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I have been really lucky with my ASL teachers. The first one was Deaf, but she moved to teach at Berkley. She is still a friend and we email. She was about 30 years old and a lot of fun, and very patient with us hearies. My second teacher was hearing, but she disallowed voice for ninety percent of the class time. That was in the first year. She had been all over the world working with the Deaf for most of her life, and she worked with the peace corps over seas with Deaf children. She loves the Deaf community and taught us a great deal about Deaf culture by sharing her own mistakes,, which were usually hilarious. My teacher now is Deaf, and her other job is to advocate for Deaf rights. She takes me to bonko games and such, and sometimes we just hang out. She about 53. She is wonderful and I love her, but she is so darn fluent, that her hands sometimes fly so fast that nobody, not even another Deafie can understand her. Many times at a Deaf gathering people will tell her to slow down. The one thing all of my teachers had in common was great ASL skill and love. I think that those are the most important ingredients to any teacher of any subject. Proficient skill and love for all people. Just my opnion.
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