So today was the first day that I woke up deaf. It was awkward having the headphones on all night but I lasted through it and the alarm was so blaring that I’m pretty sure it woke David up next door. Oh well. Sorry buddy if it did. I took a quick shower and got dressed because today is the day we get to go see the opposite side of the School for the Deaf and the Blind.
As some recall, we went to the school for the blind students last week before I put on the blinding apparatus. As I said before, I wasn’t very impressed with the quality of the school look wise. I’m positive that the teachers are wonderful and provide the children with what they need but the school could look better.
Instead of heading to the Blind school we went instead to the Deaf school, which is located near the front entrance. Already from the beginning I could tell that this building was in better shape. Probably because the students actually saw it everyday. It was very stimulation for the sight. Lots of colors, art, and motivational posters were strewn across the walls and the classroom.
We met with the… I’m not sure actually. I assumed Principal but I couldn’t really hear if she was because I had already put on my sound reducing equipment. Ben and I explained our project to the best of our ability to her and explained what we hoped to get out of our visit there. She was very helpful. I could tell that the students liked her very much and she took a much more hands on approach to advising the children. She knew each child’s name and seemed to be involved very much in their life. I wish that I could have gone to a smaller school so that I could have had a leader like that.
She took us through the school hallways and eventually led us to classrooms. It was really neat! I enjoyed seeing the kids at work and play. They were very playful, just like the blind children, and seemed to communicate well with one another. I wanted to join in on their communication but alas, I was still without sign language. It was fascinating to watch them talk to one another. So quick and fluid with practically no mistakes. At least none that wouldn’t allow the child to keep a conversation going at all times.
We asked a few questions of the principal like “How does being deaf affect their home life?” She talked about how some of the students actually come from deaf families and so they have no problem communicating either at home or in school. These children don’t have many behavior issues because they know how to express their emotions well. Then she said something that really shocked me.
“A lot of these kids parents don’t even learn sign. They just try and yell to them what they want them to do to communicate.”
I was appalled. I won’t “jump on a soapbox” as Ben put it and instead let you read his summation of it at escapingthedark-caring.blogspot.com but it really surprised me that parents wouldn’t learn it. I have no connection or relation to a deaf person and I still want to learn sign for the sake of being able to communicate with a large population in our society. I hope those parents that do not learn sign will reconsider learning it; who would not want to be able to communicate effectively with their child?
We headed through the classrooms and finally one of the kids looked at me really strange and asked why I was wearing headphones and looking funny. The principal asked if I wanted to explain… I couldn’t sign. I had no way to tell the child why I was like this. I looked at Ben in a pleading manner and hoped he would explain for me. Fortunately, he did. He asked the principal if she could translate for him and afterwards began to go off on a elementary explanation of our experiment. He started talking about why I was wearing the headphones; that I wanted to see what it is like to be deaf like them. They all smiled and then said some sign to me. I looked at them helpless. The principal took the opportunity to explain how wonderful it is that they be taught sign because then they would have no way to communicate if they didn’t. The kids stared wide eyed at me and I just shrugged.
Ben went on to talk about how the week before I had gone blind and the kids didn’t know what to say. One of the kids said to the teacher how he couldn’t imagine doing that. He wouldn’t know what to do if he didn’t have his sight. I laughed on the inside.
He wouldn’t know what to do without his sight. I wouldn’t know what to do without my hearing. Yet he does just fine. And I did just fine last week. You never really know I guess until you have lost it.
We said goodbye to the kids and returned downstairs to the principal’s office. She asked us if we had anymore questions. Ben and I asked her if she would go through the signing alphabet with us to make sure that we had the at least the smallest amount of knowledge for communication. She also went through some words that would help us throughout the day such as bathroom, I don’t know, sign, science, building, thank you, no, and a few other small ones. This got Ben and I excited.
We left trying to talk to each other with the limited amount of words that we knew. We have very little to talk about so we basically just practiced what we knew. Somehow we got it to where he knew I didn’t mind going to the mall and we headed off. We began to roam the mall and trying to keep talking up.
We decided that if we didn’t know real sign, we would make a slang of our own. We began to tie signs to words. Things that I would constantly need to say I would express that that word, by spelling it, is represented by this sign. Ben caught on and began to work with it, coming up with some of his own. We soon were talking and joking and having a great time.
I couldn’t believe it. I knew that if I actually met a deaf person that I couldn’t communicate and I knew that no one else would be able to catch on but I had an outlet. I had the ability to speak without actually speaking. I felt good and comforted. I felt like I could get through this challenge fairly easily now.
We continued to laugh and joke as we walked the mall and came up with some new words. We finally left to go see Ben’s mom for lunch. We had a good time. Talked about a bunch of different things. She did her best to communicate with me over good pizza and delicious salad.
We left after an hour or two to head back to the school. We went through our testing and continued to come up with more signs just so that we could talk easier. I made the comment that “If we actually take sign classes then we won’t be able to learn because we’ve come up with so much slang already.” Ben thought that this was hilarious and agreed with me.
It was good to be able to express my thoughts through Ben, especially when I had to talk about stuff that matters; like say work study money for example. I could not have imagined if I didn’t have some way to communicate and it was at that point that I realized how frustrating being deaf in our world could be. Imagine if you could no speak; not even the speech we associate with deaf people. Sure, you learn sign, but if the other person does not know it you are forced to pantomime and have simple conversations if any at all.
That’s why I want to learn sign. So I don’t have to have that happen to any person that I talk to that may be deaf. I mean, I know if I say that I should try to learn all languages, and trust me; I would if I could, but I can use this on an everyday basis, and hopefully in my career.
Tests went well. It’s a lot different than when I’m blind. Instead, I have to really focus because I have my vision. You tend to rely on that a lot. But when it comes down to focusing on whether or not the liquid has a tiny tiny tiny tiny TINY amount of bitter in it or sweet… it gets a little difficult.
The night went smooth. We both worked a bit on papers and whatnot while I also got to skype with my girlfriend. I did my best to show her the sign we had been working on and explain to her via AIM what I was trying to say.
So far, it’s been really exciting. I mean, I don’t get to eat amazing food everyday no matter how mundane Burwell food is, but I really enjoy it. I can’t wait to continue through the next few days and I will be looking into signing lessons for sure.
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