on Deaf Communication

Robert and I have been taking an intensive class on PSE (Pigeon Signed English) which is like American Sign Language but the sentences are in English word order.  It is the way deaf people sign to each other typically.  If I do say so myself, we've gotten pretty darned good.

The other day we were at the Coit Farmer's Market for breakfast.  It is the oldest operating farmer's market in the city, out near (or in) Collinwood.  At one point we both heard the unmistakable sound of a deaf woman's voice; the voice that comes from never having heard the hard consonants, full open vowels or subtle tongue placements of the English language.  Although Robert was extremely nervous, he approached the woman and asked in sign if she was deaf.  The woman enthusiastically answered in the positive and a short, pleasant conversation commenced.  It was just like our teacher Jen Carrick told us, the deaf community is so isolated in a hearing world, they get excited when someone can actually communicate with them.  Later, I had my chance to sign with the same woman as we both looked at some baby goats.  It was wonderful and I felt two inches taller.

The opening night film for the Cleveland International Film Festival was named "Hamill" and was about a deaf wrestler who went on to become a champion.  We had been able to secure a few extra tickets (thank you Marcy, Patrick and the rest of CIFF!!!) and offered them to some of our classmates and a married couple whom I had never met.  The wife was an interpreter and the husband was a deaf actor.  At the extravagant gala after the film screening, I wanted to meet the couple, but I did not know what they looked like!  So, I spent a good portion of the evening walking around the crowded rooms looking for anyone who was signing.  Since the film was about a deaf man, there were many, many deaf people in attendance, which made my job difficult.  However, each person I tapped on the shoulder was genuinely excited to speak with me and even though they were not the people I was looking for, they were eager to ask me many questions and tell me many things.  I tapped the shoulder of one woman and then apologized for the interruption (in sign of course).  I went on to ask her if her name was Mary Ellen (the wife in the couple I was searching for).  This woman smiled warmly and then   as slowly as her fingers could possibly move, she signed "my name is Cindy" and then showed me the deaf-sign for her name which was a "C" hand hovering around her chin.  I laughed and told her, "Thank you for going so slow with me".  The most delightful thing happened then.  She asked me if I was from Cleveland and if I had gone to a local school for the deaf.  I was immediately embarrassed and explained I was actually a hearing individual.  Instead of being insulted, she was pleased I was learning.  Again, I think I grew two more inches.  I eventually found Mary Ellen and her husband Michael and we also had a wonderful conversation.  By the end of the night my head was pretty darned huge!

The Film Festival has this thing called Film Slam, where local high school students can come by bus (with a teacher) to see short subject films in the morning.  I always help out with this event because it is chaotic and difficult and I like the punishment.  Imagine literally hundreds of inner city high school students arriving, usually at the same time, into a fairly narrow concourse.  You have to guide them quietly to the proper theater and then keep them shushed while the film is going.

It is actually a lot of fun!  This morning there was a contingent of deaf students from Max Hayes High School. Again I was able to put my signing into use!  I leaped to action and started signing with the teacher.  Again I was able to carry on a great conversation.  He told me that I was really good at signing and was so thankful I was there.  He told me most people in the world refuse to communicate with deaf people.  I didn't bother to give my opinion that most people simply don't know the language, but I got his point well enough.  God my head swelled up.

Then the teacher went to the restroom and one of the students started talking to me.  His hands flew so fast I could barely even see them.  My brain recognized some of the signs, but I couldn't put them into a flowing sentence.  I think he said something like, "Film you ____ got _____last_____day_____not_____do you____question____over_____yesterday______" and on and on.  I told him to please go very slow and perhaps he did by some slight percentage.  He smiled but I could tell I was frustrating him a bit.  He used a handful of signs I've never seen before and punctuated them with a question mark.  He finger-spelled, but the letters weren't the perfect finger-positions of a teacher, they were the "lazy" fingers of a teenager, still done at breakneck speed.  I continued to show the signs for "slow", "puzzled", "what?", and "missed it", and he continued to try to talk to me.  Finally I shrugged, apologized and said, "I am stupid, sorry".  He smiled and walked away.

My head probably shrunk down to the size of a pea.  This was the real trial by fire and I flunked.  Reading the sign of a teacher, or even an adult at a party who can recognize I'm slow is quite a different thing to trying to talk to a teenager.  Of course I can take a little solace in the fact that hearing teenagers can be very difficult to understand too.  Very little solace.