Foreign To Whom?

I needed to take a foreign language to graduate college.

I'd had two years of Spanish back in high school (and frankly, did not want to take any more). French... that was out. Not only had I taken it before, but, who uses it around here? The only time I've ever met people who spoke it was in Europe. What to do?

The only thing that interested me was sign language. My first taste of it had been Linda on Sesame Street. And in 1986, when Marlee Matlin won her Oscar for "Children of a Lesser God," I was amazed (at the age of nine)... how can someone make a movie when they can't hear? (Shows what I know). So, I was intrigued by sign language, not because of what I knew about it, but because of what I didn't know. I thought it would fun to learn this language, unique to any other, in that it is the only language (to my knowledge) that is seen and not heard.

Was I in for a surprise!

Our instructor's name was Lori Lane. She was deaf (as opposed to a hearing person who knows how to sign) and she did not read lips and could not (or did not) use her voice.

I quickly found I was in trouble.

She stood at the head of the room and wrote a few things on the board, explaining that we would soon know when she "finger spelled" our names. There was an interpreter for the first day. Unfortunately, there had to be, for all these "auditory " people who relied on nothing but their ears.
Lori signed VERY quickly. Why not?... hearing people speak very quickly. The only thing I understood was the alphabet... one by one. I'd learned this on Sesame Street (no kidding). But that was IT. In short, I could not keep up with her. I mean, I REALLY couldn't keep up with Lori.
I knew sign language was visual, but had not computed that anything visual is a real challenge for me. This wasn't just because I'd never done this before, and was "ignorant" to the way deaf people communicate. I have a disability which makes anything visual a slow, usually frustrating endeavor.

I have Cerebral Palsy, and have worn glasses since I was in a high chair. I had no idea that sign language had anything to do with fine motor skills (duh!) but it does. It's visual precision, it's physical movement, it's agility, it';s perceptual motor skills (a term I'd come to hate, because mine constantly needed work).
Imagine a tennis ball coming at you out of nowhere, and you've gotta hit it with your racket... Think FAST!! Now, if you're good at this sorta thing, no problem, right? But, I'm the kind of person who needed "adaptive" PE because I couldn't think that fast (not physically anyway). This is what learning sign language felt like to me.

Now, anything auditory... that was different. I used my ears for EVERYTHING (accept balance). A great irony, I think. Whatever it is that helps us balance is inside our ears. Well, when you have CP, the part of your brain that enables you TO balance is damaged...usually at birth. According to my mother, I could speak even before I was two, and I didn't have a first word, I just started saying sentences. But I did not learn to walk unassisted until I was almost three (whereas most kids start at about ten months & are on their own at about eighteen months).

Anyway, It took that long for my brain and body to make the connection, you could say. I never knew that when I tried to learn sign language, I would have the same problem Looking back, it makes perfect sense, but when I was in the class, I sort of went into shock

"What was wrong with me? Why couldn't I do this?"

I remember, Lori tried to be as accommodating as possible. She would let me take my tests in private and let me stop or go back over things if I needed it. This helped... but I felt like Sarah Norman making fun of James Leeds:

"IF... I... DO NOT... SIGN... faster; the hour will be over before I finish my opening speech."

Exactly!! This was me!! I finally learned when she was spelling my name at role call (oohhh, lets give her a hand, folks). She would always slow down when she came to me. I would use a mirror, when I practiced my signing, but the thing is, if you're doing it incorrectly to begin with, it's still wrong. It sounds crazy, (only to me) but how I wish I'd known someone else who was deaf, or better yet, someone who was hearing, but could sign. My entire family relied on our ears... what did we know?

I ended up with a D in the class, and the only signs I really remember are the ones for "deaf," "yes," and "I'm sorry." (And the letters of the alphabet). But I learned. I learned first of all, that being deaf is not a "disability," it is a difference in communication that most hearing people are afraid of, I think. (It's just sign language, people, come on :)

Secondly, because we're afraid, we do all the wrong things. Why is it that the first thing hear ring people do around deaf people is raise their voice (??) Why do we talk to deaf people from behind and expect them to know what we're saying? Why do hearing people flip out around deaf people because they think they can't say anything that has to do with hearing, or listening, or music? Deaf people can't hear, but that doesn't mean that they are on another planet. Why do we assume that deaf people are also "mute"?.
Those who are deaf still have voices... and they USE them. Why do we assume that deaf people think hearing people are stupid when they need to use paper and pen? My teacher Lori didn't speak, and I didn't sign well enough to communicate with her. We had to find some middle ground. So we wrote things. I think those who are deaf are much more comfortable when they can sign with someone, but let's face it; most hearing people know little or no sign language.

Thirdly, if you're able both to hear and use sign language, your skills are invaluable... seriously! How you would've helped me when I was trying to learn to sign. My teacher didn't speak my language, and I was trying to learn to speak hers. As I said, writing was the middle ground, but how tedious... ya know? How awesome it would've been to have someone SAY to me, "Yes, that's right," or "No, it isn't." I was limited in my communication, so it was hard for me to understand. So "Thumbs up" to those of you who can do both because you bridge the gap. :)

An interesting post script to this, is that it helped me later with acting (!!!) When I took beginning acting, my teacher, Linda Quinn, taught mime! Mime, is very animated and non-verbal, just like sign language. What better way to help someone know that "saying lines" is actually very little of acting? It's looks, it's gestures, it's body language, it's a glance, a reaction, a step, a movement. Another real challenge for me, because it's so physical... yikes! But I did it, and I did just fine. I was able to rely a lot on the communication I'd learned while taking ASL in order to "exaggerate" my movements and non-verbal "language." I then became very interested in silent movies (and the actors that were in them).
I saw "Phantom of the Opera" (1925) with Lon Chaney Sr. and was petrified when I saw his mask come off! No words...just my own gasp. Silence made the moment much more powerful, I think. If there had been lines, I would've been distracted by them. So, I did some reading on Lon Chaney Sr. and I then discovered that both of his parents were deaf! Chaney himself was hearing, and now, it made perfect sense that he was an actor! He'd learned to communicate "visually" because this was the language his parents spoke.
My ability to hear had blinded me (figure that out). All of my pre-conceived ideas about hearing people had led me to believe that there just certain things one couldn't do if they were deaf. Well, with a little help, we can all do a lot of things; and as I write this, I realize that I'd found an answer to my curiosity pondered at age nine: "How can someone make a movie when they can't hear?" Now, I only have one thing to say... "Duh!"

Anyway, overcoming obstacles is universal. As a young child, I could not dribble a ball or catch it, but i just finished playing basketball with my nephew! How did I do that? Practice...Duh! Now, if only I'd take the same approach to sign language!