Neighbors Learn Sign Language To Make Girl Who Is Deaf Feel At Home

[Bekeart]

Neighbors Learn Sign Language To Make Girl Who Is Deaf Feel At Home

Many residents of a close-knit neighborhood in Newton, Mass., decided to learn American Sign Language when they found out the new kid on the block, Samantha Savitz, was born deaf.

To Make Girl Who Is Deaf Feel At Home, Dozens Of Neighbors Learn Sign Language : NPR

Warning the screen may be blurry and hard to read.

Bekeart

 

[Watchdog]

Great thread. I learned ASL years ago because there were hearing and speech impaired people working where I did. Never ever refer to them as "deaf and dumb". They were nice people and I wanted to be able to talk to them without writing notes or making stupid hand signs.

Learning ASL does take time. It's like learning a foreign language. And it isn't just spelling out words. There are all sorts of signs for nouns and adjectives and verbs. I was amazed by how fast they could sign. Their fingers were a blur. Most hearing/speech impaired people have very expressive faces, too. They can be almost like pantomime artists. And you have to train yourself not to talk or make sounds when you're signing...they can't hear you.

I expected them to sort of poke fun at my early efforts, but they didn't (at least while I was looking). They seemed flattered that someone would take the time to learn how to talk to them. I've forgotten a lot of it now, but can still get by if I have to.

As I said...great thread. Surprised more people haven't commented on it. Thanks for posting the story.

 

[Rustyt1953]

Thanks for posting that. My grandmother was born deaf. She was a funny, witty woman that seemed perpetually happy and was a whiz at Jeopardy.

She passed at 93 having never heard the voices of her family but knew that one day she would.

 

[Broke Hoss]

When I was in Investigation Division, I worked an assault case between 2 hearing impaired people. I learned a lot about the deaf/HOH community & began working with them. I was soon accepted into their community & made several friends there. Despite their encouragement, I never learned ASL. I did teach a class on interactions with the deaf/HOH in our basic academy & the local COG academy.

A funny side story.....A LT commented about how he respected this certain person; particularly because they always looked directly at you & indicated an intense interest in what you were saying. His face was was hilarious when I asked if he realized they did this because they were reading his lips.

 

[BearBio]

I was recently diagnosed with a 40% hearing loss. My BIL was a counselor for the hearing impaired until he retired from the State of Cali and his wife (Coincidently) was also impaired.

During the 20+ years of my career as a Federal Wildlife Biologist, I worked doing outreach with several children's groups. Ironically, I tried a couple of times to start a group to give nature talks and walks for the hearing impaired but I had no interest even from hearing impaired groups.

 

[M29since14]

That’s a great story. Thanks for sharing that with us.