New - Cruel & Blunt ASL Comments Within the Deaf Community, Part 1 & 2 - DIGITAL DOWNLOAD

New! This full-feature training film is now available as a DIGITAL DOWNLOAD.

Title: Cruel & Blunt ASL Comments Within the Deaf Community,

Part 1 & 2

Film Description:

This advanced training is intended for mature viewers only. It explores harsh and often painful realities of how ASL is used in real conversations to express blunt, critical, or cruel comments within the Deaf community. Viewer discretion is advised due to sensitive cultural and social topics.

This powerful 2-part training set uncovers one of the most necessary and rarely discussed aspects of ASL use: the presence of cruel, judgmental, and insensitive comments signed bluntly and openly by some individuals in the community. These signs are not “made up”—they are authentic and used in everyday ASL to express gossip, mockery, criticism, and social judgment. This film helps learners recognize, analyze, and prepare for these uncomfortable but real moments in the field of interpreting, teaching, and community interaction.

You will be trained to not only understand how these comments are signed, but also the why behind their cultural presence. Every subcategory is explained and demonstrated with clarity, cultural insight, and emotional awareness.

Included in This 2-Part Series – 20 Real-Life Subcategories Taught:

(Each includes examples and expressive demonstrations)

1. Mocking physical changes
   Teaches how some signers express cruel opinions about someone’s appearance. Focus includes comments about weight gain, hair loss, aging, and body changes.

2. Degrading job or career choices
   Covers how people insult others based on where or how they work. Learners will see how employment status is unfairly linked to social value in some conversations.

3. Criticizing fashion or clothing
   Shows how fashion choices are judged harshly through ASL. Focus includes signs used to mock revealing, outdated, or “inappropriate” attire.

4. Shaming relationship decisions
   Teaches how people express strong disapproval of others’ partners, marriages, or dating choices. Viewers will learn how to recognize judgmental language tied to love, age gaps, or culture.

5. Mocking signing styles or skills
   Examines how signers criticize one another’s fluency, speed, or accuracy. Shows how some use ASL to shame or belittle less confident signers.

6. Judging parenting or family behavior
   Covers how parents and families are targeted for how they raise their children. This includes parenting choices, family discipline, and family visibility at events.

7. Attacking financial or living status
   Focuses on comments about poverty, renting, appearance of homes, and economic struggle. Learners will explore signs that target people’s class or money situation.

8. Criticizing behavior at Deaf events
   Shows how attendees are mocked for how they behave or interact. Includes signs used to imply selfishness, rudeness, or attention-seeking behavior.

9. Shaming medical or disability-related matters
   Covers how people are accused of faking or exaggerating their conditions. Teaches how health-related signs are twisted to express disbelief or cruelty.

10. Spreading personal secrets or assumptions
    Focuses on gossip signs used to share or fabricate personal details about others. This includes how secrets are signed, and how assumptions are expressed.

11. Judging English or writing ability
    Teaches how ASL is used to mock poor grammar, typos, or unclear writing. Also includes criticism of English usage by Deaf or CODA individuals.

12. Accusations of being fake or two-faced
    Explores how signers accuse others of hypocrisy, copying, or being dishonest. Shows how facial expressions and space are used to add impact.

13. Making fun of speaking attempts or voice
    Teaches how speech is mocked within the Deaf community. Includes signs used when criticizing how someone talks or sounds.

14. Mocking religious beliefs or practices
    Covers expressions of sarcasm or disapproval toward those who follow religious rituals or beliefs. Also includes signs related to prayer, fasting, and spiritual behavior.

15. Criticizing someone’s home or car
    Teaches how objects of status like houses and cars become topics of social shaming. Includes comments about messiness, repairs, or lack of style.

16. Gossiping about past mistakes or records
    Shows how people bring up old stories or offenses to shame others. Learners will see signs related to jail, past behaviors, and personal history.

17. Mocking communication devices or preferences
    Teaches how people get teased for what they use—TTY, VRS, FaceTime, or outdated tech. Also includes how communication “preferences” become targets.

18. Shaming for oversharing online
    Focuses on how some are judged for posting emotional or personal content. Signs demonstrate how people mock crying posts, selfies, or family drama online.

19. Dismissing activism or community efforts
    Teaches how volunteers or community leaders are called out as fake, attention-seeking, or not truly helpful. Includes ASL used to question motives.

20. Mocking gender identity or sexuality
    Explores cruel signs used to mock non-binary, LGBTQ+, or expressive individuals. Helps learners identify deeply offensive signs they may witness in real conversations.

Benefits of This Training:

✅ Mature, honest training for advanced ASL students, educators, and interpreters

✅ Learn to recognize real-world ASL signs used for gossip, cruelty, and criticism

✅ Builds expressive skills while sharpening cultural awareness and emotional insight

✅ Gain strength in receptive comprehension of difficult or awkward conversations

✅ Understand how “bluntness” is used and misused in the Deaf community

✅ Includes 20 meaningful subcategories across two full films

✅ Digital download format — own it forever and revisit as needed

This training is raw. It is truthful. And it is one of the most important ASL lessons you will ever experience. Let your understanding deepen — so your signing can carry both power and compassion.