Petitions and the Deaf

I am an Interpreting student. Recently, a petition was brought to my attention that had to do with a tutor I had last semester. What is the issue?

Well, he was forced to go to the School of Individualized Study to do the Interpreting program known as ASLIE. It is based on the fact that it isn't made for Deaf people. This is wrong. We have CDIs (Certified Deaf Interpreters) and Ronnie did the work.

But that's not what the petition is for. This petition is to support Ronnie because NTID (National Technical Institute for the Deaf) has refused to allow him to walk the stage with his hearing peers during graduation this year. That is a shame and is wrong.

If you can, please sign this petition so Ronnie can graduate with the team he worked with to get this far. He is the first Deaf person to complete this program or be in this program.

This is 2018. It's time for a change.

Sam

One of my best Memories

Today I started to think about one of my favorite memories. I was in ASL 3 and 4 (It was a 4 credit class that covered two subjects). ASL is an abbreviation for American Sign Language. It is a language used by the Deaf, hard of hearing, mute (unable to verbalize), Children of Deaf adults (CODAs), and Interpreters.

Anyway, I was in an Associates program for ASL. I struggled in 3&4 because it focused more on storytelling aspects, which isn't my strong suit. But I am learning how to do this still. At the end of the semester, our teacher gave us each a bag of cookies. Inside each bag was a handwritten note by my teacher.

She knew I beat myself up regularly. I was never very good at telling myself was I was good at but my feedback on what I was bad at was exceptional. I still have the note she gave me, it is beaten up and almost falling apart, but I still have it.

It told me to keep going, that I could do it, that I was a lot more skilled than I thought. I almost cried when I read the note. Positive feedback is sometimes harder for me to take than negative feedback. I am much harsher on myself than most people are towards me.

It is still one of my favorite memories to this day.

Just a Pastor's Kid.