound the words out in their head and shit if they've never heard them.

• R4 is a moron with a reading comprehension problem.

• What goes through their minds when they see a tree fall in the forrest and no hearing person is around?

• I hate autocorrect. forest.

  R8

• Same thing with people blind from birth. I once read an article about it. One man said he imagined the color red to be like the sound of a trumpet, which can sort of make sense except that when you get right down to it, the color red is nothing like the sound of a trumpet. But at least the comparison gave him something to hang his idea of red on to.

• [quote]Those who were born completely deaf and only learned sign language will, not surprisingly, think in sign language. What is surprising is those who were born completely deaf but learn to speak through vocal training will occasionally think not only in the particular sign language that they know, but also will sometimes think in the vocal language they learned, with their brains coming up with how the vocal language sounds. Primarily though, most completely deaf people think in sign language. Similar to how an “inner voice” of a hearing person is experienced in one’s own voice, a completely deaf person sees or, more aptly, feels themselves signing in their head as they “talk” in their heads. More at the link, OP. The rest of the article talks about how language is the "driver" for many mental functions.

  http://www.todayifoundout.com/index.php/2010/07/how-deaf-people-think/

• It must be a slower and more energy demanding process to see your thoughts in sign language than it is to simply hear an inner voice. Interesting, R11.

• [quote]the color red is nothing like the sound of a trumpet Really? Both are attention-grabbing. Red is actually described as a "loud" color. I can see it. (a pun!) Think of the associations we have with a woman in a red dress, a fast red car, or spicy red peppers. Red is a color that is loud and demands attention, much like a trumpet. I think it's more than possible to conceptualize a feeling or thought without verbally composing literal prose in your mind. Does anyone *really* think like that? Like a running monologue in your head, reciting your every inner thought in perfectly composed (but unheard) speech? I think not.

• R13, My point is they can only have a metaphorical understanding of the sense they are missing. And no matter how apropos the metaphor is, they will never really know what that missing sense really is.

  R10

• [quote]One man said he imagined the color red to be like the sound of a trumpet They imagine the color brown to be like the sound of a wet fart.

• I do audio description for the blind for live theatre, and when describing costumes or sets or lights, I always use color, specifically because blind people can associate colors with feelings, sounds or characteristics, and they can visualize the action and look of the performance easier.

• How do blind, asexual, homosexuals know that they are gay? I mean if they can't see a person (to be attracted to them) and aren't interested in getting rammed up the poopshoot, how can they be sure they aren't interested in the opposite sex? HOWWWWWWWW?!?!?!?!?!

  OP