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raeanna74 · 12-04-2003, 05:58 PM

I started learning sign language when I was only about 6 or 7. I had a friend then who was almost completely deaf. I remember being shocked when her brother threw a ball that was headed towards her head. I reacted like I normally would have and yelled and she turned in response. I thought she was getting her hearing back or something at that time. I learned a lot of sign language from her and she gave me my name sign (a letter H on each cheak since Heather is the name of a flower).

Later the church we attended when I was a teenager had a deaf ministry with a number of deaf or hard of hearing people there. I perfected my knowledge of it to the point where I was interpreting for services. I have done the interpreting for my parents church once in a while since then but that was almost 10 years ago and I'm so rusty. When I'm done interpreting I feel so exhausted.

When I was 19 I got engaged to one of the men at our church then. He was technically hard-of-hearing. Our relationship didn't last because there were too many differences - I was 19, he was 29 - and the deaf culture was enough different from my lifestyle. He was used to living off the state because of his disability while he was quite a capable young man. I watched him hop from job to job because he didn't like the work. He worked for my Dad for a while even and just didn't like construction. He was quite set in his ways too. I met enough other deaf who were friends of his to know that he wasn't the typical of their culture. It really opened doors for me to get to know other's and see the trouble they'd go through. I did some interpreting for my fiance when we'd go places and there were so many times where he'd misunderstand someone because he was lipreading. He was good at lipreading but those time when he didn't understand he would try to hide it. I learned to ask him to repeat things to me that I'd said if it was important that he knew what I was saying. That would help keep our lines of communication going.

My knowledge of sign-language helped me later when I was working in a day care and we had a child come in who's parents were both deaf. I happened to know the parents and this little boy and knew what he could do. He pretended that he couldn't hear the teachers and ignored their instructions. I know he could hear them and I told him so in sign language and words. When he realized that I could sign then he didn't have an out or way to ignore us and listened and obeyed. He also didn't seem so anxious and scared either.

I've found that many deaf don't like it if you just sign and don't talk. Those that can hear do use the sound of your voice to help them get more meaning and those who can't hear can understand more clearly what you are saying by combining lipreading with sign language.

I have been put in many situations where I've been so thankful for knowing sign language. Even one time helped my boss at the gun shop when a customer came in who only understood sign. They were having a hard time communicating by writing but when I asked in sign and voice if I could help I saw the customers eyes light up. He was thrilled to have someone who could understand. There is also a lab technician at our local clinic who I've talked to who is deaf. He can hear some sounds but not enough to differentiate what is being said.

I hope this didn't seem too long. I've enjoyed working beside and with the deaf and have learned a lot.

12-04-2003, 05:58 PM	#17 (permalink)
raeanna74 I'm not a blonde! I'm knot! I'm knot! I'm knot! Location: Upper Michigan	I started learning sign language when I was only about 6 or 7. I had a friend then who was almost completely deaf. I remember being shocked when her brother threw a ball that was headed towards her head. I reacted like I normally would have and yelled and she turned in response. I thought she was getting her hearing back or something at that time. I learned a lot of sign language from her and she gave me my name sign (a letter H on each cheak since Heather is the name of a flower). Later the church we attended when I was a teenager had a deaf ministry with a number of deaf or hard of hearing people there. I perfected my knowledge of it to the point where I was interpreting for services. I have done the interpreting for my parents church once in a while since then but that was almost 10 years ago and I'm so rusty. When I'm done interpreting I feel so exhausted. When I was 19 I got engaged to one of the men at our church then. He was technically hard-of-hearing. Our relationship didn't last because there were too many differences - I was 19, he was 29 - and the deaf culture was enough different from my lifestyle. He was used to living off the state because of his disability while he was quite a capable young man. I watched him hop from job to job because he didn't like the work. He worked for my Dad for a while even and just didn't like construction. He was quite set in his ways too. I met enough other deaf who were friends of his to know that he wasn't the typical of their culture. It really opened doors for me to get to know other's and see the trouble they'd go through. I did some interpreting for my fiance when we'd go places and there were so many times where he'd misunderstand someone because he was lipreading. He was good at lipreading but those time when he didn't understand he would try to hide it. I learned to ask him to repeat things to me that I'd said if it was important that he knew what I was saying. That would help keep our lines of communication going. My knowledge of sign-language helped me later when I was working in a day care and we had a child come in who's parents were both deaf. I happened to know the parents and this little boy and knew what he could do. He pretended that he couldn't hear the teachers and ignored their instructions. I know he could hear them and I told him so in sign language and words. When he realized that I could sign then he didn't have an out or way to ignore us and listened and obeyed. He also didn't seem so anxious and scared either. I've found that many deaf don't like it if you just sign and don't talk. Those that can hear do use the sound of your voice to help them get more meaning and those who can't hear can understand more clearly what you are saying by combining lipreading with sign language. I have been put in many situations where I've been so thankful for knowing sign language. Even one time helped my boss at the gun shop when a customer came in who only understood sign. They were having a hard time communicating by writing but when I asked in sign and voice if I could help I saw the customers eyes light up. He was thrilled to have someone who could understand. There is also a lab technician at our local clinic who I've talked to who is deaf. He can hear some sounds but not enough to differentiate what is being said. I hope this didn't seem too long. I've enjoyed working beside and with the deaf and have learned a lot. __________________ "Always learn the rules so that you can break them properly." Dalai Lama My Karma just ran over your Dogma.