When I was in a restaurant a few years ago, I noticed a deaf family having lunch together. Both the husband and wife were deaf, with two deaf children and one who was hearing. The children were all under the age of 5 and all could sign to their parents what they needed and that blew my mind. I had this experience while taking a deaf culture class at a community college and I really wanted to talk with the family and get to know the deaf culture on a real-life scale, rather than a textbook answer. Such that when the opportunity to learn American Sign Language (ASL) as my second language was an option in college, I eagerly registered for the class. Learning Deaf culture first gave me an insider perspective to why ASL is so important to Deaf and hard of hearing individuals as a way of communication. However, taking ASL for an entire year in college, especially with a deaf teacher, taught me how beautiful and intricate the language can be.
When I began ASL, I was excited that I wouldn’t have to learn how to read or write the language, figuring it would be easier to learn than other languages offered at MSU. While in some ways this is true, learning the correct facial expressions, body language, and specific finger movements proved to be just as challenging. While learning my first language (English) came naturally through language acquisition, learning ASL was much more difficult and cumbersome. While learning our first language we need to communicate with others around us as we grow older. However, learning a second language is purely based off our own motivation. This motivation can stem from an instrumental motivation standpoint, needing to learn the language to communicate with others, or and integrative motivation standpoint, wanting to be accepted into another community.
Sign language is individualized across deaf culture, such that there is ASL or British Sign Language (BSL), Signing Exact English (SEE), or Pidgin Sign Language (PSL). Many countries across the world develop their own sign language revolving around their needs, sometimes each deaf school in one country will use a different sign language. International Sign language is used as a universal sign language at deaf conferences where deaf individuals around the world gather but is limited to vocabulary and is often over simplified to what is actually being said. ASL varies greatly across the US depending on location, such as signing “M-S-U” means Minnesota State University, Mankato here on campus, but elsewhere others might think you mean Michigan State University. Adding facial expressions can change a sign as well, such as trying to exaggerate something like telling a person to be quiet, versus telling them to be “very” quiet with a pointed look. I struggled with showing facial expressions while signing as it was hard to focus on what my hands were doing and how my face looked at the same time. I also felt embarrassed trying to act super happy when in reality I was just very tired. The best practice I had for learning facial expressions and vocabulary was doing a final video project at the end of the year of a cooking show with a partner.
Learning ASL, even to the point of being bi-lingual, will probably never allow me to become an official member of the Deaf community, for their culture usually believes that one must be deaf themselves to share in the culture fully. I have also learned that when referring to Deaf culture, the letter D in deaf must be capitalized, versus when referring to a deaf person it can be lowercase. One interesting fact about Deaf culture is that deaf people often give each other names based on their looks, rather than having to spell out their name every time. Hearing persons can receive a name, but it can ONLY be given by someone who is deaf. Although I may never be fully accepted into Deaf culture as a hearing person, deaf persons have struggled and continue to struggle with being accepted into a hearing culture.
There are many socioemotional impacts of hearing loss such as language barriers between family and friends, social loss with hearing strangers, low employment opportunities in some areas, and low mental health awareness. Having very little interaction with individuals who are deaf caused me to never realize how much I took my hearing for granted. The hearing culture has often put shame on deafness, such that it was a mark of the devil, and it was disease that needed to be fixed. This got to the point where for a period time, deaf persons weren’t allowed to marry one another, by law, as it would only increase the number of children with the disease. Also, schools would often not allow children to sign, forcing them into learning how to speak to out loud to others against their will to rid them of their deaf identity.
It was through taking ASL and Honors Seminar language that I learned how much language has an impact on our lives, the community and world. Speaking English as a first language is a privilege I’m happy I have, but I also understand that for deaf individuals that learning ASL was not a privilege to all before it became modernized in society. Studying to speak, learning ASL or using technology to hear is individualized to who wants the technology and is not generalized across the deaf culture. Some deaf persons believe that a baby born deaf doesn’t need to “fixed” and made hearing, that it will take away a part of their identity. However, now it is becoming more accepted across the deaf culture to embrace technology that may help deaf individuals be able to hear or better understand their surroundings to be more accepted by hearing persons. It’s important to understand that some people feel that being deaf is who they are and that they shouldn’t have to choose to hear or speak based on other’s views.
Some positive impacts that have helped improve deaf life were adaptation to sign language, accommodations made for events, deaf clubs and events themselves, and culturally appropriate services to help deaf people communicate with others who are unfamiliar with sign. The deaf community is very tight knit with sharing knowledge with one another and seeking other deaf professionals for service. This might be something as simple as, “This restaurant had an employee who knew ASL to help me order food.” or having an interpreter present when needed when speaking with a lawyer, job interview, banks, etc. One reason I wanted to learn ASL was for when I become a dentist in the future, I had hoped to be able to help with patients who are deaf feel more comfortable in my office having a dentist being able to sign. This might allow deaf individuals to seek proper oral health care before their teeth or gums become infected or in need of drastic repair.
If I do continue to learn ASL to communicate with patients at my practice one day, learning how to properly communicate or respect two deaf individuals conversing with each other is important. Ways to be respectful are to look directly into a deaf person’s eyes when speaking and being aware of background lighting and distractions. Don’t look away when a deaf person is signing as it can be considered rude and distracting. To get a deaf individual’s attention give a simple tap on the shoulder, flicker the lights, etc. If you see two people signing and must go between them, just walk straight through as if nothing is out of the ordinary. People will often try and duck under hands and then both deaf people are distracted and wonder why you are crouching down. Other helpful ways to communicate with someone deaf is to write it down and gesture a lot. However, a person must understand that English could be a deaf person’s second language and that their writing structure might not be as structured as an English sentence.
Communication is needed for everything in life, even our dreams and thoughts. Language is not only being able to speak words out loud, write them on paper, or explain grammar rules, but rather embodies our personality of who we are. Our first language says where we came from, how we learned as children to communicate, but learning several languages also points to a person’s whole life story, their culture, and their inner thoughts. We use language to build relationships needed to live a healthy life and grow into a capable member of society. Without language, I would be lonely because I wouldn’t be able to share my story with others, I wouldn’t be able to know theirs, and we wouldn’t be able to learn and grow with one another.