My first official American Sign Language Class was this past fall. I learned the basic alphabet when I was in preschool but never in the form of language. The ASL class at Elon, like other language classes, teaches about culture. Ours focused a lot on the Mental Health side because it is also a Human Services class. The top mental health issue with deaf people is depression. They become depressed because they are isolated because it is hard to find people to talk to. If people cannot sign, a deaf person must rely on lip reading. When someone lip-reads, they only comprehend 30% of what is said. The rest is guess work. It is also very exhausting.
There is a deaf girl on my voyage with Semester at Sea. She attends Brigham Young University in Utah. She was fortunate for a few things. She got to bring an interpreter who happens to be her close friend. This will allow her to have a friend, to understand everyone around her, and to not become lonely.
The thing that has amazed me on our voyage from the beginning is that when we have all campus meetings in the Union, people notice the signing. They don’t just notice; they understand most of the signing. Signing attracts attention. People flock to them because of the amount of Deaf Studies minors on-board. There are people on this ship learning to be interpreters. Many more people know how to sign than what I expected. People go this deaf person because they can talk to her, and she is excited that they do.
In a small community of students from all over the world living on a ship for 105 days, this one deaf person has people all around her that she can talk to in her language. Some are better than others, but the effort is made. Those who do not know a single word in sign language are being taught gradually. Wherever this girl and her interpreter sit, they teach those around them basic phrases and words, such as “how are you?” and “good morning.” For something that is an issue all over our country, it is not as big of an issue on our ship of 784 people for our 105 days.
Take a step back, and imagine that you grew up not being able to learn the language of your parents, your siblings, and everyone around you. Imagine if you learned another language, and they did not know it or even refused to learn it. That is the reality of many deaf children. They live in this world where they struggle to learn to speak so that those around them understand them, while learning their own language. At the same time, some deaf children’s parents refuse to learn American Sign Language. Now, imagine going to school as a deaf child, even to a university. There is an institution called Deaf University in Gallaudet, but deaf students go to mainstream universities as well. Now, imagine trying to study abroad as a deaf student. Some people see that as inconceivable. Not for my friend Destiny.