Even Old Ladies Can Learn ASL

This is my first vlog attempt. Patience is required.

My original post did not include subtitles or a transcript of the video because I wanted to know if people who use ASL understood me. They did, so on July 8 I modified the video to include subtitles for those who do not know ASL.

Since I am only in my first class of ASL, I have a lot to learn. It’s going to take time for me to break the habit of using Signed English and not mouthing every word I sign. I also have a good excuse in that I am an old lady. I don’t think I will ever be able to sign as fast as many of you do. Even though I have been signing to Steve for over eight years, some of the students in my class are already faster than I am. Oh well, such is life, right?

ASL Class

Ok, so we are canceling our little ASL class at the church at least for the duration of the summer. It was suggested we have the class twice a month rather than every week, but with only two people showing up, it did not seem worth it. I do not know if we will try again in the fall.

So, now that Steve and I are attending the Deaf ward, I decided to start taking classes at the Salt Lake Community College; I am currently in my seventh week of instruction. I started this curriculum about three years ago, but was not sure if it would be worth the time and money when Steve did not use ASL and there was little to no opportunity to practice the language. I was also overwhelmed with the other issues we were trying to deal with. Things are different now, and it’s time to get serious about learning ASL and Deaf Culture.

The class at SLCC is twice a week, three hours on Monday and three hours on Wednesday with a one hour lab each week. There are sixteen people in the class (if I can count); guess who is the oldest. So far I am enjoying it very much. While I still believe it’s good for anyone to learn some Sign Language (hey folks, if I can do it anyone can), there is definitely something to be said for taking a real ASL class.

We are using the Signing Naturally Level 1 book and video, as well as studying the book Deaf in America: Voices from a Culture. I still have my Book of Mormon in ASL, which has been very helpful, and other videos. Most of all however, I am looking forward to learning from the people in the Deaf wards and any other Deaf functions I can get to. There is much I want to learn and I want to learn it from those who know.

Our instructor was born deaf, is an active member of the Deaf Community, of course is fluent in ASL, and is a seasoned instructor at the college. Some people wonder if it makes a difference if the teacher is Deaf or hearing as long as the person is fluent in ASL. In my opinion, if you want to be able to learn from someone with first-hand and intimate experience with what it means to be Deaf, learn it from a Deaf instructor. We get many opportunities to practice what we learn, tell stories, and play games. I do not know how other language classes are taught since I have only been taught English in elementary school, but I doubt many of them are as much fun as this ASL class. Those who have no time or desire to learn ASL are really missing out.

I am hoping things will work out so that I can continue with the schooling and obtain some kind of degree or certificate for working with the Deaf. SLCC offers an Interpreter Training Program only, but there are schools that offer other programs. So we will see how far I can take this.

The Salt Lake Valley (Deaf) 2nd Ward

Steve and I decide to attend the 2^nd ward to see what it is like compared to the 1^st ward. From my perspective there is not much difference except that the 2^nd ward has about twice as many people as the 1^st ward. When compared with the hearing ward in which we have been attending for the last eight years, there is a world of difference. The most obvious difference is that most everyone is signing to each other rather than talking. It is still just as noisy in the chapel because all kids make noise whether they are deaf or hearing.

We choose a bench in the middle of the chapel, seat ourselves, and wait for Sacrament Meeting to start. A nice couple selects a seat in front of us. They notice that we are new, and the woman asks us in sign if we are deaf. Before I get a chance to answer, Steve answers that I am hearing and he is deaf. They exchange greetings and other information about where we live, etc. Soon a man that Steve knows from working at Deseret Industries Manufacturing comes over to greet him, and then another man that he knows comes over to greet him. They seem more comfortable communicating with him than with me, which is understandable and fine with me. This is one of the most notable differences from the hearing ward where few people communicate directly with him.

The meeting begins. A counselor in the Bishopric is conducting the meeting in Sign Language while a woman in the audience voice interprets. The signers at the podium are projected onto a large screen in front of the chapel. They are also projected onto a television monitor on the front left side of the chapel and a monitor in front of the Bishopric.

Soon they prepare for the first hymn. The words of the hymn are projected onto the screen and the signing chorister stands underneath the screen on a bench so that everyone can see her signs. As the music is played, each word is highlighted while the chorister signs the hymn. I am trying to follow her signs, but it is difficult to watch her and look at the words at the same time. I do my best. I notice that most of the people are signing while few are singing. I can only focus on one thing at a time so I do not sing.

The Sacrament prayers are signed while a man in the audience voice interprets the prayers. The people watch the Priesthood holders sign the prayers. From then on, during the passing of the Sacrament, there is no difference at all from the hearing ward. Communication is with the Spirit during this time; hearing or deaf makes no difference.

After the passing of the Sacrament it is time for bearing of testimonies. As the meeting progresses, Steve asks me if I understand the people. I sign to him that it helps having the voice interpreter. I am trying to follow the signs and learn new signs. There is a slight delay in receiving voice interpretation of the signs, and that sometimes makes it difficult for me to follow.

After Sacrament Meeting is over, Steve and I search for the Gospel Doctrine class. I sign to him; “need ask.” He is wandering down the hall looking lost. As we near the RS room, I sign to a lady standing at the door, “Where Gospel D-O-C-T-R-I-N-E class?” I know I am signing it wrong. She looks at me like I am doing it wrong, but she kindly gestures that it is in the RS room.

Steve and I find chairs and wait for class to start. Soon, he signs to me that he is going somewhere, and takes off leaving me sitting there. The class begins and I immediately notice that there is no interpreter, so I try to follow the signs as best I can. The person conducting the class (not the teacher) asks if there are any visitors, and she looks at me. Unfortunately, I understand her. She asks me to stand in front of the class and introduce myself. I am nervous, but I do it anyway. I sign to her, “Me sign not good.” She laughs and signs that it is ok. I look at everyone and sign, “Me name J-U-L-I-A, last name S-H-U-M-K-O. My husband wander hall.” I point to the back door and shrug my shoulders. “His name S-T-E-V-E.” Everyone laughs. My only thought is to sit down, but the teacher asks me in sign if I am visiting. I answer “Yes”. She asks me where I am from and I answer, “S-T-A-N-S-B-U-R-Y P-A-R-K.” She smiles and signs “welcome”. I sit down. Steve finds his way back to class and I sign to him, “You miss. I introduce you.”

I watch the teacher closely and try to follow her signs. I can see that she is quite skilled and fast, but I do understand more than I thought I would. For the last ten months, I have been trying to study the Book of Mormon in ASL and I guess it is paying off, even though I am still on 1^st Nephi. She uses Power Point and shows us a Book of Mormon video with subtitles. This, along with having some knowledge about the subject matter that she is teaching, assists me in understanding her lesson.

Another notable difference from the hearing ward is when someone makes a comment in class; the teacher repeats in sign what the person has signed. This is so that everyone will know what the person’s comment is without making everyone turn around and look or making the person stand up in front of the class. In the hearing ward, people make comments and the teachers don’t think about writing it or interpreting it for Steve.

Steve tells me he enjoyed the Deaf 2^nd ward. I am happy for that because I enjoyed it very much. I want to visit again.

The Deaf Ward Part 2

Steve again agrees to go with me to the Deaf ward. Several people who want to know if we have decided to attend this ward on a regular basis warmly greet us. Of course my answer is “yes” and “I hope”. I chat briefly with Pat Walker and we agree that attending this ward would be so much better for Steve and me.

Today is their ward conference so the ward’s bishop and the Stake President deliver the messages. Bishop Flygare, whom you can see signing several hymns on the LDS ASL DVD of Selected Hymns, delivers a Spiritual message about showing love to our neighbors, reaching out to find the one lost sheep, and bringing him back into the fold. After his message he signs a hymn, which also touches me deeply.

The Stake President is hearing and it soon becomes clear that he is uneducated on the world of the Deaf. Towards the beginning of his message he says (this is not an exact quote) “We all have challenges in this life. You have the additional challenge of being without the great gift of sound, but you do have the great gift of showing love to others.” I feel the Spirit leave me at this moment. I agree 1000% that these people have a great gift of showing love since they have expressed love to me in spite of my lousy signing. But as for being without sound? At the same time he is delivering this message, the kids behind me are being very noisy and distracting. I am thinking that sound is not such a great gift right now. I am also wondering how this Deaf Community is receiving his message.

Fortunately the Spirit comes back to me during Sunday School class. Richard is teaching the lesson on “Eternally Indebted to Your Heavenly Father“. This lesson includes the story in the Book of Mormon about King Benjamin’s great message to his people. In one part of the lesson, the question is asked, “What did King Benjamin do when he observed that not all the people could hear his words?” He erected a tower so that his voice would be projected further out into the great multitude. But there were still people too far away to hear him. So he had someone write his message and then pass it around to the people who could not hear. King Benjamin knew his message was so important that he made sure every person would receive it. Richard tells us he is standing on a small “tower” (a bench) so that the people in back of the chapel can see his signs. Perhaps delivering the message would have been easier for King Benjamin if everyone had known Sign Language.

I observe that the people in the Deaf ward know the importance of helping everyone in attendance understand their messages. Spoken messages are always interpreted in Sign Language. If they believe someone does not understand Sign, they do not hesitate to provide a voice interpreter. I was greatly disheartened when our ASL teacher told me that someone in her ward asked, “Is it necessary to provide an interpreter for Steve?” She answered, “Well, he is an Elder.”

Steve said that he enjoyed today’s meeting and I believe and hope that this means regular attendance in the Deaf ward for both of us.

The Salt Lake Valley (Deaf) 1st Ward

It’s been a while since I’ve written anything, so I thought it would be fun to write about my experience in the Salt Lake Deaf 1^st Ward last Sunday (and hope I don’t step on anyone’s toes). Let me preface this story by explaining why I have decided to attend the Deaf ward on a more regular basis whether Steve comes with me or not. A few weeks ago, after another miscommunication issue in our hearing ward, I knew I had to make a change for my own sanity. I announced to my bishop that I would be attending the Deaf ward and Steve may or may not come with me. I said, “No one is going to understand why I am going to a Deaf ward and Steve is going to a hearing ward. This will be a time when ‘judge not and you will not be judged’ will apply.” Sometimes I am able to attend meetings in both wards. If I only attend Sacrament Meeting in the hearing ward I don’t have to talk to anyone, so it all works out.

Sunday, April 20 – Our friend, Gwen, who has been attending our ASL class, wants to go with me to the Deaf ward. I am elated to know that she and Steve will be joining me for the following reasons: I do not like going to church by myself, I won’t be the only person there who is lousy at signing, and Steve will be there.

I am driving as we travel along the interstate past the Great Salt Lake. It’s a challenge to keep the car on the road because the wind is howling and shaking the car. I must keep both hands on the wheel so even one-handed signing is out of the question. Gwen and Steve make conversation with very little help from me, and it’s nice.

We get to the Deaf ward building a few minutes early and walk into the chapel. I immediately notice Pat Walker sitting in the front preparing to interpret for the meeting. Steve heads off to chat with her while Gwen and I find a place to sit near the back of the chapel. The signers at the podium are projected onto a large screen in front of the chapel, so I am thinking that we can sit anywhere and see what is being signed.

After we have been seated, I turn around and see Richard behind me. I wave to him and sign that Steve is here, and point to where he is. I sign to Richard, “I stay try get him come here all time.” I thought I was signing “still” and realized later that I signed “stay”. The sentence in English is suppose to be, “I am still trying to get him to come here all of the time.” Richard seems to understand me in spite of my lousy signing.

Steve comes back to sit with Gwen and me and he sees another person that he knows. He goes over to chat with her. She looks at me and waves and then signs something to me. I believe she is fingerspelling her name, but I have no clue as to what it is. Gwen and I do understand when she signs “welcome” and we sign “thank you” back to her. Later Steve tells me her name.

Gwen is looking around the room and notices the bishopric signing to each other in front of the chapel. She says to me, “You would know what the bishopric is talking about up there.” I nod my head.

The meeting starts and I relax while watching the signers and listening to Pat voice interpret the messages. The Sacrament prayers are voice interpreted by a man sitting in the front. The LDS ASL DVD of selected Hymns is projected onto the screen during the signing of the hymns. I try to follow the signs but it’s difficult because the signs do not match the words being sung. It would be easier if I didn’t have to listen to the words. My brain has to make a choice about what to focus on, and I am getting a headache. Someone told me that we use the right side of our brains to process Sign Language and the left side of our brains to hear. Maybe the right and left sides of my brain are not connected (or something like that).

All of the Sacrament Meeting messages are signed except for the last speaker who chooses to talk while Pat stands next to her and interprets in sign. The speaker mentions that she is still learning how to sign and thanks everyone for putting up with her fumbles. It warms my heart to hear someone else admit that she is struggling. Gwen mentions that it’s nice to have someone voice interpret for people who are still learning how to sign. I tell her that Pat has a master certification in interpreting. She can keep up with and interpret for anyone. Gwen says, “That’s amazing!” I have no doubt that the Spirit helps Pat a lot.

I notice a man in front of us who has a cochlear implant, and I ask Steve if he noticed. He did and says he is happy for him if it works for him. Later he asked me if I noticed that the man removed the processor towards the end of the meeting. I said that maybe he didn’t like listening to the screaming baby behind us. There are advantages to being deaf.

Steve tells me that he enjoyed the meeting, and next time he wants to sit closer to the front so he can see the TV screen. I guess that means there will be a next time. Yippy! I love going to the Deaf ward.

Interpreters in Church

Our sister missionary is still interpreting for Steve until she heads off to school in January. She has decided to become a certified interpreter. A good friend of hers, who lives near us, just returned from a deaf mission and she will be taking Rachel’s place interpreting for Steve. We also still have Karen, the lady I wrote about earlier.

It’s difficult to describe the difference it has made for us to have good interpreters in church. I cannot speak for Steve, but I can see that he is happier. For me personally, it is much easier to feel the Spirit when I know he is receiving as much as everyone else in the ward. Sometimes he receives more because Rachel is able to keep up with fast talking speakers. Some of us can’t listen as fast as she can interpret. I have received comments from many people who tell me that they enjoy watching her and Karen. We all learn from them.

This Sunday, Rachel is going to teach Sunday school class and will be talking and signing at the same time. Her boyfriend, who is an interpreter and teaches ASL at the Missionary Training Center, will be there to help her out. This will be the first class in our ward where Steve will receive full interpretation.

We have decided to open up our ASL class to the entire community, the Stansbury Park Utah Stake and the Stansbury Park Utah South Stake. Several people have expressed interest in taking this class. Each has his or her reason for learning ASL. One has a child who is deaf, others have friends who are deaf or hard of hearing, others do this so they can communicate with Steve, while others simply want to learn. I love them all no matter what reasons they have.

Moving Ahead Slowly

My previous blog post inspired an interaction with Steve’s VR counselor and the HR person at his place of work. I suppose a few rants on a blog is not the best way to handle situations, but I am not a professional. I am just a wife who is trying to do her best. Anyway, I guess that situation is resolved.

I had a nice chat with our Stake President, and then shortly after that meeting, he had his Bishops’ Training Meeting. He brought up the issue of interpreters, so we will see what happens. Perhaps mentioning the fact that there are deaf people in nearby towns who are not members of the Church and who have been invited to our ward, will put fire under our leaders to look for good interpreters. In the meantime, we are blessed with the services of Rachel, our return missionary, and with Karen, a member of the Stake who signs.

Karen has been teaching our Sign Language class for the last six weeks, and is teaching ASL. We have had several people drop out of the class. They may not have the time or desire to learn ASL, but at least they now know that Sign Language is not as easy at it appears. The others who are hanging in there seem to be enjoying it.

Rachel is helping me learn the Book of Mormon in ASL. There are many signs I do not know and the grammar confuses me, but once I get a few verses figured out, it almost takes my breath away to watch it. The interpretation is clear and beautiful. It is going to take me ten years at least to watch the whole book.

I have also been greatly blessed to be able to chat with Doug Hind who is the manager over the Special Curriculums department of the Church. Both of his parents are deaf so he is very familiar with the issues. He is creating web pages that will be installed on lds.org with information on deafness and how to accommodate the d/Deaf in the wards. I gave some of this information to our Stake President. Doug is hoping to have the web pages ready by the end of this year.

I appreciate the encouragement and education from those of you who know the joys and challenges of the world of the d/Deaf. If this is what my mission in life is suppose to be, I am happy. I love it!

Note: The web pages are up. See Hearing Loss and Deafness.

Health Screening

As part of Steve’s health insurance, we were required to have a health screening. I elected to have my screening done at his place of work. Here is how it went (and I think this is somewhat ethical for a person who has no training in ethics).

As I am sitting outside the conference room where the screenings were being performed, I chat with another wife of an employee. She tells me that her husband thinks a lot of Steve and enjoys the conversations they have. She says, “He is very good at reading lips.” She has never talked to him, but she knows he can read lips. I say, “He’s pretty good.” She asks me if we use ASL and I tell her we use Signed English. She explains that she took a class in Sign Language and it was ASL. Ok, so she and her husband are not totally unfamiliar with deaf people and their language.

A technician comes out to see who is next. It is suppose to be me. The lady in charge says, “She needs to wait for Steve because he is deaf and she has to interpret for him.” I am thinking, ‘I do?’

A bit later, another technician comes out and asks me if I am ready to come in for the screening. I say to her in a voice loud enough so Lady in Charge can hear, “They want me to interpret for Steve, so I guess I have to.” Lady in Charge says, “If you don’t interpret for him, we will all have to write notes.” I answer back, “There is nothing wrong with that!” The wife next to me nods her head in agreement.

Soon, Steve walks through the door from his work place. He tells me I don’t have to interpret. I tell him that they want me to interpret. He grimaces.

We walk in together. The lady technician, who wants to work on me, tells me that she and the male technician will do the both of us together. This way, Steve can watch what she is doing to me and he can follow along with his technician. I try to interpret this to Steve, but she proceeds to sit me down and work on me. I am thinking, “How do I interpret anything when she has my arm tied down and is pricking my finger?” Fortunately Male Technician is aware enough to see this. When Steve asks him what the blood test is for, he writes down the answers.

When the technicians are done playing with us, we wait outside the conference room for the results of the tests. Lady Technician has to prick my finger again because the blood in my middle finger has no LDL/HDL in it. She pricks my ring finger so now I have a Tasmanian Devil bandage on my middle finger and a Bugs Bunny bandage on my ring finger. The ring finger is successful!

The results of the test are in, so Lady Technician leads us into another conference room for a chat. She proceeds to rattle off the results and I am doing my best to interpret (and not doing well at all). Steve is frustrated. I tell the lady that this is hard to interpret. Usually I forget to put the question look on my face, but this time I have no problem with it. I ask him, “There sign for C O L?” I say cholesterol but don’t know how to spell it. He says there is not. (I am convinced he reads my mind.)

She tries to explain diet and exercise to us. She can see that I am unable to interpret for her fast enough so she says the one sentence that I hate more than any other, “You can explain this to him later.” (I did not say anything to her, but next time someone says this to me, I will respond with, “You are assuming I will remember what you are talking about.”)

I continue my attempts to interpret. Steve is firing a few questions at her. I am frustrated, but since I am trapped, I try to keep it upbeat. I sign to Steve without voicing, “No more kielbasa.” That was kind of mean because later I had to explain that she did not say that. I was teasing him.

She tells us we should go see a doctor. Steve says, “Doctors won’t explain anything. They just say, ‘Here, read this.’ and then take off.” She says she understands. “I get that.” She pauses and says, “I totally get that! But just because there are limitations, does not mean you are not important.” I am having trouble interpreting this to Steve. I am thinking to myself, ‘No, you do not get it. The lady out there does not get it. If you got it, you would not be doing what most hearing people do when they are confronted with a deaf person. You think he has limitations. You refuse to communicate with him directly. You are relying on his wife who is a lousy interpreter. You are expecting her to remember everything you’ve said so she can “explain it to him later”.” All I can do is look at her in disbelief.

I left the screening with even less desire to care about my health than I had before. Fortunately, I don’t think this screening will affect Steve’s ability to obtain health insurance from his employment. I might actually get to have LASIK surgery.

Stake Conference

Steve and I arrive at the Stake Center and make our way to the front. As promised the first bench on the side is taped off for us and a chair is leaning against the side for our interpreter, our dear friend Sister Marshall. I am a little concerned about her interpreting for two hours straight and pray that she will be ok.

Rachel arrives and with Steve’s help places the chair about six feet away and facing him. Nancy, my new ally in our quest for learning Sign Language, and her husband sit next to me. The chapel is filled to capacity, along with the cultural hall, and the stage in the far back. I notice that Rachel seems nervous and she bows her head in prayer. The meeting begins, and I watch Rachel with the goal of learning a few more signs from her.

I am happy to have Nancy sitting next to me. It gives me a chance to tell her about some observations that she would understand. The first is when the names are read for sustaining. Most hearing people are not aware enough to slow down for the interpreter. We notice that Rachel only signs the last names, and there is certainly nothing wrong with that. It’s far more than what Steve gets when I try to do it.

The first speaker talks kind of fast and Rachel is a little stressed from trying to sign Pidgin, so she switches to ASL. Later Steve tells me he understood her even after she switched to ASL. She seems more relaxed.

I whisper to Nancy about a second observation when one of the speakers reads her talk. One of the things that stressed me when I tried to interpret for Steve was when I could hear the speaker reading his message. I would think, “If only I had a copy of this talk. I could just point to the words.” It’s always helpful to have a copy of a written talk (or any other written information) because some deaf people like Steve can easily read the talk rather than watching an interpreter. It would probably be helpful to have a copy of a written talk in advance of the meeting so the interpreter can study it.

After about an hour, we sing an intermediate hymn. We all stand and Rachel joins us so she can rest. I point to the words for Steve in time with the music. After the singing Steve moves her chair back so she is about ten feet away from him. She seems relaxed and ready to go for another hour. (What a woman!) I notice that there is less eye strain when the interpreter is further away. In the deaf ward, the interpreter stands next to the speaker (well, not right next to him). I do not know if Steve would prefer that or not.

The next speaker is the 1st counselor in the Stake Presidency. I whisper to Nancy that he is one of my favorite people to interpret because he talks slower and his message is usually easier to interpret. We need more people like that in the Church.

The last speaker is our Stake President. He mentions the “Six Month Challenge” that was handed out at the door when we arrived. The challenge includes: Participate in a Stake wide fast for missionary work, read one chapter of the Book of Mormon daily, 100% home teaching, become friends with and fellowship a family in the community, honor our covenants, and observe the basic fundamentals of the Gospel. I point to “Read one chapter of the Book of Mormon daily” and whisper to Nancy, “Watch one chapter in ASL daily.” Actually I think a more realistic goal for me is to watch one verse daily.

We are ready to sing the closing hymn, Lord, I Would Follow Thee. Rachel squeezes between me and Nancy and rests her head on my shoulder for a second. The poor girl is tired. We let her rest and Steve and I try to sign the hymn. I use to know this hymn in ASL. It doesn’t take long to forget it.

When the meeting is done, my first thought and instinct is to give Rachel a big hug. She says “Heavenly Father answers prayers.” He certainly does.

Steve notices a lady in the audience who starts signing to him. I notice that I do not understand her. He learns that this woman lived in Virginia for 15 years, so she knows the regional signs that he knows from living in New Jersey. She has forgotten most of the Church signs, but she is willing to interpret for him in Sacrament Meeting if she can. Yes, Heavenly Father does answer prayers.

I see my visiting teacher and we chat for a bit. She tells me the Stake Presidency is aware of our need and has been trying to find interpreters for Steve. They are expensive but they will include that in their next budget meeting. I am grateful and realize that I need to have more faith and trust in our Church leaders. We are all learning and the Lord is over all.

Awareness is Bliss

Sunday Morning – I am feeling mentally exhausted at the thought of going to church today. It seems that I should be feeling happy to go since Sister Marshall will be there to interpret for Steve. It would be another rare opportunity to sit in church and feel relaxed. But after the final letdown in finding a qualified interpreter, I feel I am headed for a breakdown.

There have been several times when Steve has gone to church by himself because I was too tired to go. He always understood that. But then I would end up feeling guilty, a feeling that became exasperated when my visiting teacher asked me why sometimes Steve was in church and I was not, and sometimes I was in church and he was not. We were both too ignorant to know the answer.

I had a nice chat with our organist sister about our Sign class a few nights ago. So I am thinking that I now have someone who might understand how I am feeling. I give her a call. She tells me that one of her friends compliments her because she is now able to “talk” to Steve. She said to her friend, “We’re not talking!” She enlightens her friend with what she has been learning in the class, and how her eyes have been opened to what I do in church when I sign to Steve. Her friend is saying, “Really?”, “Really?”, “Really?”. I am laughing because here is someone who is getting the same treatment that I have been getting and she has only been in the class for a few weeks! I tell her that if Sister Marshall is not there to interpret for Steve, she can sign to him and everyone will think, “Look at Nancy! She’s interpreting for Steve!” We both have a good laugh.

She is feeling some frustration because learning Sign Language is hard for her. She has difficulty remembering the signs. I tell her about the article I read on the internet concerning the influence of aptitude in second language learning in adults. We are almost the same age and in our middle 50’s. We both decide we are too old for this, and have another good laugh.

I tell her that since so few people are attending the class, I would like to have it in our home today, but how do I let everyone know? She says she will have the bishop announce the change over the podium and that should do it. (I definitely have the right person in this class.)

Talking to her lifts my spirits, but I still don’t want to go to church. But this time I am not feeling guilty. Hell, I deserve a break! Nancy understands and tells me to go and rest. She will see me later in the class.

Steve heads off to church and I wander around the house with my mind still focused on our conversation. I find myself laughing at the refrigerator, the dishes, the toilet, and the cats! I am becoming a lunatic.

Steve comes home from church looking happy. He tells me that Rachel nudged his leg three times because he was falling asleep. I read in our Sign class guide that interpreters are not suppose to do that, but I know that Rachel is not a trained interpreter. He said he told her to rest. I am looking forward to this Sunday’s Stake Conference. I feel that I will be able to enjoy it because I know that Steve is completely capable of taking care of himself in church. My lunacy is subsiding.

Sunday afternoon – I look forward to having the class here at home where we can all relax. Nancy is the first to arrive and I am not surprised. A bit later, Cynthia arrives and then Rachel arrives. We find out that Cynthia is allergic to cats. Oops! I forgot about the darn cats. Fortunately Steve carefully vacuumed the entire house this morning and he put all of the cats (that weren’t already hiding) in the bedroom with the door closed. Cynthia seems to be doing ok, so we all relax again.

Nancy is immediately signing to Steve and it soon becomes a slow but lively conversation about this and that. Occasionally Cynthia is able to get a few signs in. Rachel and I sit back and watch for a while. There is a break in the learning, so I give them a handout I created which reads as follows:

The handouts for the Objectives of Units 2, 3, and 4 are for your information. We probably won’t meet all of these objectives and that’s ok. This guide was written to learn how to set up a Deaf church (a Protestant church) and accommodate deaf people. We won’t be starting a new Deaf church (might be kind of fun), but much of the information we should learn and can use in our ward.

Even though I have exhausted every avenue I can think of to find an interpreter, there is still a possibility that we will receive a qualified LDS interpreter who can help in this class. Until then, we will use this guide and Steve’s knowledge. There are many ways to learn Sign Language and Deaf Culture. Some people in the Deaf Community are upset that we are using this style, but they don’t know that we will develop a healthy respect for their language and culture.

I have been thinking that the title of this curriculum “Sign Language Made Simple” is a bit deceiving. Part of this class is learning Sign Language. Part is learning how to communicate with the deaf in other ways. Part is learning about the Deaf Community. Part is learning about the role of an interpreter. All of this is important to learn, and it will take time.

There hasn’t been enough time during each class session to learn how to sign and have the discussions in the guide. I have been thinking that we could have two classes per week. The first class Steve continues to teach Sign Language and how to communicate with him in other ways. We can demonstrate the TTY and other tools he uses. We could continue to have this class on Sundays and continue to call it “Sign Language”.

The second class is where we learn about the Deaf Community. It’s important to learn about the Community in order to understand why some deaf people do not identify with their culture. We will also learn about the role of an interpreter. Even if none of us become interpreters, it’s important to know what they do and how to work with them. This class would be mostly discussion so you don’t have to worry about how much Sign Language you don’t know. Even people who have no desire to learn Sign Language would learn much from these discussions. We can call this class “Deaf Awareness”.

Nancy thinks this is a good idea and I tell her that I wish I could teach the Deaf Awareness to our ward leaders. She agrees. So how do I do that? She suggests that we have an eight week course during Sunday School. She has seen other classes like this when there is a special need in the ward. She will mention it to the Sunday School President.

We are quickly back to signing and learning. (Nancy wants to learn!) Cynthia and I are being left out so we turn our attention to Rachel and her mission. She talks (and signs at the same time of course) about her experience of learning ASL in the MTC (Missionary Training Center in Provo, UT). She says, “It was wonderful!” They are taught ASL, not Pidgin like we have been trying to do. She asks me if we have the Book of Mormon in ASL and I explain that we use to have it, but Steve did not understand it. The tapes sat on the shelf for years so we gave them to D.I.

She said the prophet made a promise that if you read the entire Book of Mormon in another language, you will have that language mastered. So she decided to put it to the test. She would watch the ASL version, pause the tape, and then read the words in the book. She did not understand at first, but eventually it clicked. She loves the ASL version of the Book of Mormon. I have read many times that once a person understands ASL, the person prefers it over reading English. Hmm…maybe I better buy those tapes back.

Order the ASL Book of Mormon on DVD