Cans of cranberry sauce are lining the aisles in the grocery stores. Boxes of stuffing are multiplying next to the jars of turkey gravy. The entire store is now shades of orange and brown with fake fall leaves tucked in between every single item.
Holidays are coming.
Once again, I flash back to childhood memories of snow blizzards and the aromas that filled the house and being banned from the kitchen because I didn’t believe that eating raw cookie dough could really make me sick and die.
My sister was coming home from the Indiana School for the Deaf and we were ready for her. Our family had attended sign language classes at our local church. By the time we had completed the classes, we could very slowly get through the alphabet and we could sign ‘My name is’ – – – – – – – – – – . We were so excited to show our older sister, although looking back, I think she knew our names 🙂
When she arrived, we each signed our names to her and then ran off to play. Unless we needed to remind her of our names, lip-reading would be required for the remainder of her visit.
The Holidays.
Family members are having deep discussions while others are laughing and kids are playing and then somebody is crying. For hearing people, the idea of ‘peace and quiet’ seems appealing. For deaf people, the isolation must feel like watching a movie without captions. You don’t really know your tribe. They don’t really know you.
Fifty years later, with the evolution of the internet and YouTube and teaching websites, learning sign language is SO much easier! Learning ANY new language is SO much easier. I would like to think that families are taking advantage of this resource, promoting a completely new family dynamic all year round…enjoying total communication – especially during the holidays.
Even hearing babies are learning to sign! Check out Pinterest and YouTube and ASL websites. Here are a few examples.
- Bill Vicars – YouTube
- Expert Village – YouTube
- Marlee Signs – Marlee Matlin has an app. Marlee Signs is free for iOS and teaches users ASL with video lessons and fingerspelling practice.
- My Smart Hands – ASL for kids
- ASL Pro – a free tool with an ASL video dictionary
- Start ASL
…….to name a few.
Whether you Google, Bing, or Yahoo, the resources today are endless. The deaf person in your life cannot learn to hear you, but you can learn their language and welcome them into the fold. Give the gift of time and awareness. The “greatest love of all” does not usually come wrapped in sparkly paper, ribbons and bows.
May 28, 2018 at 9:47 pm
I have read out your whole post ” Sign Isolation”. I really appreciate it. Do you have any idea to write on Learning Sign Language?Thanks very much for sharing the content.