I started learning very basic Spanish when I was first grade. Spanish was the only language offered my private school, so everyone had Spanish class a few days a week. I knew that there were a lot of different spoken languages that were used all over the world, but I knew nothing about other forms of communication. I went to a private school that was extremely small and did not have a special education program of any kind. I never was exposed to a lot of people my age with disabilities.
As I got older and moved onto high school, I experienced something I never had before: I met my first deaf person. This individual was around my age and had a hearing aid. I was surprised to realize they were deaf because I thought they seemed so "normal", but the more I got to know them, I realized they were no different than I was. I had most definitely met and seen other deaf people in my life and just never realized they were hearing impaired.
When I would go to plays or events with a lot of other people in attendance, I would see translators there using American Sign Language, but I had never paid that much attention to them. I also used to wonder why every deaf person wouldn't want to get a cochlear implant and be able to hear.
I began to realize how very little I actually knew about the deaf culture due to my lack of exposure to it, and that being deaf to a deaf person is not viewed as having a disability. I started reading articles about some blogs written by people within the deaf community, and it really opened my eyes to how complex and advanced of a community it truly is.
Right around the time I graduated from high school, I really wanted to find a way to learn ASL and learn more about deaf culture. I discovered that UMD has ASL classes as well as a Deaf Studies major and minor, which I thought was pretty cool.
I decided to take Introduction to ASL this semester, and I have learned more about the community already than I could have ever imagined. My professor is deaf, and hearing him tell us about his experiences of growing up learning ASL and English has been so interesting. I have always loved learning about different cultures and the people who practice those culture's customs, but up until a month ago, I would have never thought to call the deaf community its own culture with rules, norms, and unique language. Taking this course has really been an eye-opening ordeal that has exposed me to a new world I didn't even know existed. In addition, I have also learned to never judge or assume someone is unhappy living the life they have been given to live.
