When I first started this Website, I thought I could learn ASL to interview Deaf inmates. I thought learning Sign language would be easy. I was wrong. Twelve years later, I’m still learning. I had a few beginning semesters at Beverly School for the Deaf, but most of my signing experience came from Deaf friends.
Through Facebook, I had the opportunity to meet a really great person. Jasmine Walker is the young woman who sat down with Ronald Reynolds, a hearing former inmate at Louisana’s Angola Penitentiary. Mr. Reynolds found himself intrigued with ASL, and after learning enough began to teach to other hearing inmates. He soon became aware that
Book Review: The Language of Light: A History of Silent Voices (2017) by Gerald Shea Yale University Press. New Haven. By Jean F. Andrews This is a history of sign language – “the language of light” – and how Deaf people have fought for centuries for the right to use their language. The controversy of
By Jean F. Andrews Mrs. T., a single mother who is deaf, made a medical appointment when her hearing son complained of headaches and earaches. As a native Signer, Mrs. T. requested a qualified ASL interpreter for the doctor’s office visit. She was informed that a staff audiologist interpret. But the Audiologist was busy with
A Culture Clash Between Police and the Deaf
by Jean F. Andrews, Ph.D. There is often a conflict between the Deaf and the police. This combustion fuels itself by the marked differences in belief systems and communication methods. Deaf people in the United States make up a distinct group because their worldview—by necessity—is visual. They are powerful because of their shared experience, history,
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