Reflective Essay On Sign Language

Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet was a hearing minister that designed American Sign Language, which is the first language used by deaf and hearing people in the United States and Canada. Two thousand hundred million people are using ASL, and at least five thousand hundred people are using it as their most important way of communication. Throughout a period, Deaf people in America were already using sign language, in the early 1800’s; Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet had become friends with a young Deaf girl named Alice. Gallaudet started to teach the girl a few words, and succeeded at doing so. In 1815, Gallaudet went to Europe in search of methods of teaching the Deaf. He approached a number of program directors, the signs used at the school for the deaf, and the signs began to develop into American Sign Language. American Sign Language in America also has

In learning about the deaf culture I have taken on a new understanding about the people it includes. Through readings and the lessons, I have learned that being deaf has both its hardships and its blessings. The beauty of the language alone makes one want to learn all that he or she can about it. In this paper I will discuss the beauty of the language and the misconceptions the hearing world has about deafness.

In late 2016, I was granted the opportunity to attend an American Sign Language class, at my local community college. Prior to this, I had only one experience meeting a deaf person. I was seventeen at the time, working my first job. I felt like a deer caught in headlights,

Thanks for pointing out that sign language is not universal. Sign language is just as diverse as spoken languages with its own regional dialects for different countries (NAD, n.d.). Wow! For some reason I thought deaf people spoke the same standard sign language. I’ve been enlightened. With that in mind, I see how easy it is for people and sometimes frontline medical professionals to assume that hearing impaired individuals use one language. I think it also speaks to my own cultural challenge. Since I do not have any hearing impaired individuals in my family or close friendships, I am not familiar with the way hearing impaired individuals communicate other than through sign language, which I assumed was universal. I think this is valuable because

When you finally get up you realize your mom is saying something to you. You quickly wipe away the sleep in your eyes so you can catch her signs. She uses a form of sign language, called Pidgin Signed English (PSE), that is basically American Sign Language (ASL) and Sign Exact English (SEE) combined to make an ‘in between’ language. She tells you to put your hearing aids in and come down to breakfast. You reach over and put your hearing aids in and walk downstairs. Now comes the challenge of following your large families breakfast discussions. You still don’t understand what they are saying, even with your hearing aids, but at least you know who is talking. But that’s just life being deaf.

As part of daily life, we communicate and connect ourselves with certain communities. School, jobs, families, sports, extracurricular activities, and many other communities are just a few we come into contact with. Although these may seem to appear the same, there are specific types of communities such as a discourse community. A discourse community is a group of people involved in and communicating about a particular topic, issue, or in a particular field (Webcourses, N.d, Website) that has a share a common set of goals and attempt to achieve these goals (Swales, 1990). According to researcher and educator, John Swales, there are six characteristics that define whether or not a community is considered a discourse community. Following the criteria Swales states is necessary to be a discourse community, I did an in depth research on the American Sign Language community. Through my study, I was able to meet all six characteristics.

During the Through Deaf Eyes, I realize that no one should judge one another even if we can hear or deaf because at the end of the day, we are all the same kind which is being a human.. During the film, what blew my mind away is that deaf people say “I can” while the hearing people say “I can’t.” Deaf people are more brave than hearing people and they embrace their pride and do not want to be cure. The American Sign Language is a way to communicate with one another therefore, it is so important for deaf people to communicate. They would have to go through a deaf speech class with teachers helping them from step by step using their hands motion to learn American Sign Language.

The summer of 2015, I went on a deaf camp titled T.I. Deaf Camp. Short for Teen Insitue Deaf Camp. Now because i’m hard of hearing but I stand out as a deaf person, friends came naturally, almost as if you was the hottest thing in Cosmo magazine. In other words myself and others was noticed instantly. Now also I realized that we had some kids who was only partially deaf (not full deaf) and they had hearing aids on and everything but also they didn’t know American Sign Language, it was so different and weird to work with them and during special events such as team basketball, volleyball or even during scavenger hunts etc. Both kids who could sign and couldn’t were very distance from each other. I didn’t know the answer to this conflict, so myself

The skill area which needs to be work on and develop a plan for working on this within the agency holds on facilitated communication and sign language. However, facilitated communication empowers to assist people with harsh defect, and also, people that have trouble with speech. In addition, facilitated communication involves typing on a keyboard, pointing at letters, images, and symbols symbolizing messages. On the other hand, sign language, it’s a system of communication that uses visual expressions, facial signs, signs of hand movements as medium of conversation. Furthermore, sign language uses visual finger to spell an alphabetical word.

I think about all these things, and I always come back to the thought of, if you could walk a mile in their shoes, you may see things differently. The deaf community has been embracing, and the experience has been absolutely phenomenal. I would continue to recommend the experiences which I am experiencing from learning American Sign Language, and the experience of meeting new people within the deaf community to any and every

The school I did my observation at was Bloomfield Hills High school for the American Sign Language class. The reason I have been tasked with observing an American Sign Language class is because that is my goal as a future educator, to teach American Sign Language from K to 12. I also would like to be able to educate the deaf students from K to 12, but that’s for another program, Deaf Education master’s program, in the future. I had four classes to observe, from 9th grade to 12th grade students for ASL (American Sign Language) classes. They were mostly white, some African American, and smaller number of other races such as Middle Eastern and Asian. Many of the students had special needs, the most common one would have to be ADD and ADHD, a few were hearing impaired, and I had one who was autistic. The average number I had for each class about 18 to 20 students. Now to discuss about my meaningful experiences, strengths and weaknesses of both my cooperating teacher and myself, my professional goals, and finally my reaction to the field experience.

American sign language can be a really fun language to learn. But behind the language there is an entire culture with the Deaf community. They have events, their own traditions, and most importantly, rules. What may be polite in our culture may not be in the Deaf community. That’s why I’m here to help you out with some of the do’s and don’ts in Deaf culture.

During registration last semester, when I decided to take this course to see if I wanted to continue onward with ASL as my minor, I was not sure what to expect. Through my brief introduction of Deaf culture during my first sign language courses, I knew some vague details about historical events. Gallaudet had been mentioned several times within not only my workbook, but also by my professor. I could have given you a short synopsis of the oral movement that threatened to wipe ASL out as a language. Though I knew these facts, and a few traits about Deaf culture that I had experienced firsthand, there was so much that I had not considered before the readings and journals for this course opened my eyes.

Although I still consider myself an introvert, my participation at camp allowed me to grow with the confidence and eagerness to meet new people. Prior to this experience, I wondered if my dedication was going to pay off because of my reservation around ASL. I am now positive I am making the right decisions and actions for my future. I actively pursue opportunities to spend as much time as possible participating in the Deaf community, and I am excited about my ability in getting to know many amazing individuals using sign

I wonder how can I do this? I know very little and what I do know will not sustain me in a normal conversation unless I want to tell someone “I like their blue shirt, and that I grew up hearing and speaking English”, I want to give up and throw in the towel. Although I know this is not an option for me as I need foreign language for my degree, I decide to stick it out and I begin to realize the more I do not speak the more I start to pay attention to others and the more I become part of the sign language culture of the classroom this is not to say I consider myself to be part of the ASL culture but part of the culture of the classroom. I begin to feel like part of the group and although I am rusty and I can decipher every other word, it is enough to follow along and forces me to be alert and participate.