I learned American Sign Language at a young age. I lived next door to a woman who taught me both ASL and to play the piano. Throughout my life, I looked for chances to use this language whenever I could and to connect with members of the Deaf and Hard of Hearing community. In college, I was a part of UGA's first American Sign Language Multicultural Community which allowed me to live on the same floor and attend meetings with others who either shared my passion for ASL or who were Deaf or Hard of Hearing. In this experience, we frequently attended events put on by our community or through personal friends of the group. It was not uncommon to be sitting in the coffee shop with nine other individuals, communicating only through our hands. It warranted a few stares and awkward smiles from college age kids, but it was not until one of our events that involved a child's innocent wondering and an adult's "shushing" that I realized just how important it is to educate our children on how different everyone is.
The incident happened at a local restaurant in our college town. There were six of us around a table in the middle of the restaurant, during a busy time of day. Two of us were hearing and the other four were Deaf. It was during our conversation that I overheard a child of only four or five-years old, ask his mother why those people looked funny with their hands. I noticed how the mother quickly silenced the child saying "They can't hear honey, that is how they talk" and immediately after, the father made a comment saying "Don't worry (wife's name), they can't hear him talking about them". Myself and the other hearing individual immediately looked at each other in anger. It was obvious that the child learned in that incident to not ask questions about other's differences and that just because there were Deaf individuals, he should not worry about saying hurtful things. It was a wake up call on the importance of explaining disabilities, abilities, and differences to children so they are encouraged to ask questions and not learn that they are superior to others who are different to them. I know that anyone of my Deaf or Hard of Hearing friends would have been over-the-moon in joy had the child come up to ask a question or to try and learn ASL.
As an educator now, I realize that many children may not receive the right responses to their questions or inquiries, so as the educator, it is my job to help these children ask questions, get answers, and enjoy the differences we all have.
Hello
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed reading your blog. When children have questions about differences, it is important that we respond right away. Children pick up on adult's emotions and it can send the message that something is wrong with the individual or that it is a bad question. We do not want children to develop misconceptions about others because that leads to prejudice. We want our children to feel comfortable asking questions and learning about diverse others. You are right that it is our duties to give them answers so that they can understand and respect diversity. Thanks for sharing.
Hello
ReplyDeleteI just commented on your blog and I'm not sure why it recorded me as unknown.
Cheryl L. Carpenter
Hello Emily,
ReplyDeleteYour blog post was really interesting. I admire the fact that you learnt sign language and looked for chances to use these languages to connect with the deaf and dumb as much as you could. Going through the incident you just narrated, I would say that the father's response or interruption while the child's mother was trying to explain the reason why they those group of people made the sign was not appropriate. The child's mother reacted positively by trying to explain to the child the reason behind the sign language, but her father's response sent a negative message to the child that he can always talk about them in that manner because they do not understand. Thanks for sharing.
Emily,
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed reading your post and found it to be very informative. I too greatly admire your work in sign language and is something that I have always had great interest in. I think that it is so sad that children are often shut down or silenced when trying to understand the world around them. I feel that if we took more time help children to understand then we would have less adults in the future who have biases and stereotypes. The father of the young child at the restaurant could have used this moment to teach their child a valuable life lesson but instead he sent a very negative message. This is why it is so important that we take the time as educators to expose children to diversity and further their understanding.