When I was growing up, my childhood best friend's mom was an American Sign Language (ASL) interpreter. I remember learning how to sign Jesus Loves Me during one of our Sunday School lessons. I have always thought ASL was a beautiful language, and I became much more passionate about it when I took a class during middle school. In college, I advocated for it to be counted as a foreign language. Sadly, I was met with quite a bit of resistance and told, "It cannot be counted because there is no culture to learn about."
If you are unfamiliar with ASL, I would like to tell you more about the beauty in the language, and even more, the culture.
Did you watch last season's "Dancing with the Stars?" The winner was Nyle DiMarco, who is deaf. The behind the scenes each week showed how Peeta, his partner, had to adjust her usual teaching styles to teach Nyle the various dances. He truly had to feel what was happening in the dance because he could not hear the music. He gave a glimpse to many Americans, maybe for the first time, into what deaf culture looks like.
There are little things in everyday life deaf people do differently to function as smoothly as hearing people do. Some examples are household alerts like doorbells and phone calls. Many doorbells are hooked up to lamps that will flash on and off rather than making a ringing noise. The deaf community has learned how to make adjustments like that to make their lives just as functional as the hearing community.
As a hearing person, there is a great opportunity to learn the language and the culture to communicate with the deaf community. ASL is a beautiful language. It is different from learning other spoken languages, such as Spanish, because the break-down of sentences is unique. English uses words to fluff up sentences that ASL does not. Another benefit to the language is just how active your brain must be in order to communicate. Because the language is visual, both hemispheres must get involved so it is a good brain workout to sign with someone for an extended period of time.
A little girl I babysat met a deaf child in her elementary school and wanted to make sure he never felt left out. She took it upon herself to learn the language and how to communicate with him. I do not think she knows just how much of an impact she left on him, but he certainly left one on her. She is now in middle school and wrote an essay for a college scholarship on ASL. I was so proud of her and her passion for the language and culture because it is not common for someone her age to enjoy learning another language, much less feel passionate about it.
ASL is not widely known in the hearing community. With that said, you could have a great advantage in knowing the language. Not only is it a marketable skill, but you could really surprise a Deaf person by knowing how to communicate with them. One example of this is a personal story. I live in Richmond, VA, which is home of the Richmond Flying Squirrels (yes, it's legit), an AA affiliate of the San Francisco Giants. Each summer, I work there selling tickets. There is a deaf man who comes to the games periodically and I always find myself hoping he will come to my window. He has gotten used to functioning in a hearing world, so he types his ticket request in a note on his phone and shows the box office his phone. Once I realized he was deaf, I signed "Enjoy the game" to him. I will never forget the look on his face when he saw a hearing person communicating in his primary language.
You, too, can make someone's day like that by learning their language. It is a beautiful thing when someone really understands you. Imagine being in a foreign country and meeting a person who you could communicate with and the feeling of finally being able to express yourself. This is why I love ASL and the deaf community.
