Thinking about the weekly topics I planned on doing in my first post compared to where my weekly topics have evolved is quite interesting! Last week, I kind of had the realization that I jumped straight into learning ASL signs before researching the context of deaf culture and learning from deaf people themselves. This week, I want to do more of a combination… since starting this inquiry project, the algorithms on my tech devices know that I am interested in deaf culture and learning ASL, so those kinds of videos have been appearing on my Tik Tok ‘for you’ page, my Youtube recommendations, and on my other social media platforms. In some cases, that tracking and listening that my phone does is quite creepy, but in this case it has actually been quite useful!

Get ready for a mish-mash of different things for my blog post this week… we’ve got Youtube videos, we’ve got a Netflix movie, and we are going back to learn helpful ASL signs for the classroom… let’s go!

@aslnook on GIPHY

First up, we have a video I found on Youtube by Sign Duo. This is a couple that both sign ASL, but the man is deaf and the woman can hear. I discovered one of their videos (that I will link below) that shows how they order at a drive-thru. It is one of those things that I would never have had a second-thought about… mostly because of my privilege to hear. All of these videos and research I have been doing have definitely raised my awareness of accessibility and what so many people deal with in an (at-times) inaccessible world. The couple start off by discussing an experience where they tried out ordering at a drive-thru window and were treated terribly. The workers did not believe the man was deaf and actually wouldn’t give him his food. It is quite heartbreaking to see how he is treated, but also really important to see what he goes though! In the video, he signs that this is the reason why he doesn’t like to go out in public by himself, because this is often typical treatment he receives. At the beginning of the video, he talks about how much easier everything would be for him if everyone knew even a few basic ASL signs-which is exactly what I aim to do! They also talk about Skillshare which I have heard of before, and I am considering signing up to see what it is all about! I am thinking that it might provide me with some more structure for learning ASL than what I have been doing online.

Another video I watched created by the same couple shows a good experience they had while ordering at Starbucks. It was a good redemption video to the other viral video and restored some of my faith in humanity. I am going to put some of my key takeaways below.

Check-out Sign Duo on Youtube!
  • Drive-thru windows should have an accessibility button. In both videos, the man (Ryan) has to drive straight past the order window because there is no accessibility. Especially for these multi-million/billion corporations, this should be an easy fix.
  • There should be mandatory trainings for staff (not just at restaurants, but anywhere you interact with people) on accessibility and the procedure for when you encounter someone who may need accommodations.
  • Basic ASL should be taught in schools at all grade levels! If this was normalized, this would be a more comfortable and inclusive world for the deaf.
Photo by cottonbro from Pexels

Next up, we actually have a movie that Alex recommended to me after reading one of my blog posts! Shout out to Alex for not only making the movie recommendation but for also purchasing some of the accessible masks I wrote about in one of my previous posts! Now that the mask mandate has been lifted, I am waiting to see what the school environment will be like for practicum before buying masks. From what I gather, most educators are planning to continue wearing their masks, in which case I will definitely order some accessibility masks prior to starting my practicum! Anyways, the movie Alex recommended tome is on Netflix and it is called ‘Audible’, check out the trailer below!

So I haven’t quite had the time to actually watch the film yet (Wednesday came faster than I anticipated, but I plan on doing so over the next couple of days and will be writing about it in next week’s blog post). I am mostly putting it here for now in case others are interested, and I will be writing my reflection on this piece as soon as I watch it! I am excited! The trailer already makes me think about my last blog post and how in one of the Ted Talks, the man talks about going to public school and being excluded from sports teams because of being deaf. I am excited to see what I learn from watching this film!

Alright, so we are back this week to learning some more signs and re-learning some that I have been slacking on practicing. Something that I have noticed, though, is that I have been picking up different signs and words in ASL from just watching people sign and watching these Youtube videos! I mean it makes sense, the same thing happens when you are immersed in a different verbal language. I think that sometimes I separate ASL from other languages when this is wrong and not the case at all. As I have said before and learned, ASL is it’s own unique language with different syntax and culture behind it! Below I am going to put some of the resources I have found useful this week, and I will be encompassing many of these signs in a self-recorded video for next week. Thanks for following along!

Thank you for stopping by! Please feel free to leave a comment, I would love to hear your thoughts!

Ms. J