• Home
  • Pagan Welcome
  • Blog Welcome
  • Closed
  • Eco-Psych

Deaf Pagan Crossroads

Feeds:
Posts
Comments
« Unwrapping, Sparking, and Reconnecting
Calling All Pagan Interpreters! »

Thoughts From A Sign Language Teacher

April 23, 2018 by ocean1025

As a Deaf person, I have been teaching American Sign Language (ASL) for around forty years, starting when I was still a student in college. I’ve taught at various locations since; including community education programs, public and private schools, and an Interpreter Training Program at a local community college.
A109172012_N_AmericanSignLanguage_ChaseGaewski230
But in recent years, with the onslaught of technology and the social network, I have taken my teaching on-line: I am the administrator of two private Facebook groups that focus on the learning of ASL and the development of signing skills. One group is geared towards beginning level students learning the basics; the other focuses on advanced students seeking language models to help enhance their understanding of the more complex aspects of using ASL.

With the recent development of my Beginning ASL Studies group, I put out an announcement and extended an invitation to persons I knew who might be interested in joining. It was easy enough to find such individuals: over the years I have had plenty of people come up and tell me how they’ve “always wanted to learn sign language.” Or friends who tell me how they “really want to learn how to communicate with you better.” I guess I am even more exposed to such than some Deaf people are, because I do have the oral skills that allow me to communicate with hearing people on a more frequent basis. I’m often in situations where I am the sole Deaf person interacting with hearing people – such as on the job. I am the only Deaf person at my place of employment. 

So when I informed some of these individuals that I was creating a Facebook Group designed to help them study and learn ASL, naturally they got excited, and several asked to join the group. Soon I had a nice little group, and we were ready to begin, starting from scratch with the manual-visual alphabet. After posting a video showing how to sign your ABC’s, I then informed the group that they needed to create and post their own videos showing themselves signing the alphabet. They were given several days to complete this assignment.
learn-sign-language-e1522776800791
A week later, nearly half of the members had already left the group. 

Maybe I should have been more clear upfront before they joined, but I certainly made it quite clear within the first few days: this wasn’t just a fun, dinky little group where you could come and go as you please, and learn sign language at your own pace – this was essentially an on-line classroom. There would be lessons, there would be assignments, and they would be expected to participate.

In short, they would be expected to DO THE WORK. Learning ASL isn’t a walk in the park…it requires time, effort, and commitment to learn. 

Apparently they didn’t have that time, didn’t want to make the effort, and weren’t willing to commit themselves.

Ouch.

Yeah, I am disappointed. I try not to be, but damnit – it does hurt. Maybe because I know these people and thought they cared enough to want to do the work. Then I discover that like so many others, it’s all just empty talk.

What distinguishes the non-commiters from the folks who actually “walk their talk?” What does it take for a person to decide that s/he is actually going to make that time, make that effort, make that commitment?

And how do we who teach ASL – or even just those of us who depend on it for full inclusion – handle the harsh reality that sadly enough…most of the world doesn’t want to learn? Oh, they might give lip service to the desire, but what they are really saying is “I wish that I *knew* ASL, but I don’t really want to have to bother with learning it. Or if I am going to learn it, I want it to be on MY terms.”

Certified Deaf Instructor with years of experience be damned; it seems any time you teach a class, you get those students who expect you to sign slow, use your voice, let them turn in assignments whenever they get around to it, and basically make it easy on them.

learn.3

Oh sure…we get all kinds of apologies and explanations: “I’m a public school teacher and we’re nearing the end of the school term.” “I’m a social worker who travels over two hundred miles weekly to serve my clients.” “I don’t know how to make and post videos to Facebook in order to complete assignments.” “I’m just really super busy right now and I wouldn’t be able to keep up.”

As if THEIR jobs, THEIR responsibilities, THEIR time was more important. 

Never mind that one of my Deaf Mentors for my group is himself an employee of the Public School System, and I work closely with the schools myself – and we are feeling that same end of the school year crunch. Never mind that I drive 50 miles round trip per day to get to and from my job. Never mind that we all struggle with and bitch about the hassles of making and posting videos to Facebook. Never mind that we all have jobs and responsibilities and lives outside of this group.

Never mind that it takes me time to run this group, oversee its activities, plan and post lessons and assignments, provide feedback, coordinate and conduct evaluations, and basically keep the group going AND DO IT ALL FOR FREE…

Sigh. I am trying not to let it get to me. Obviously I am failing.

Yeah, maybe I do take it too personally. Maybe I do need to remember that “you can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make it drink.” Maybe I do need to remember that while everyone might support the concept of Equal Communication Access, not everyone is going to be willing to take the effort to make that a true reality.

So what can you do???

I began with venting to a friend of mine. Like myself, he grew up the only Deaf person in an all hearing family, attending hearing schools. Like myself, he learned ASL later in life, while attending college. Perhaps better than others we understand what it’s like to grow up feeling like you’re constantly trying to please the Hearing World.

We’ve spent a lifetime accommodating hearing people: learning to speak and lipread and function like a hearing person ourselves.

While acknowledging the advantages that such skills have given us, we also bear witness to the pain and struggle of having been (and sometimes still feeling) caught between two worlds. We frequently express our love for ASL and the ease of communication access that it provides. In spite of our oral skills, we consider ourselves proud members of the Deaf Community, and we detest the audism and hearing privilege that we see and experience on a daily basis.

Together we commiserated on what it means to teach ASL to folks who don’t always get it: who simply “want to learn some signs” and don’t care about grammar and syntax, or don’t understand the importance of also studying Deaf Culture. Folks who will sit and whine about “all the hearing-blaming, playing the victim, taking money from the government while sitting on their lazy Deaf asses” behavior they claim to observe repeatedly – while at the same time professing a desire to learn our language.

That seat of hearing privilege is a mighty comfortable one, and many people take advantage of it while oblivious to the oppression they inflict on the very individuals they purport to be supporting and advocating for.

hearing privilege
From talking to this one Deaf peer I then turned to a couple of my colleagues, expressing my thoughts and asking for their feedback. A hearing friend who is herself a certified sign language interpreter and also teaches in an Interpreter Training Program had the following to share:

Coming from a person who had zero connection with the Deaf community or ASL before her first sign language class, I can tell you that hearing people have *no idea* what it takes to learn ASL. Most think that it’s a fun, secret code for each English word…like those games we used to do in school where we’d draw a symbol for each letter of the alphabet and then write a note to our friend for them to decode. I know – I was one of them.

I know things like this can feel like a slap in the face, my friend. The brutal truth is: their jobs, their responsibilities, and their time *is* more important to them than learning a new language. And of course it makes sense that you would be exponentially more invested in teaching than they are in learning. You’ve worked so hard at accommodating them all this time, the idea of *actual* equal effort for communication must seem like a dream.

Indeed, it does feel like a dream – an unattainable one. The harsh reality is that for every student who goes on to graduate from a training program and become an interpreter or least develops fluency with the language, there are ten others who a year or two after completing your class can barely remember any of the signs you worked so hard to teach them.

Simply put – for many sign language students learning ASL is a hobby, an option in their lives, something they decide to take up for fun or bragging rights to impress their friends. Most of them know little if anything about Deaf Culture, and have minimal if any contact with the Deaf Community. They sign up for the class thinking it will be easy and enjoyable, and are then shocked to discover that it is actually harder than they anticipated. So they drop out…because they can. Knowledge of ASL is optional in their world – it is not essential for their daily functioning.

What they forget is that for those of us in the Deaf Community, it is not a hobby. It is our life. It is everything we have, everything that is the essence of us. And it is not an option.

I hope that you will consider taking a sign language class. Learning this language can be a truly positive experience. But if you do sign up, be ready and willing to invest that time, effort, and commitment.
learning ASL

It will be worth it.

 

Share this:

  • Share
  • Email
  • Twitter
  • Facebook

Posted in Archives #1 Deafness and Accessibility, Creating Accessibility, Deaf/Hearing Relations, Deafness, Equal Communication Access, Interpreting, Sign Language | Tagged ASL, ASLTA, audism, Deaf Community, Deaf Culture, deafness, hearing privilege, interpreting, sign language, teaching |

  • A FACEBOOK NETWORKED BLOG

    NetworkedBlogs
    Blog:
    Deaf Pagan Crossroads
    Topics:
    Pagan, Deaf, Sign Language
     
    Follow my blog

  • Enter your email address to follow this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

    Join 325 other followers

  • MEET OCEAN

    Ocean is the creator & manager of this blog. Born deaf into an all-hearing family, she was raised oral and attended hearing schools. Ocean began learning sign language at the ripe old age of 16, and after meeting a Deaf man began her own journey through Deafhood. She graduated from Gallaudet College (now University), and has held positions both within & outside of the field of Deaf Services.

    Ocean has been a practicing Pagan for nearly 40 years, and is an ordained High Priestess of the Wiccan tradition. She considers herself "an eclectic witch," with a primary focus on Celtic Spirituality, but an interest in many different areas. A skilled tarot reader, she once donated her services to help raise funds for a Domestic Violence agency. She has also done workshops on aromatherapy, herbalism, & Paganism for the Deaf Community.

    Currently Ocean is offering presentations where she discusses the merger of her spirituality as a Pagan with her identity as a Deaf woman, and also teaches workshops on Signs for Pagan Spirituality. Please contact her if you would be interested in sponsoring such a presentation or workshop.

    As a passionate advocate, Ocean often speaks out on the need for greater access for Deaf people (Pagan or otherwise) - interpreters, captioned videos, CART, etc...and works to build bridges between the Deaf & Hearing communities.

    She lives on the banks of the Ohio River with a grumpy feline wizard named Gandalf, and is currently working on a book discussing the merger of her identity as a Deaf person with her spirituality as a Pagan.

    To contact Ocean,
    you may email her at oshginva@gmail.com

  • MAKING CONNECTIONS

    signsculpture This sculpture shows the sign for "connect"...and that is what Deaf Pagan Crossroads is all about - making connections. Connections between Deafhood and Paganism, connections between the Deaf Community and the Hearing Community, connections between myself as the writer and you as the reader. I hope you will take the time to read my various posts, some of which are listed below. Welcome to the Crossroads, and I hope you make some connections here!
  • BLOG & CONTACT INFO

    Deaf Pagan Crossroads is a blog, operated by one individual - Ocean. It is not an on-line coven or community. While I do have limited knowledge of and contact with other Deaf/ASL Pagans around the country, I am not aware of any Deaf covens. I'm happy to share what information I may have, but I may not have the answers you are seeking. I encourage readers to do their own research and find their own answers whenever possible.

    Those who wish to contact me privately may do so by sending an email to

    oshginva@gmail.com

    Please be aware that it may take me a few days to respond, depending on my time and priorities.

    Thank you!

  • WANT TO REBLOG OR TO USE EXCERPTS FROM POSTS ON THIS BLOG?

    Sometimes readers will see something here and wish to use it in a paper or on their own blog/website. Others may desire to reblog a post.

    While I am flattered by such interest, please be aware that most of the writings on this blog site are the property of Deaf Pagan Crossroads and are copyrighted by Virginia L. Beach. As such, they may not be reproduced nor reblogged elsewhere without the expressed permission of the owner. I'm usually pretty open to allowing usage of such if you just take the time to ask.

    Permission may be granted by contacting Ocean at oshginva@gmail.com

    Thank you.

  • copyright 2006 - 2014 Virginia L. Beach
  • NOTICE TO COMMENTERS

    Deaf Pagan Crossroads loves comments, and encourages its readers to "comment long, and comment often!" However, please be aware that if you put up a comment here that links to a website which is clearly commercial (advertising items or services for sale), YOUR COMMENT WILL BE REMOVED. Deaf Pagan Crossroads does not endorse any businesses, nor does it serve as a free advertising site. Post your comments, but leave your links off! Thank you.
  • Categories

    • Archives #1 Deafness and Accessibility
    • Archives #2 On Being Deaf and Pagan
    • Archives #3 A Deaf Pagan Shares
    • Archives #4 Pagan Thoughts and Writings
    • Archives #5 Fire Walk With Me
    • Art & Literature
    • Astrology
    • Beasts and Animals
    • Broom Closet
    • Cinema
    • Creating Accessibility
    • Cuz I Like 'Em Blogs
    • Deaf/Hearing Relations
    • Deaf/Pagan Relations
    • Deafness
    • Divination
    • Earth Day
    • Eco-Psychology
    • Empowerment
    • Equal Communication Access
    • Ethics
    • Firewalking
    • Food
    • Healing
    • Herbs
    • Humor
    • Interpreting
    • Irish/Celtic
    • Magick
    • Music
    • Nature
    • Pagan Blogs
    • Pagan Links
    • Paganism
    • Photography
    • Poetry/Prose
    • Ritual
    • Sabbats
    • Sign Language
    • Spirituality
    • The Yule Series
    • Twelve Days of Christmas
    • Uncategorized
    • Universal Issues
    • Video Posts
    • witchcraft
    • Women
    • Women's Spirituality
  • Pages

    • Pagan Welcome
    • Blog Welcome
    • Closed
    • Eco-Psych
  • Archives

    • January 2020
    • October 2019
    • January 2019
    • December 2018
    • April 2018
    • January 2018
    • June 2017
    • February 2017
    • November 2016
    • October 2016
    • March 2015
    • February 2015
    • January 2015
    • December 2014
    • November 2014
    • October 2014
    • September 2014
    • June 2014
    • March 2014
    • January 2014
    • December 2013
    • September 2013
    • July 2013
    • June 2013
    • May 2013
    • April 2013
    • February 2013
    • January 2013
    • December 2012
    • November 2012
    • October 2012
    • September 2012
    • August 2012
    • July 2012
    • June 2012
    • May 2012
    • April 2012
    • March 2012
    • February 2012
    • January 2012
    • December 2011
    • September 2011
    • August 2011
    • July 2011
    • June 2011
    • May 2011
    • April 2011
    • March 2011
    • February 2011
    • January 2011
    • December 2010
    • October 2010
    • September 2010
    • July 2010
    • June 2010
    • May 2010
    • March 2010
    • February 2010
    • November 2009
    • October 2009
    • September 2009
    • August 2009
    • July 2009
    • June 2009
    • January 2009
    • December 2008
    • November 2008
    • October 2008
    • September 2008
    • August 2008
    • July 2008
    • June 2008
    • May 2008
    • April 2008
    • March 2008
    • February 2008
    • January 2008
    • December 2007
    • November 2007
    • October 2007
    • September 2007
    • August 2007
    • July 2007
    • June 2007
    • May 2007
    • April 2007
    • March 2007
    • February 2007
    • January 2007
    • December 2006
    • November 2006

Create a free website or blog at WordPress.com.

WPThemes.


Cancel
loading Cancel
Post was not sent - check your email addresses!
Email check failed, please try again
Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email.
Privacy & Cookies: This site uses cookies. By continuing to use this website, you agree to their use.
To find out more, including how to control cookies, see here: Cookie Policy