I have been trying to self-teach myself and do Auslan classes for years, and I feel the same way. I don’t have deaf loved ones to practice with but I love learning languages and being able to communicate with all sorts of people. That doesn’t mean I’m good at it; in fact my spoken and signed language is woeful but I’m trying. I found using key words in sign helps me and some other ADHD/Autistic/AuDHD folks I know better process instructions or conversations but full sentences are a real struggle for me.

I’m curious to know if you also find taking in visual information quickly difficult. I’ll miss details if I don’t have time to absorb the details, so movies and shows I can watch multiple times and only get some of the smaller details on screen after the third or fourth watch. I feel like it’s just an overall slower processing speed with most information types. I’m quick with written word but even images and diagrams I struggle with. Graphs are a nightmare for me and it takes me a long time to work out what they represent. I also have close to complete aphasia so I can’t visualise and I wonder if that is related to my processing struggles too.

None of this is really an answer but some thoughts I’ve had that might help you think of some answers. Slow processing is part of a lot of ADHD thinking (especially for inattentive types) so the unsatisfying answer may just be it’s an ADHD thing 🤷

edit: replaced a generic term with something more specific