Looking for people with hearing/speech impairments to share their personal experiences!

[Deepak]

I haven’t had in-depth conversations with anyone who had to use sign language their whole life owing to the fact that I haven't met many, and even the ones I did, I just didn't. So, I will ask my questions here:

• I know there's no other option, but I am more interested in the logistics part--how did you learn sign language as a person with hearing/speech impairments? Since language (any mode of communication) works on consensus, what was your formal training in sign language?

• In the process of learning it, did it ever feel as if it was coming naturally to you? or rather, the sign language being at odds with your natural expressive instincts? "If I didn't do this thing, I would have signaled it in a different way" experiences.

• The above questions are a sort of setting up questions for my actual question. It's about the personal variations of it. More than regional variations (if any that is), I am more interested in personal variations i.e., you signal a specific thing or a feeling differently than the larger populace because your parents did it that way or you were used to it that way since you were a kid or whatever. Since they are very common in English or any other language, how common and how frequent are they in sign language?

Forgive me if I have used offensive language anywhere, I earnestly tried not to. Any and all answers are appreciated, even directions to other appropriate forums I can ask this in!