I think it certainly does. Like you, I'm not trying to disparage deaf culture. I certainly found some of the items in the list to be informative. Another thing that struck me was how the lines were drawn, that is to say, this list made it more apparent to me that there is a very real cultural divide between deaf culture and the larger culture. I have only limited knowledge of ASL, but I understand that the grammar is very different from spoken English. The way in which we communicate primes us to take certain cues for granted. Certainly, I think that though people tend to focus on content and tone in spoken exchanges, much of what we "say" face-to-face is communicated via other vocalizations that are not part of speech as well as the "tone" of our body language and gestures. I wonder if there's any way to bridge the gap between deaf culture and the culture at large. If there is, I then wonder if there would be resistance from either side.
This is a really good point, I have on occasion called my boss a bastard to his face but because my tone was playful the message was received as I intended. When I ask my wife whats wrong and she says "Nothing." I know I'm in trouble. We do it without thinking, imagine how difficult it is for a deaf person to communicate with a hearing person who is constantly using tone to increase the amount of information they send when speaking. That has to be tough. It may go a long way to explaining why there is such a divide between the two groups.much of what we "say" face-to-face is communicated via other vocalizations that are not part of speech as well as the "tone" of our body language and gestures