I'm profoundly deaf from birth. In an in-person group conversation, understanding is impossible with all the verbal back-and-forth. One-on-ones are vastly easier. People are initially awkward about the new way we have to communicate (repetition, paper, laptop), but they are always understanding. Access services help.
I recently was interviewed by a co-founder of a startup for an internship position. He lives in San Francisco, I'm on the East Coast. We used Skype and he was very nice, very open to instant messaging. To code, we used an EtherPad clone. But it's difficult to convey your passion like this, because there are two inputs: video and text. It's hard to appear passionate visually while you're typing, so there's a kind of disconnect.
How I handle phones: I ask them if they can text, email, or instant message instead. Never did teleconferences, but they sound like a nightmare. For in-person stuff, my college provides me access services for free. I practiced like hell with approaching people, understanding spoken language with the cochlear implant (got it three years ago), and speaking accurately, so conversations are no longer the sweat-inducing terrors they used to be. It turns out that most people didn't care I was deaf.
Consider a VP (video phone). Acts just like a phone, but a middle-person interprets both ends of the conversation. Naturally, there is a lag between translations. Be sure to let them know.
If you have any personal questions don't hesitate to contact me (see profile). You aren't alone. If you hadn't made this thread, I would have myself when I make a startup.
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I'm profoundly deaf from birth. In an in-person group conversation, understanding is impossible with all the verbal back-and-forth. One-on-ones are vastly easier. People are initially awkward about the new way we have to communicate (repetition, paper, laptop), but they are always understanding. Access services help.
I recently was interviewed by a co-founder of a startup for an internship position. He lives in San Francisco, I'm on the East Coast. We used Skype and he was very nice, very open to instant messaging. To code, we used an EtherPad clone. But it's difficult to convey your passion like this, because there are two inputs: video and text. It's hard to appear passionate visually while you're typing, so there's a kind of disconnect.
How I handle phones: I ask them if they can text, email, or instant message instead. Never did teleconferences, but they sound like a nightmare. For in-person stuff, my college provides me access services for free. I practiced like hell with approaching people, understanding spoken language with the cochlear implant (got it three years ago), and speaking accurately, so conversations are no longer the sweat-inducing terrors they used to be. It turns out that most people didn't care I was deaf.
Consider a VP (video phone). Acts just like a phone, but a middle-person interprets both ends of the conversation. Naturally, there is a lag between translations. Be sure to let them know.
If you have any personal questions don't hesitate to contact me (see profile). You aren't alone. If you hadn't made this thread, I would have myself when I make a startup.