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I have always wondered that too! I asked my evolutionary psych professor and she really could not give me an answer either. My theory is that they think a little more abstractly and more visually. Instead of thinking about words, they visualize the way they will say it in sign-language. As for them thinking about complex concepts, I believe they have a huge disadvantage. If they can read, I think that would help them think in a more organized manner because they can see the visual representation through words.

If you ever meet someone that was born deaf, ask them.

I was surprised when I lived in Spain and learned that they don't use the same sign language that we do in the U.S. I guess I just never made the connection between American Sign Language and America. I always thought sign language was global. How many possible ways can someone make a hand sign for the same thing? It seems like it would be difficult for different languages to vary that much.

Deaf people think in whatever language they've learned to understand...

This is a really weird question for me. A person born in America who is deaf understands English. They have to read and write it and many read lips. So...they think in English. They just don't think in terms of audible English. Things in their dreams are probably much quieter. They still know what English words are....

ASL is not a different language. That's a misconception. ASL is a visual interpretation of the English language, and I imagine that sign languages from other countries are visual interpretations of their languages. Deaf people don't speak weird different languages or think different than people who can hear. They speak the exact same language , just in a different mode.

And, interestingly enough, a significant portion of deaf people can speak with their mouths. The way they learn to do it is different than the way we do it, because it has to do with vibration, and they typically have a "deaf accent" since they can't hear themselves speak and don't have an aural comparison, but they can speak out loud just fine.

I'm kind of passionate about this sort of thing because one of my best guy friend's parents are both deaf. I know a lot about it.

I really don't know to tell you the truth. There's this girl in my English class that is deaf and there are sign language teachers there. I always love watching them do sign language when the professor is teaching because it's pretty interesting all the time. I wish I knew what language they spoke. And I wonder because the girl in my class, she has a phone that she talks on and I'm like how does she hear or is she just partially deaf. Great forum :)

I've always wondered about this. Honestly I think they make up their own language. It's crazy to think about, I can barely wrap my head around it.

I've always wondered how their dreams work, too. I wonder how they imagine things to sound. Or how sound feels at all because they've never had the experience.

This is one of those things where if I could be someone for a day, a deaf person would be a good answer. Because it's really intriguing, that would be an insane experience, so different.

@EVERYONE should watch this inspirational video, it's so amazing. This 29 year old girl has a device that lets her hear for the first time
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LsOo3jzkhYA

I'm a communication sciences and speech disorders major on the bilingual education track. I'm finishing American Sign Language II this semester and my professor has a wealth of knowledge; she is a speech pathologist as well as an American Sign Language (ASL) professor, an interpreter and she teaches children and their families how to use ASL. She shares real life experiences with us about who she has worked with. Not only do we learn ASL in her class, we learn about Deaf culture, the history of sign language and how it became ASL in this country as well as all the abuse the Deaf have experienced by hearing people and all the misconceptions hearing people have about the Deaf. We watch documentaries and read about ASL in many different aspects.

Phoebe, if somebody is using English in a different mode, they are using Signed Exact English. Signed Exact English and American Sign Language are different, for one thing there is no "is" in ASL and ASL has different grammar and syntax than English. American Sign Language has scientifically and linguistically been proven to be its own language separate from English thanks to William Stokoe in the 1950s, who classified signs based on their hand shape, motion and location. Sign language is a visuospatial language and people who use sign think differently than people that don't use sign. For example, they perform better than hearing people on the Benton Test because of their special visual skills http://jdsde.oxfordjournals.org/content/2/4/212.full.pdf

Sky- You're inquiring about linguistic determinism. This theory says language determines how a person thinks and sees the world. The opposite theory is cognitive determinism and it says our thoughts determine language.

Love- Made up signs are called home signs. There is also indigenous sign. An example is Nicaraguan Sign Language http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/evolution/library/07/2/l_072_04.html

Anonymous- Bellugi studied deaf and hearing children's ability to perceive and remember pseudo Chinese characters presented as swift patterns of light. The deaf signing kids did extremely well and the task was almost impossible for hearing children. The test was repeated using deaf signing and hearing American adults who did not know Chinese. The deaf signers performed notably better due to special visual skills they picked up through learning Sign.This info is from Oliver Sacks' Seeing Voices.

Poetic- Is she deaf or hard of hearing?

Jason- Sign language developed independently all over the world and they have a similar spatial structure. The signs are different but within a few days Deaf people from different countries could easily understand each other.

That is so cool! Why doesn't everyone learn sign language as a universal language if its so easy to communicate?! I only know the alphabet so I guess if I absolutely needed to I could probably spell out words for someone but it'd be so cool to know ASL.

Sky: I work with people with disabilities and am working on a certificate in disabilities studies to go along with my master's degree. I understand where you are coming with your question, but I think you should know that most people in the deaf community would find your questions and assumptions very offensive.

Luring: I'm glad that you gave us so much information about this issue! I haven't taken any signing classes, but have a pretty good basic vocabulary.

If anyone is interested in learning basic ASL vocabulary, there is a really awesome kids' series called Signing Time. I watch it with one of my clients who is hearing impared and then got it for my kids. My daughter, who is 4, could remember all the signs that were taught in the video after watching it two times.

loveashlynne- Sign language is not universal, it's specific to the country that it is in. Maybe I didn't explain it well enough before. For example, if there is a Deaf American who signs only American Sign Language goes on vacation to France and meets a Deaf French person, who only signs in French Sign Language, they will be able to understand each other easily after a few days because they can make sense of the signs and pick up on what is different. Whereas if an American that only speaks English goes to France and meets a French person that only speaks French, they would not be able to understand each other easily after just a few days. Everything I have learned about ASL is so interesting. I like how we don't learn just the language in my class. We do a lot of interactive exercises and games to learn the material. Does your school offer ASL?

Jennifer- You're welcome. I just wanted to share what I had learned for the past two semesters and correct common misconceptions about sign language. http://www.signingsavvy.com/ This site is really great, it has a dictionary and then a clip plays on loop of a man signing the word that you looked up. A lot of parents are teaching their children sign language because young children get frustrated when they don't verbally have the words to communicate the message they want to get out. Sign language strengthens visual spatial skills and makes you think in a different way. A lot of research is coming out about the benefits of learning sign. I am going to teach my future children sign. Also, you never know what will happen to you in life. What if you get in an accident and you can't use your voice anymore? Well, you already know sign, so you're ok! It's also handy at dance parties when the music is blasting and you wanna tell your friend something. My best friend takes ASL with me and when we're standing on the subway platform and it becomes to loud to hear- no problem...we just switch to sign. Also, I don't think sky was being rude, I think she is just curious about sign language and what it is like to be Deaf. The only way for her to not follow misconceptions is to ask the questions for herself and figure it out from there. Maybe it's a field of study she wants to go into or something.

Sky- I don't know how Deaf people dream but I think it's an interesting question. My Swiss best friend studied abroad in the US and in the US, she dreams in English and at home she dreams in Swiss.

I would say the deaf speak the language they were taught when they learned to read inside their head.

If you crack open a dictionary it shows you how to pronounce the words. They can read.

I find it hard to believe that if I was deaf I'd speak in a different language inside my head than what I was reading on a sheet of paper. I would also find sign language to be extremely useful because it employs one sense to make up for the other, but they understand it in the language they were taught.

This is like a major unanswered question but i have a scenario i think to be quite logical about this topic i would think that the person that had become deaf overtime would think in the language that they where taught before becoming deaf or assciating pictures and visions with their thoughts instead of some kind of specific language maybe they picture thinogs in there mind like symbolizations and references of things from their memories of their past that they actually do remeber there are many guesstimates and theories that can actually be made but just stating the obvious we can never know for sure what the proven truth is unless we experience it for ourselves . But this is a popular question ive always wondered about and im glad to know that others have some of the same curiousity .

@ashlynne That video made me tear up, amazing, but she was not born deaf, she had a hearing impairment, thus why she speaks so well.

@phoebe I considered ASL to be a different language, now I realize it's just a visual form of english

@Jason lol I would have thought that the same sign language used in America, was the same one used worldwide :/ American Sign Language..America, i was like "ohh duhh".

@Jen i agree that they would find it offensive, I should have re-worded the question. My uncle made my little cousins watch a video he borrowed from the library teaching young kids how to sign letters, They learned it so quick, it's amazing. the twin daughters are the ones who taught me how to sigh the alphabet.

@luringattraction Your knowledge on this subject is great. So linguistic determinism is language determines how a person thinks and sees the world. and cognitive determinism says our thoughts determine language. I can't seem to wrap my head around cognitive determinism. I would think that for us to think we would have to know a language to think in, or sign.

I believe they think in 'sign' and that their thoughts are organized differently from the way i would think, their's would be more visual.

After reading all your posts, i immediately consulted Google lol, after all i've read, it shows how much i don't know, and it's so interesting!!

It seems that if you know sign language it would sharpen your visual senses, I only know the alphabet, but i would love to actually learn words, and form sentences.

Anyway i'm still intrigued about cognitive determinism, I'm going to do more research on that.

Btw the link @luringattraction posted is REALLY helpful : signingsavvy.com it shows you little clips on how to sign the words, today i learned how to sign 'Invade'

Sky- American Sign Language is its own language. If it was the visual interpretation of English it would be called Signed Exact English. American Sign Language does not include the verb "to be." Also, American Sign Language has its own grammar and syntax (sentence structure). This is why those who are native American Sign Language users have so much trouble reading English. The Deaf read at lower reading levels than hearing people the same age do. http://research.gallaudet.edu/Literacy/ On our exams, we have to watch sentences and stories that our professor signs and write what she signed in the written structure of American Sign Language. It's actually difficult because we are all so used to English syntax and naturally write it as if it were English- but it's not! This site explains the differences between English and American Sign Language very well http://lsadc.org/info/ling-faqs-sign.cfm

Cognitive determinism has a point. Babies thinks about what they need ex) milk, a nap, mom, dad, a toy, a blanket but they don't have those words or language yet so all they can do is cry. They still think though even though they don't have the words to express what they want yet.

I would go on a rant about how American Sign Language is most DEFINITELY a language, but it seems luringattraction has beaten me to all the technicalities explained more eloquently than I could have. xD Not only is American Sign language a language, but it brings with it its own culture and way of expression that inspires me. I've taken three years of sign language, and have learned so much about the deaf community through it.

Of course, after three years, this question has come up many a time, which is why it was great to have a deaf sign language teacher for two of those years. Hearing people assume that thought has to be a voice in our head or something, that everything we think has to have alphabetic words associated with it. Well, every word has three elements--written, spoken, and the image it conquers. Just take out the spoken portion, and that's how I think they think, almost entirely in visual. We honestly can't fully know because we were not born deaf, and can never go back and change that.

I LOVE SIGN LANGUAGE GAAAAH.

I honestly have no clue but if I were to guess it would be what everybody else has said. Imagery. They've never heard an English word so the brain can't really create what it's never heard. So whatever the word conjures in their head is probably what they "hear" in their head. Rhiai, I'm sure if you were to ask your teacher in the most polite way you could probably find out. I'd like to know now out of curiosity. There is also the possibility that one word conjures a different image in one person's head and different in another.