If you asked me ten years ago what sign language was I couldn’t tell you, now American Sign language captivates me. I am so intrigued by the language and the culture, I think it is incredibly beautiful and I’ve met people who have changed my life because of it.
When I was in tenth grade I signed up for my first year of American Sign Language class. I had previously learned the alphabet and a few random words in elementary school, but other than that I really didn’t know what I was doing. I learned how to spell my name on the first day and I was instantly hooked. My teacher was eighty-percent deaf which made things a little tricky at first, but she ended up teaching us all so much about the Deaf community. I had never thought about all the differences in technology that people with hearing losses would have to use or how they would experience music or even the difficulties they may face in everyday life. Did you know that Deaf homes can have all different appliances that flash lights instead of beeping to alert them? I definitely did not. ASL 1 changed my thoughts completely and gave me a new, exciting hobby. …show more content…
We had a different teacher this time but she was so amazing. She taught us about how Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet sailed across the Atlantic ocean and met Laurent Clerc in Europe, eventually founding the first school for the deaf in America. We watched ASL films in class, researched famous Deaf people, and learned about hearing losses and the different levels of deafness. I can still tell you every part of the ear from the pinna to the eustachian tube, Ms. North really enjoyed ears. She had been an intern at the Oklahoma School for the Deaf teaching young children. She showed the class pictures and it really inspired me to pursue a career that focused on sign
When I was in tenth grade I signed up for my first year of American Sign Language class. I had previously learned the alphabet and a few random words in elementary school, but other than that I really didn’t know what I was doing. I learned how to spell my name on the first day and I was instantly hooked. My teacher was eighty-percent deaf which made things a little tricky at first, but she ended up teaching us all so much about the Deaf community. I had never thought about all the differences in technology that people with hearing losses would have to use or how they would experience music or even the difficulties they may face in everyday life. Did you know that Deaf homes can have all different appliances that flash lights instead of beeping to alert them? I definitely did not. ASL 1 changed my thoughts completely and gave me a new, exciting hobby. …show more content…
We had a different teacher this time but she was so amazing. She taught us about how Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet sailed across the Atlantic ocean and met Laurent Clerc in Europe, eventually founding the first school for the deaf in America. We watched ASL films in class, researched famous Deaf people, and learned about hearing losses and the different levels of deafness. I can still tell you every part of the ear from the pinna to the eustachian tube, Ms. North really enjoyed ears. She had been an intern at the Oklahoma School for the Deaf teaching young children. She showed the class pictures and it really inspired me to pursue a career that focused on sign