hey, i'm hearing and i was encouraged to learn sign language ( & eventually picked it up ) so that i could communicate with the D/deaf/hoh community without them having to read my lips/use pen and paper. is this bad? i recently saw a post you made (brief

Hi! I think it’s great that you’re learning to sign! No harm there certainly–the problem only lies in cultural appropriation, so when hearing people learn sign for their own gain rather than respecting Deaf people and Deaf culture. For example, often hearing people teach their hearing babies sign, while deaf babies are discouraged from signing and forced into speech. Or, hearing actors learn sign to play deaf characters–roles that could’ve been for Deaf actors.

So all that said, I’m really glad to hear you’re learning ASL. As long as you respect Deaf culture and Deaf people, you’re an ally of the community! :)