Panel celebrate Deaf Awareness Week
In celebration of National Deaf Awareness Week, the USU Deaf Panel met on Sept., 28 to answer questions from the public. There were six members of the panel that attended, all of which are deaf except for the president, Andrew Beck.
The main message that the panel wanted to get across was that they were positive about being deaf and would like to see more hearing people become educated on the deaf culture.
Callista Powell, a member of the panel who describes herself as a “Wyoming Cowgirl” says, “It’s really important to know deaf culture. It is different than the hearing culture.”
For example, hearing people when listening to a speaker would show their appreciation by clapping their hands; the deaf show their appreciation by putting their hands in the air and wiggling their fingers. After meetings, people who are deaf like to sit and sign, just like hearing people would sit and talk. When planning activities, many deaf people don’t like things in the dark, such as a corn maze at night, because they can’t see each other signing.
Many of the panel are parents and stressed the importance of educating the future generation of the deaf.
Ellen O’Hara, vice president of the panel, told of an experience she had with a teacher when she was a child, saying, “My teacher would give me the answers to the problems I was studying, like I was stupid and couldn’t figure it out. Teachers should require the student to figure it out, they are not stupid, deaf people can achieve.”
The rest of the panel agreed with her. They all talked a lot about the importance of learning both American Sign Language and learn the English language and how to read and write. They want their children become bilingual as well.
O’Hara then added, “I don’t need to hear to survive. I think we can still be successful. I enjoy the peace and quiet and hearing what I want to hear. We all can agree that deaf people can be successful; let Beethoven be the example.”
Powell says one good thing about being deaf is, “I don’t have to hear my 2-year-old daughter throw her tantrums. I can just ignore it.”
“Being deaf is not a problem, just the people who think it is,” says Bonnie Lindgren, a deaf education major at USU.
Lindgren moved from Boise, Idaho, with her husband to study at USU’s deaf education program. She emphasizes that the “bilingual/ bicultural” is extremely important in learning how to teach the deaf because it not only teaches student to teach them, but also teaches students about deaf culture.
One thing that the panel would like the hearing to know is that it is OK to come up and communicate with them. They like having lots of friends and communicating with others just as much as the hearing do.
“Deaf people can do anything, except hear,” Smith said.
-freck@cc.usu.edu