He was pretending to be dumb, not deaf, but yes seems that should still work and realistically what you'd do. I can understand not taking pretending as far as

He was pretending to be dumb, not deaf, but yes seems that should still work and realistically what you'd do. I can understand not taking pretending as far as using a wheelchair though, seems you could too easily end up in situations where you have to try to explain No no I'm on the side of people with disabilities, I'm not taking the piss, etc.