Thought I'd get some questions started with some that I usually get from the random people i meet as i go about my life.
"Were you born deaf?" "How long have you been deaf?" "How did you become deaf?"
I've been deaf all my life, I was born deaf. The reason for my deafness is really unknown but if i had to guess i'd venture to think that it'd be some nerve problems or undeveloped ear crap.
"How did you learn sign language?" "How old were you when you learned sign language?"
I started going to a special day care for deaf and "hearing impaired" children where the staff taught me sign language. I don't remember how i learned but thats what i'm told by my mom. I was 18 months old when i started going to the day care.
"Did your family learn sign language?"
yes, my parents upon finding out that I was deaf enrolled in some sign language classes. I believe they were SEE(signing exact english). That was the basis of the signs that I knew as i grew up into a ugly teenager. Awkward signs as i signed every single word in the english dictionary except for the words that i didn't know and if i didn't know the word i'd just fingerspell it.
"Did you have to go to a special school?"
Yes up to the 6th grade I was placed in a school where it was a half hour to a hour's bus ride from my house depending on all the 'special needs' kids that were on the route. we'd go through so many towns that i wouldn't get home for so long and it was absolutely exhausting and i hated those bus rides. Coming home with my mom or dad was more exciting than a freaking bus ride. Anyway the school had classes for deaf students my age at the time. The teacher knew sign language and come to think of it, 4th grade or 5th grade was the time of one of the most awkward moments of my elementary school education when our teacher used her own experiences in teaching us sex education. and then in 6th grade i was moved to a hearing class full time after being mainstreamed in hearing classes for my reading and english classes. I was more advanced than most of my deaf peers so I was learning at a quicker rate and was able to get into hearing classes full time in 6th grade with peers that were my age. I always felt that i could've made it if i was one grade level higher in my hearing classes than what I was and still do to this day. so anyway in 7th grade i was moved to the school in my own school district so not only was i with hearing students my own age, I was with students that lived near me and was able to hang out with after school. I got to play football, basketball and track and field. It was at this point i really separated myself from the "deaf culture" that i was in during elementary school with my fellow deaf students at Paul C Bunn. So i was deaf in a hearing world from that point on.
"Did you have an interpreter in school?"
yes starting with my classes that I mainstreamed in during my elementary school years, i would have an interpreter accompany me to my classes with the hearing students. In 7th grade through 12th I had a full time interpreter for all of my classes. When I attended the University of findlay i would have about 3 or 4 different interpreters throughout my 4 years there but towards the end i had only one interpreter at the end of the fall semester of my senior year and then a different interpreter for all of the last semester of college. Here at East Tennessee State University, I have as many as two interpreters during my classes depending on how detailed the lectures go. If my class isn't a lab then i'll usually get two interpreters for a two hour class. Its pretty posh here haha its strange having an interpreter switch with each other during the middle of the lectures but i can understand that they get tired after prolonged periods of signing straight up.
Well I can't think of any more questions but i don't want this to be the end of question time! I want to answer as many as your questions as possible and yes they're flooding in ;) maybe. Surely this can't satisfy your curiousity about deafness and sign language. I'm really enjoying this opportunity to tell more about myself and the feedback I have recieved has been really positive so many thanks for all the support.
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3 comments:
wow! That's cool! I didn't know that in certain classes they assign more than one interpreter. I guess I could understand that it would get tiring after a bit. :) How many different interpreters do you have?
glad that things are going well in your classes at ETSU....any idea if they have a sign language class or if there are any in JC??
I met you this year at the ETSU deaf workshop. I have studied sign for many years on the internet, courses andprivate tutors. I would like to make it a career, but I would have to quit my job and travel to go to school for this.Is there any way to try to getETSU to offer a credited ASL course? Also is there any meetings where deaf and hearingpeople can meet, I am tired of signing in the mirror. It would be great if deaf students could teach courses to the hearing who are interested in this. I have been hooked on sign language for years.
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