This article describes the development of identity in deaf persons. It examines how deaf people learn to live under special conditions. Data is based on conversations (interviews) with 22 deaf persons. A discussion, grounded in narrative theory, of how the development of self-identity is closely related to interactions with deaf and hearing people is presented. Further it seems that experiences from interactions with hearing persons play a significant role. Within a frame of a dialogical perspective on learning, a model is presented for the development of how a deaf person relates to him/herself and to other deaf and hearing persons. The author is the hearing son of sign lingual, deaf parents. For more than 20 years he has been working within the field of deaf education, as a teacher and as a principal. The research project was conducted when the author was a research fellow at the Department of Special Needs Education at the University of Oslo, Norway. (Contains 2 tables.)