I'm All Ears by Alicia

I'm All Ears by Alicia - June 2018 Scholarship Essay

When you see people who cannot hear what would you call them? What do you think of them? Have you wondered how to communicate with them as a hearing individual? Back then people use to mock and tease, even treat Deaf people terribly because of their disability. As time progressed people became aware of Deafness, gain understanding of the Deaf culture, learn their ways of communication and soon they began to finally call them what and who they truly are. The way they communicate is quite unique. Through sign language, fingerspelling, lip-reading and/or hearing aids the paths of communication are almost endless. Being Deaf is not a setback but a set up for greatness. Hearing or not, we can all learn how to communicate with the Deaf.

This Deaf awareness I’ve learned and embodied my life with was through an elective course in high school I took called “American Sign Language”. It wasn’t your ordinary elective class but it was worth every session. The understanding that was built in me from taking this course evoked me write this today. It’s important that we as individuals get an opportunity to connect with all people in society because those will be our future physicians, customers, and teachers maybe even family members. In our curriculum sheets at least one basic course should be offered because the life of a Deaf individual can do a great deal of teaching us about ourselves and others around us.

When I took the course in high school I had a unique experience because my teacher was actually born Deaf. She had seniors who have taken her class for two-three years that would interpret for her. She trained students who had deep interest to be sign language interpreters. She shared her story and gave us opportunities to know about people who were deaf and professional sign language interpreters. We had a chance to go to a Deaf Hamlet play where the actor/actresses would sign. We also had this really cool project where we would partner with a student and one of us would be Deaf and the other would be blind for a day. It was a mind blowing experience. We both helped each other through the process and it gave us a real life application of what it felt to be in their shoes. I will never forget that day. From all the learning and experiences my class had we shared stories of seeing a Deaf person on the bus or at the store and communicating with them, teaching our Deaf family members how to sign and making new Deaf/Hard of Hearing friends. We understand them on another level. We can add it on our resumes as an additional language to help us score internships/jobs. For some of us, it motivated us to make a career as sign language interpreters.

In my interview with my Deaf teacher she stated “There are 5 basic aspects of Deaf culture: communication, language, perception, community and sharing.” Deaf communication is possible through the use of sign language; also, many who are deaf utilize specialized equipment such as hearing aids, cochlear implants, etc., to help utilize lip-reading skills and verbalization. Uniquely Deaf people bring more understanding and communication to whatever is being signed than hearing people who just verbally communicate. To this day I still know how to sign and communicate with someone who is Deaf and/or hard of hearing. I taught my friends or anyone I grew connections with a thing or two regarding the culture and language. The Deaf culture helped many of us unite the environments we are in.

To conclude, Deaf people can still communicate like any other human being. Whether it’s through sign language, hearing aids, cochlear implants, writing, verbally, and/or lip reading. There is always a unique way for them to communicate. I was once told Deaf people are the best listeners. What a paradox but it is ironically true. Frederick Schreibert was quoted by Dr. King Jordan, the seventh president of Gallaudet University, Washington DC saying, "Deaf people can do anything hearing people can, except hear”. It is not their setback but set up for greatness and a productive communicative future. I encourage all schools to require a class for hearing people to explore the Deaf culture and communicate with them too!