sign language is kind of cool

so i am in this aural rehab class right now, and part of the class (about 14 people) is hearing and the rest of the class is deaf(about 45 people). it's a huge class and at first i thought i wasn't going to like it because the professor is big on collaborative group projects and such, but it's actually turning out to be pretty cool. On Monday there was a panel of parents, some deaf, some hearing, who had all raised deaf children. And they all had different approaches-some used signing with no amplification devices, some ASL with hearing aids, and some had used cochelar implants. It was this really cool candid discussion talking about the issues. And I always thought all deaf peeople were totally anti-cochlear implant, but one set of congenitally deaf parents said that "we're not anti-cochelar implant; we're pro-personal choice." A lot of them had stories about how audiologists would treat them like they were dumb, and even tried to make decisions without their permission, or wouldn't discuss test results with them. It was really interesting and eye-opening. Anyways, we learned how to say hi, how are you, fine, thank you, you're welcome, and nice to meet you in American Sign Language, with the deaf students in the class showing us how. It kind of broke down a silent barrier that was there before.

On Monday I was outside one of the classrooms studying when one of the deaf guys from my class recognized me and came up and said "hi, how are you" in sign. I was able to recognize the signs so I responded with the "fine," sign. But then I guess he thought I could speak it because he started signing to me all this stuff, and i managed to stammer "uh, i don't, up i don't know," and probably seemed like a total dolt. So he switched to verbal and was able to read my lips. I thought it was really cool he came up to talk to me but I was incredibly nervous the whole time, because I felt like I should be enunciating my words or something, and didn't know how well he could really hear me, and he was kind of hard to understand, and then I kept sort of looking in different directions when i talked and that makes it harder to lip read. So I kind of wish I knew sign language. It's really cool to watch. we have two professors-one who speaks and one who signs. when the signing one teaches, we have to read a translation on a screen behind her, and when the speaking one teaches, the deaf students read the screen. I guess it's actually pretty hard to sign and speak what you're signing because the grammar and syntax between english and ASL is so different. It's wierd though, because the room is SO quiet, and then whenever anybody accidently drop a book or make a loud noise, only about half the class turns their head.