Deaf people in my area (New England) refer to themselves with a sign pointing to their ears and mouth that would correspond with the English word "deafmute". I have seen the group Altan use a signer onstage. I found it ironic that deaf people could understand the Irish Language songs better than many of the audience. I have heard of competitions where groups sign ASL to popular songs that are well attended by the Deaf community. There are different degrees of deafness as there are blindness. Most of the deaf people I have met love to dance.

Brían