The main character in one of my stories is deaf, and I've tried very hard to keep her experiences as accurate and correct as I can (basing them off real deaf people that i follow on social media and such), but if anyone has any tips or references, I'd appreciate hearing them!
This is a problem I've had as well, as one of my main protagonists is mute, aka can't speak. I feel like its important to delve into what the disability means to the character, and how it's shaped their personal life. Other than that, simple research like you have been doing is often what I find to be the best approach.
I’m also writing a deaf character. She was born deaf so at first I liked to think that she wasn’t bitter that she can’t hear music and such. However I wasn't sure at first and I started to do the same research you’re doing. It really helps.
When I was a cashier I had a few customers come up to me but we're deaf, they couldn't read lips either. It was overall just awkward and I felt useless when it came to me offering customer service, and I could only imagine how they felt. I think it's important to add real feelings like that to characters with both perspectives of how people around them feel and how they themselves feel. It makes it all the more realistic.
Hi! I have a deaf sister (deaf since 3 years old), so I figured I could help out a bit. A few things I noticed/she told me were difficult:
• trying to lip-read in conversations with many people talking through eachother
• people talking trash about her because they thought she had no way of knowing
• hands (or other body parts) getting tired of using sign language
• people mumbling and not using their face a whole lot to talk, making it hard to lip-read
• (this is for the people who can't read lips) sign language interpreters being very expensive
• voice over in television
• no closed captions for youtube videos, netflix shows, etc.
• asking others to repeat what they said/signed (she finds it embarrassing)
• having to have a hearing companion with her when she goes outside, in case of any alarming things she can't hear
There are also some small advantages, though:
• signing when you can't talk (IE at night, under water)
• people treating her extra kindly (though she does get annoyed by it sometimes)
• dreams are very extraordinary (apparently?)
• being less scared of scary movies because she can't hear the tense music lol
• being able to feel music
I hope this helped!