"I am not your "deaf friend." And I don't want to be," writes Sophie Narod, who is deaf but does not sign.
"I'm not interested in your friends, or your parents' friends, who are deaf. If you tell me that one of your parents is deaf, I'd be happy to talk about that because I know that you'd have your own experience in what it is like to live with a deaf person. I can relate to that because my mother is deaf and that's something you and I would have in common. But if you just know "someone" who is deaf, that does not mean you know a thing about me."
Read on to learn more about what makes Sophie comfortable or uncomfortable in various situations.