Wow! I had no idea how controversial this has been. Someone said earlier that they had never heard anyone with a "deaf accent" like Daphne has. That doesn't mean it doesn't exist. That is no different that people from the Bronx speaking differently from the people in Alabama or North Carolinians speaking differently than people from Indiana. When I first moved to Indiana, people would say "yuens" which sounded like "yins". Other than the currency I had never heard of "yin". They pronounce "cold", "told", "sold", etc. and drop the "l" so it sounds like "code","toed", "sewed", etc. Now, however, I am fluent in the Hoosier dialect and have no problems. The first person I ever met from Boston offered me a "beea" one day. I politely declined, not knowing what a "beea" was, then discovered it was a "beer". Every part of the county has it's own distinct sound, and it's the same for deaf people. One of my best friends growing up was hard of hearing and did wear one hearing aid. She had the same exact "deaf accent" as Daphne. Linguistics is an interesting subject to study.I started learning to sign as a child, and continued into a Deaf Education degree. I have taught sign language classes to hearing and deaf/hoh people. I have heard many students and older adults speak as Daphne does.As far as the facts about her career and the decision to use the deaf accent, search it on Wikipedia and read what she has to say.Is this any different than the way the other actors, writers, journalists, and even newscasters totally destroy the English language on a daily basis? I don't think so.Lighten up and enjoy the show people. It is one of the most best shows that has been on tv in years.   See 38 other replies

I understand what the producers of this show were trying to achieve by having Daphne use a Deaf accent, but I find it offensive. Don't get me wrong, I love the show, but there are truly Deaf actresses out there that wouldn't have to mimic a Deaf accent.   See 38 other replies

The actress that plays Daphne is deaf, on some days and some days her hearing goes back on. Daphne has an accent because she can't hear herself speak, or hear anyone else speak so she doesn't know how to correctly pronounce some words.   See 38 other replies

she has a disease called Ménière's disease, a disorder of the inner ear that can affect hearing and balance to a varying degree.   See 38 other replies

Similar to Beth, I am usually pretty good with "volume control" also--with or without my hearing aids to help. I just sort of sense what volume is right. The exception is, if I become emotional (angry, excited, whatever) then I might not realize that I am getting louder unless someone alerts me. Also, it can be very hard for me to figure out what volume I need for talking in noisy restaurants. When I was growing up I got frustrated all the time that I would be talking loud one minute and the hearing people I was with was fine with it. Then I'd be talking at the same volume a few minutes later and suddenly I get yelled at for being disruptive--it made no sense to me that hearing people were so inconsistent with what volume they were okay with. Then it was explained to me how noise levels in restaurants may often fluctuate, which I didn't realize. These days I usually error on the side of being too quiet, which means that waiters sometimes get my order wrong (because of not hearing it well) and so forth. Or I sometimes just write my order down to avoid the nuisance (particularly if my order is something more complicated than "I would like this please" [point at menu] can cover).   See 38 other replies