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Learning sign language essay
Learning sign language essay
Learning sign language essay
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I went down to the Ohio School for the deaf on Friday to pick up my little brother. Andrew has been going to OSD for five years and he really seems to love it there. I just sat in on a conference with Andrew’s teachers and him and my mother. This is Andrew’s first year in high school and he is having a hard time adjusting to the new routine and the fact that he has homework almost every single night of the week and sometimes on the weekends. I did not interact with anybody but I did just observe how the teachers, my mom, and Andrew all interacted. I learned that being fluent in ASL means that you are signing very quickly and for somebody who is just now learning ASL, it was very hard to keep up with how fast everything was moving. I did
Overall, reading this book from cover-to-cover has certainly assisted in opening my eyes to Deaf culture and the Deaf community I live in. Major questions have been answered, and I feel more confident and familiar with their culture than I have before. I feel I have a better perception of why Deaf people react the way they do to specific situations with hearing people and why they have different etiquettes, like how common it is to hug someone as a greeting. I have a very positive basic reaction to the information and would absolutely reference back to this book if I have any questions.
During my junior year of high school, I was transferred from the Boces Program to East Meadow High School. This was an exciting time in my life! I was finally going to attend classes with "hearing" students. So many emotions filled my head. I was happy but, on the other hand, I was scared. I thought these kids would tease me and not accept me for who I am. When I went into the classroom, every student looked at me as if I were different, but they liked me anyway. Much to my surprise, within a couple of days I had made friends. I quickly realized that they didn't think of or treat me as I were different. They saw me for who I am on the inside, not a person with hearing aids on the outside.
The facility I did my observation at was Tutor Time in Fairfield, and I arrived there at 3:15pm. When I arrived there, I could instantly see that it was a child centered program by the feel of the artwork the kids had made that were on the walls, the passing classrooms and it smelled like sugar cookies throughout the building. It was very quiet in the office area and in the halls when I was walking to the class of preschoolers.
Nery was able to join me to the ice cream social and when we got there the vibe was very nice. She immediately introduce herself and I followed. She signed slow so I could understand. I signed about me and we had a conversation. Nery had to leave early because the following day she had class in the morning. She was only able to stay there for about 30 minutes. I was thankful she had gone because she helped me to not be shy, to open up, and to start a conversation. Going to the socially reminded me of how the social is no different than hanging out around people of other cultures. For example if a group of Latinos were socializing and an African American person goes in the social group he might get eyed different but as soon as he joins and starts speaking Spanish with the Latinos they open up as well. These are all language barriers we break. Personally, communicating in sign language is very difficult but I do explain that I'm currently taking my first course. I sign slow and use a lot of classifiers because they tend to be smoother for me. I enjoyed my mint chocolate with coconut shavings at this deaf
Going to the California School of the Deaf in Fremont was a really fun and interesting experience. In the beginning as I walked in with a couple other ASL students, I felt intimidated because a lot of people were signing and the signs were way more complex than what I have learned so far. We walked in and tried to get a feel for the campus by walking around and observing the many beautiful murals. Then we decided to go into the gym and see some of CSD’s high school students perform the Eagle Fight Song, which I really enjoyed. The Fight Song was really passionate and the students performing were showing so many emotions through their body language and facial expressions. The Fight Song showed a Deaf Can attitude and that Deaf people can overcome
If a hearing individual wants to indicate respect towards a person who is deaf or hard of hearing, I believe that by taking classes in ASL will not only help the individual become fluent in the language, but it will also show that the hearing individual has respect for both the Deaf community and culture. By taking up ASL classes, this opens up a whole new world of possibilities and knowledge for a person who is hearing. These individuals will come to appreciate and respect the culture that has grown from the use of ASL. Picking up on this new language will allow for the barrier of communication to be broken between the hearing and Deaf worlds. If taking sign language classes seem like a daunting task to some, even learning small phrases like,
I also feel that ASL is a beautiful language and should be given as a choice in language requirements in all grade levels. This language that was brought to us over 150 years ago could sustain and still be useful today for within our own country unlike Italian, French or German. It has some kind of magic that makes us want to learn and speak it when we do not have to. The fluent and rhythmic motions are mesmerizing and captivating and anyone with the means to learn it should.
On November 13, 2015 I observed a kindergarten class at the school where I work as the BAC Director. The students were between the ages of 5 and 6 years of age. The student were studying community helpers.
When I attended the IT's Deaf community meet up, I got just a small fraction of what it is like to be cut of from your way of communicating with other people. when I arrived in the room it was silent as everyone was signing to each other. Still learning ASL and not knowing what was being said around me was difficult to get used to. After settling down at a table with my meal, I just watched people talking to each other by signing, I would try to understand with my new limited knowledge of the language.
I enjoy learning about ASL and the culture. I was surprised on how much different it is than that of the English culture. The video that I watched for Unit 3, “See What I Mean: Differences between Deaf and Hearing Cultures” was a very interesting video. The lateness aspect is unique. Most people if they are late do not want to cause a scene, and do not want the attention directed towards them. I think if the hearing culture adopted stating the reason why one was late, then a lot more people would strive to be on time. I enjoy the leave taking. Instead of saying bye and walking away the conversations continues and to make sure both parties have clear understanding of any details and the next time that they will meet. The hearing culture should
Have you watch America’s Next Top Model who has a deaf model competing or Switch at Birth with many deaf actors and actresses? Did you ever wonder why ASL started in the first place? Why is it important to have ASL for the deaf? I have only used ASL for ten years and now I am finally understanding the history of this rich, beautiful language.
For me personally, I jumped at the opportunity to learn ASL in a college course. I went to elementary school in Ohio that integrated its Deaf children with the Hearing children, therefore two of my best friends growing up were Deaf. So from the time I was 5, I knew the bare minimum in ASL to communicate with my friends and we even performed a song (“What a Wonderful World”) in ASL for a talent show. Unfortunately, I moved away to Florida when I was 11 and my new school didn’t offer ASL as a language credit so I took French for 4 years.
I took ASL my junior and senior year of high school. ASL required a lot of listening and visual and minimum speaking. Learning ASL was not as hard as I anticipated. I grew to love the language and will continue to learn the language on my own.
On October 15th I went to the Panera Deaf Chat in West Orange and this was an experience that I will never forget . I was supposed to attend with one of my classmates but unfortunately she could not make it so I decided to ask a friend to take me. I was excited when I knew my classmate was accompanying me but when she canceled fear consumed me. I was really nervous because I did not know what to expect although Professor Wohsteller mentioned that people from the Deaf community are very friendly. When we arrived at the building I was literally shaking and numerous questions flooded my mind. I remembered that there were two questions that lingered for quite some time and I could not get them out of my head. I kept asking myself “ What is I
...nger needed. I was excited, but very nervous. Northern Voices only had about 5 students in each classroom and Rice Lake had about 27. It was so noisy! I saw kids chattering, but was so shy to meet them. The kids were welcoming and I quickly made friends through talking. This moment I felt that talking is now part of me as it is ingrained into my soul. Signing has left my soul. Growing up with hearing students for the past 12 years, I no longer feel that I am part of the deaf community, but part of the hearing community. My true self blossomed. The difference between body and self