Resources For Writing Deaf, Mute, Or Blind Characters

Resources For Writing Deaf, Mute, or Blind Characters

Despite the fact that I am not deaf, mute, or blind myself, one of the most common questions I receive is how to portray characters with these disabilities in fiction.

As such, I’ve compiled the resources I’ve accumulated (from real life deaf, mute, or blind people) into a handy masterlist.

Deaf Characters:

Deaf characters masterpost

Deaf dialogue thread

Dialogue with signing characters (also applies to mute characters.)

A deaf author’s advice on deaf characters

Dialogue between deaf characters

Mute Characters

Life as a Mute

My Silent Summer:  Life as a Mute

What It’s Like Being Mute

21 People Reveal What It’s Really Like To Be Mute

I am a 20 year old Mute, ask me anything at all!

Blind Characters:

The 33 Worst Mistakes Writers Make About Blind Characters.

@referenceforwriters masterpost of resources for writing/playing blind characters.

The youtube channel of the wonderful Tommy Edison, a man blind from birth with great insight into the depiction of blind people and their lives.

An Absolute Write thread on the depiction of blind characters, with lots of different viewpoints and some great tips.

And finally, this short, handy masterpost of resources for writing blind characters.

Characters Who Are Blind in One Eye

4 Ways Life Looks Shockingly Different With One Eye

Learning to Live With One Eye

Adapting to the Loss of an Eye

Adapting to Eye Loss and Monocular Vision

Monocular Depth Perception

Deaf-Blind Characters

What Is It Like To Be Deafblind?

Going Deaf and Blind in a City of Noise and Lights

Deaf and Blind by 30

Sarita is Blind, Deaf, and Employed (video)

Born Deaf and Blind, This Eritrean American Graduated Harvard Law School (video)

A Day of a Deaf Blind Person

Lesser Known Things About Being Deafblind

How the Deaf-Blind Communicate

Early Interactions With Children Who Are Deaf-Blind

Raising a DeafBlind Baby

If you have any more resources to add, let me know!  I’ll be adding to this post as I find more resources.

I hope this helps, and happy writing!  <3

I keep seeing posts about the differences between the book and the Ghibli adaptation of Howl's Moving Castle, and honestly there's a totally charming interview with Diana Wynne-Jones at the end of the kindle edition about how it worked :)

tired: mermaids are all women

wired: much like elves, merfolk are mistaken by sailors for being all women because they have long hair and are very pretty

Some soft redesign for Lexi because yay ponytail ears. Will probably do the other Loonatics :D

Art by me. Do not repost and edit without my permission.

I spent so much time on these doodles… They were waaaay too much fun. I haven’t drawn in like an… “anime” style in ages haha 

Crossover because I love LWA unconditionally now. Bonnie the reluctant to believe in magic witch meets the carefree misplaced vampire who just needed something to do. 

In these pics it’s just Marceline being sassy, then bonnie being sassy because Marcy can’t fly without being fully covered. Grants her some protection and the sass begins again. 

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How To Reference Romantic Attraction Between Your Characters:

Person A’s inability to make eye-contact for long periods of time while Person B is constantly looking into A’s eyes. (extra points if Person A looks away and blushes)

Interest Copying (When interested in another person, humans tend to copy that person’s movements, stature, etc)

Cute nervous ticks while around one another (Dont just use blushing and stuttering! Other ticks exist! Shuffling, fiddling their thumbs, scratching the back of their neck, bouncing their leg, nervous laughter, picking at their palm, biting the inside of their cheek, etc!)

Remembering little details about one another (How person A never eats the beans on their plate, or person B’s favorite color, the color of their eyes, where their birthmark is, are they a morning or night person? Bonus points if they figure this information out by observation, not by being told!)

Constantly smiling or laughing around their love interest

Confessing their love (but only in Spanish)