Hello from Columbus, Ohio!

[anthropos]

Hi All,

I joined AD in March but since I have relocated for a few months, I thought I might reintroduce myself. (I hope that’s okay.)

My name is Sam. I am a 20 year-old hearing guy. I go to college in Philadelphia and am a senior. I study cultural anthropology (which is the study of people and cultures). My college does not offer ASL classes, so I’ve found local community classes so I can start learning. I just finished ASL II. I am hoping to take ASL III at a nearby university next semester.

I am currently in my hometown: Columbus, Ohio.

I really like AD and have been spending a lot of time lately reading through old posts and checking out new ones. I am pretty shy at first, but once you get to know me, my sense of humor starts to show. At this point, though, I tend to get too nervous to actually post anything on AD. I hope to become less nervous, though, and start posting more.

I think I get nervous because I am still learning about Deaf culture. I am not ignorant (I don’t think) but I am still worried about offending people. I see a lot of hearing people who post questionnaires for ASL class, then never return to AD again. I don’t think that’s very good and I am nervous people might think I am like that (I hope not). I hope to make new friends and learn more.

Well, that's enough about me...haha. I think I have written too much. If anyone is in the Columbus area and wants to chat sometime, or knows about any Deaf/ASL events, please let me know. I hope to get to know some new people from all around the world.



Peace, Love, and ASL ,
Sam

 

[Simown]

Hey Sam,

I'm quite new to this site too but the people are very friendly and receptive. Sure you'll be fine. Nice to see some younger people (like you) signing up not that being old-er is a bad thing :P

Have you any reason for studying ASL or just interest?

too!

 

[C.C.Sinned]

 

[rockin'robin]

o-HI-o !

 

[Chevy57]

Welcome to AD. I'm Ohioian.

 

[anthropos]

Hello Again,

I don't know your names yet, but thank you so much for the welcome Simown, C.C. Sinned, rockin'robin, and Chevy57. It's been great to hear from you all.

Chevy57, I received a visitor message from you (in May), that I only saw recently. I think you said you are near Mentor, Ohio. I am in Columbus; it's always nice to meet fellow Ohioans.

Hey Sam,

Have you any reason for studying ASL or just interest?

too!

Simown, thanks for the question. How I got in touch with ASL is a long story (I'm warning you, haha) but I'll try to condense it for you a little bit.

I would say the beginnings of the tale are rooted in the summer of 2005...haha. I went to Central America and volunteered in various Special Education classrooms around one particular town. One of the girls in one of my classes did not speak, so the teacher assigned me a sign name from that country's sign language. (Handshape "S", palm out, starting at the middle of the forehead and moving back [in a shaving motion] to the top of my head]). Now, I did not adopt that sign name for many reasons--a hearing teacher assigned it, not in a place where ASL is used, wasn't connected to the language etc.. However, it was my first real contact with a sign language.

Fast forward to 2008. I returned to Central America to study for one semester at university. I want to learn more about disabilities, in general, so I decide to take a Special Education course. The class was not exactly what I was looking for, but I did learn a lot of valuable information. At the end of the semester, all of the students had to do a presentation on a school for Special Education in the country. I didn't know any, so I was allowed to present on one here in the U.S. I randomly chose my state's Deaf school (the Ohio School for the Deaf).

I chose OSD because I had driven by it a few times in my hometown, and thought it'd be cool to learn about. By then, I had never knew that there was a Deaf culture, with a shared history, vibrant language, etc.. I learned so much. Slowly I was beginning to crawl out from my ASL/Deaf-impaired cave, hahaha.

When I returned to the U.S., I told myself I had to learn more, but this time outside of the framework of Special Education. I felt that Special Education classes just talked about being Deaf as a "sad, terrible, unfortunate disability". I wanted to learn about Deaf culture from someone who respected the culture, not someone who thought being Deaf was inherently bad.

I took an ASL I class (with an amazing interpreter as a teacher, I might add) and designed an independent study course with a professor who has helped edit a couple of books about Deaf culture and identity for Gallaudet University Press. I have learned so much, (a 1 million times more than I knew just one year ago) and I have a whole new perspective of Deaf people and Deaf culture.

I love languages. I speak English first, I studied Spanish and am fluent, and I know a little bit of conversational French. I just finished ASL II, and am hoping to take ASL III at the college-level.

The major difference is that I learned Spanish and French for fun, then learned about the cultures afterward. With ASL, I learned a little about the culture, then decided I needed to learn ASL. So, for me, ASL is unique in that sense...I didn't just learn it for fun; I learned it because I want to know more and meet other ASL-users.

So yeah, that's my story about how I came to start studying ASL. I think my understandings have changed a lot in the past year or so. I'm still learning, though, but I know it's time to start meeting Deaf people and people connected to the Deaf community, so here I am.

(and sorry if my response was too long).

See you later, everyone.

Peace, Love, and ASL ,
Sam

 

[Simown]

hehe

I'm glad I asked anyway. Sounds like a good reason to study it.

 

[anthropos]

Uh-oh!

Is that a good ? Or a bad ? Hahaha.

 

[Simown]

It was a good of course. I was just by the length of that post :P

 

[anthropos]

Hahahaha. Somtimes I write too much. But now you know how I started learning ASL, no? Hahaha.

And what about you? You are English, I see. Do you study BSL, are you d/Deaf, HOH, CODA, SODA, hearing, etc.?

Talk to you later.

 

[Chevy57]

Chevy57, I received a visitor message from you (in May), that I only saw recently. I think you said you are near Mentor, Ohio. I am in Columbus; it's always nice to meet fellow Ohioans.

Really! Yes, l live near Mentor, Ohio. Where did you meet me? You may give your name in PM (Private Message).

 

[anthropos]

Oh, sorry for the confusion, Chevy57.

We never actually met. I haven't been to Northern Ohio for years. You sent me a message once (on my profile) but I didn't see it until recently. You can see the message you sent here: AllDeaf.com - View Profile: anthropos. I hope I cleared up the confusion.

My name is Sam. I am from Columbus.

again for the welcome.

Go Ohio!,
Sam

 

[Simown]

I do know how you started now. :P

I only went deaf about 3 years ago, I know enough BSL communicate but not actually a lot. I could do with studying some more, probably.

 

[anthropos]

I only went deaf about 3 years ago, I know enough BSL communicate but not actually a lot. I could do with studying some more, probably.

Now, I know how you came to learn BSL….

You became deaf three years ago. Can I ask how old you are now and how you became deaf (if you don’t mind the questions)?

I recently met a HOH woman in my ASL class who has been progressively loosing her hearing since she was younger. She is learning ASL as she is becoming more profoundly deaf but mainly lipreads right now. What is your main mode of communication? Do you plan on learning more BSL?

I hope that's not too many questions...


Peace.

 

[Simown]

Apologies for the delay between replies... I am actually busy for once!

I posted on this topic the whole reason I became deaf: http://www.alldeaf.com/general-chat/62953-adjustment-late-onset-deafness-10.html (the last page)

Basically, it was an inherited condition from birth that was diagnosed only 8 years ago. I am 19 now.

My main mode of communication is actually speaking, with the aid of a cochlear implant, which is an amazing bit of technology if you didn't know. I find it hard to distinguish between hearing with the CI and what it was like when I was hearing. Hardly communicate with BSL.

I am currently making a (little) effort to learn more BSL, reading signs out of a dictionary of signs basically, I have no one to practice with really I'll find a victim soon.

 

[anthropos]

I just read your post here, as well as some of the posts you made on the other page. I do know a little bit about the cochlear implant. I am glad it is helping you out. Hopefully your experience at university will be better than your college experience (I am still a little unsure of the difference between the two, but I imagine college there is like university prep, maybe. I don't know).

I don't know a lot about laws and such (much less in the U.K.), but I've heard that the U.K. is a lot more accommodating to d/Deaf and HOH people. I could be wrong, though. My college ("university") has a nearly invisible policy on equal accommodations/access for d/Deaf and HOH students, and does very little to make the campus d/Deaf- and HOH-friendly, at least in my opinion. It would be cool to have more d/Deaf and HOH students at my college, but I think my college doesn't care to do anything to make the college a good place for d/Deaf and HOH students to learn, have fun, socialize, etc..

So, hopefully wherever you go for university, it'll be better than my college...hahaha. Maybe there is more information if you visit the university you want to go to, its website, or e-mail a dean or administrator. Good luck, though.

Do you know what you want to study, yet?

Also, I hope your friends will come around. It seems like becoming deaf has been a big change for you, so I imagine it's a big change for them, too. I dunno, but I'll cross my fingers and hope that they'll start to understand what you're going through a bit more, and be there to support you.

Fingers crossed:

 

[dogmom]

bienvenidos/anthropos <Sam>
majored in Spanish in college. also took Anthro and enjoyed it.
Am hoh <new>; husband oral deaf.

 

[Simown]

I think that college in the US is the same grade as University in the UK (correct me if i'm wrong someone.) I just completed college, which is the stage after high school, I think.

I am waiting for a reply to the email I sent to the admin. department at the moment, to the University I applied for. I have visited the university I plan to go to once, and they seem pretty clued up. They have had deaf students in the past.

I plan to do computer science at whatever university I attend, a little bit geeky but I love it Also, it doesn't really rely on hearing which is always a bonus.

I made a few friends here already, which is great cause they already understand! My college was THE WORST for deaf/HoH people, I think I was one of the only there :|

What are you doing at the moment?

 

[anthropos]

bienvenidos/anthropos <Sam> majored in Spanish in college. also took Anthro and enjoyed it. Am hoh <new>; husband oral deaf.

Muchísimas gracias, dogmom. I actually entered college thinking I was going to major in Spanish. Then I took an anthropology class and was hooked. It’s fun to think about culture in new ways and I always feel like I am learning more about the world. I start my senior year next semester and I am excited about starting my thesis. I am still not sure what I want to do my thesis on; there are really so many possibilities. People can write on anything from videogame communities, to dance cultures, to religious groups (and that’s on the cultural side of anthropology, haha, I have a friend who is studying human skulls on the non-cultural side…hahaha).

I have been reading a lot and have been looking at articles from a professor named Brenda Brueggemann. I don’t know her, but she talks about “betweenity”. From what I have read so far, this “betweenity” can be talked about in many ways, like when some Deaf people do not identify as disabled, but the “hearing world” places that label on them anyway.

For my thesis, though, I am interested in “betweenity” when it comes to HOH identity, in fact. I would like to look at “betweenity” for HOH people as it applies to Deaf and Hearing cultures. I’m not sure, it’s a really broad topic and just a little light bulb in my head, right now…haha.

Wow, I write too much. I’ll shut up now. Haha. Thank you so much for the welcome. Hasta luego.

I think that college in the US is the same grade as University in the UK (correct me if i'm wrong someone.) I just completed college, which is the stage after high school, I think. I am waiting for a reply to the email I sent to the admin. department at the moment, to the University I applied for. I have visited the university I plan to go to once, and they seem pretty clued up. They have had deaf students in the past. I plan to do computer science at whatever university I attend, a little bit geeky but I love it Also, it doesn't really rely on hearing which is always a bonus. I made a few friends here already, which is great cause they already understand! My college was THE WORST for deaf/HoH people, I think I was one of the only there :| What are you doing at the moment?

Hey Simown,

I think you are right about college/university, here in the U.S., meaning university there in the U.K.

I’m glad you are making some new friends that understand you more. Also, I hope you get into your first choice university. Hopefully you’ll hear back from the university soon with some more information. I hope whatever information you receive clarifies anything you are still unsure about and makes you confident you will have a great time at university. I hope you have a better experience at university than you had in college.

Computer Science is really cool. I took a CS class my freshman and sophomore (first and second) years of college (university…haha). I loved the first class. It was very basic, we made computers count stuff and do math. I should probably brush up my (non-existent) skills to see if I can make a program that averages my (potential) grades…hahaha. Or that counts the days left in a semester…haha). The second class I took was terrible though. I ended up doing horribly in it, and hardly understood anything. So that’s when I stopped taking computer science, hahaha; my brain just doesn’t work well in CS. I hope you have a lot more fun with CS than I did. It’s pretty cool stuff.

 

[dogmom]

Sam,

yeah, Anthro was fascinating. One of the areas in that field that I find interesting is food and how it relates to plants and medicine uses, and the preservation of traditional food knowledge and stores.
I thought I would use the Spanish in Social Services but I didn't really - after college, I was case manager working with people with cognitive disabilities, autism spectrum disorders, more severe LD than what I have, CP, etc. But I didn't really end up using it in THAT setting, although I have used informally on many occasions. College is a great time to be able to learn about all different things! I will be very curious to know about more your thesis! That "betweenity" seems intriguing and would probably make your thesis stand out, especially if you can find sensitive/non-ethnocentric ways to cross-reference to any perceptions/differences/similarities between current more industrialized cultures, current more agrarian or hunter-gatherer cultures and cultures that no longer exist < as far as we know>. One of the issues in studies like Anthro and Archeology that I think is important to remember is the inappropriate plundering and gathering of indigenous sites/objects.

Best Wishes!