Meeting new people has never been my strong point. Unless I'm forced
into a group, I stray from conversation and eye contract—especially
those who I find attractive.
Recently I went to visit some
people, mainly to witness an event I had never once encountered. The
people's cause was called Walk For ASL, and their goal is to raise
awareness of Deafness and signing. They are spending the month of May
walking down the California coast.
On Tuesday, May 28, one of
the stops they made was at Leo Carrillo State Beach and set up camp for
the night. It's nearby, if not in, the city of Malibu. I drove there in
my Mazda Miata, a sporty convertible, and intentionally took a detour
through the Santa Monica Mountains because of the windy roads. Beautiful
day, beautiful drive. I wouldn't have made the drive and would have
instead waited for the team to arrive in Santa Monica, where their walk
ended, if I hadn't heard about those roads. I mention this only because
I'm a car guy and I appreciate a good road when I find one and would
like to let others know.
When I got to the campsite, I didn't
know what to do. I parked a little bit away as to not disturb
them—which is silly, because they couldn't hear me arrive. And yet, I
continued being quiet and cautious. That's just who I am. I keep my
distance and don't like to disturb people. On top of the shyness, there
was also a language barrier. So for me, I felt stuck.
They
had three sites reserved for their big group of people, and the sites
were spread out. I got out my iPad and typed a greeting and my purpose
there, then gave it to one of two women who were setting up things.
Written words overcame the language barrier very easily. The woman very
kindly and gladly ushered me over to another group of people sitting
around a campfire. It was the afternoon and nice weather, but they had a
fire going. Okay, sure, that's cool, I guess. Except that I ended up
sitting downwind from the fire. Not cool, hot.
I was
introduced to the event coordinator. I showed her my iPad with my typed
introduction, and from there, we engaged in a quite meaningful,
life-inspiring (but slow) conversation.
Me: Hi, my
name is Kevan, and I'm doing a report for school on Walk For ASL. I
can't sign but I would like to learn about your cause. Would you mind
typing on here?
Alison: Welcome! I'm Alison Aubrecht- the
walk facilitator. Would be happy to answer any questions you have- go
ahead and type them and I'm going to run and grab a copy of our press
kit for you.
M: Thank you! Alright, how does walking the California coast promote ASL?
A: California, specifically, isn't so much the point—other than the
weather here is predictable enough for us to travel 30 days in the
outdoors. That aside, walking has given us the opportunity to bring
attention to American Sign Language. We give out postcards along the way
and have had some media coverage. Plus we have met a lot of folks and
have conversed a bit with them.
M: I'm glad you're doing
this! I am in a Deaf Culture class. I went in without prior knowledge,
but the class has opened my eyes to these people. I've learned that they
are no different than hearing people, and I want to help spread the
awareness too.
What brought these people together and commit to making this month-long trip?
A: Great! What school do you attend?
People
signed up for various reasons—most out of a passion to see more
attention given to ASL. Some just wanted the physical challenge. Our
organization (Facundo Element) wanted to do this in part because we are
trying to get our community more familiar with activism, and we felt a
good starting point would be to do celebratory activism.
M: I
attend El Camino College, which is in Torrance. It's south of Santa
Monica, about 30 minutes away (but with traffic, who knows!). They have a
very good ASL division, which I will be enrolled in next semester. I am
actually a film major, so making videos and storytelling is also part
of who I am.
What sort of change or action do you want to see happen? What does this Walk achieve in the eyes of the public?
A: I think the first change we need to see is a sense of
self-actualization within our community- there is a lot of internalized
oppression and a sense of self-defeat. We have already seen this change
over the last 28 days—people are inspired, energized. The second thing
we wanted to see change is a push for creating space for
self-representation—we can and should speak for our own people, about a
wide range of issues including the right to learn ASL. This right is
often withheld from Deaf children in large part because families are
misled by specialists (audiologists) to believe that teaching their Deaf
child to sign will impede his/her speech (and there is also an
accompanying subliminal statement that this in turn will create barriers
to intellectual reasoning). This has been repeatedly disproved but the
larger society continues to be uninterested in and unaware of the
benefits of ASL. We feel this is in large part due to the fact that ASL
is not a profitable enterprise—not a lot of economic power there. Anyway
this event was a way to get around that barrier and get word out to a
larger audience. Interestingly the other day an interpreter working with
Deaf children approached me and said something like "I have been
watching every one of your videos and I feel both inspired and
uncomfortable." She added that for her, this was a true indication of
change happening, that she is recognizing the need to unpack biases she
never knew she had about Deaf people.
M: I recognize that
change has been needed and it's inspiring to see it happen today.
People, everyone, have become more self-obsessed in this new age of
technology and being "connected" through phones and such, and it's a
shame to think that this mentality can't be changed. I too want to see
people open up again, before the time of instant information, and accept
new things without any presumption or bias. I don't understand why
hearing people think Deaf people are any lesser of a person. But that's
why I'm learning!
Other things that aren't profitable are
beautification of cities and better public education. I know this
because I've taken part in helping those causes too. But like those and
yourself, they use the media to raise awareness, and that's why I'm
here. My questions are limited and you've done a fantastic job in
answering them, even the ones I haven't asked yet! So I guess I'll end
with, has this been a success? That's difficult to answer, I realize not
enough time has passed, but I ask with the intention of seeing that
yes, it has, and yes, it will. After all, what does the future have in
store?
A: Yes it has been—and will continue to be with your
story. Thank you for taking the time to learn more & share. We are
so appreciative of your time. Next: Project Humanity (the title of our
organization's long term film project). We want to explore a lot of what
you wrote above- what is humanity and where are we going, what could we
be? Thanks again for your time. You can contact me at
alisonaubrecht@gmail.com with any follow up questions you might have-
and please send us a copy of the article once it is published! :)
M: Great! How do you sign Thank you?
While Alison would type, another woman sitting at the campfire tried to
talk to me. She signed, but I gave her an apologetic look because I
couldn't comprehend. She laughed and resorted to her phone for the
beginning of our conversation. She asked if I was in high school, so I
wrote back, answering that I am in college and some background
information. Then we progressed into signing—I know, what? I just said I
couldn't, but it's certainly not impossible. I could understand
gestures, and figured out that she was trying to ask my name. I wrote it
on the phone and she showed me how to say "My name is Kevan." She put
her hand to her chest, then two fingers tapping two more fingers, and
then finger-spelled my name. I followed instruction, she corrected me,
and I finished with a sense of accomplishment. She then showed me her
name! I now know how to also say "Your name is Lisa."
I waved
hello and goodbye to the others around the campfire when arriving and
leaving, but nothing much more. Sitting there idly while Alison typed
and before I talked to Lisa, I stared off into the scenery. In Hearing
culture, it's rude to stare, especially to watch or listen in on a
conversation; so I felt that way as the others around the fire would
sign to each other. I had no idea what was being said, but it still felt
wrong to watch. As I've learned in my Deaf Culture class, it's not
rude, and in fact, eye contact is required out of respect to "listen" to
a conversation. I had this in my mind the whole time but since I
couldn't understand, I felt awkward both ways.
They were all
nice people. In a few years’ time, I hope to understand the language and
communicate effectively. So far in my life, I haven't knowingly met a
Deaf person, so I've never encountered the communication barrier noticed
any cultural differences until I started the Deaf Culture class.
Beginning with that, and now this event, I am very curious to learn
more. In Southern California, in which the second most-spoken language
is Spanish, I feel that ASL is a more valuable skill to learn. I could
reach the individuals that most other "regular" people can't. And just a
semester ago, I was one of those people! I will recommend the class to
all, I will pursue learning the natural language, and will do a part in
spreading the cause of the fine people of Walk For ASL.
The one benefit of this interview that is unique to a Deaf person and a
non-signing person is that the interview is written, all ready for the
report it is to become. Hearing people are vocal and Deaf people are
visual; here, the conversation literally becomes part of the report.
I noticed that on the sheet of paper that lists the requirements for
the report, it says to not wait until the last minute to attend an
event. And yet, that's exactly what happened. I went to the event the
day before it's due, and wrote about it as it was fresh in my memory.
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