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http://www.fultonsun.com/articles/2006/04/07/news/269news01.txt
Finding inspiration in stories, historian Jack Gannon retold some of his personal favorites Wednesday night to illustrate a simple message for the crowd.
“From my perspective, the challenge of deafness is not a question of how much you hear or how well you talk. It is a question of how well you communicate,” Gannon said. “Successful communication is the ability to understand and be understood.”
Gannon - the first deaf person to publish a history of the Deaf culture - was the featured speaker at William Woods University.
Both the school's students and members of the Deaf community came to hear Gannon speak through sign.
Through poetry, song and story, Gannon explained both the hearing and Deaf communities share in the same life, but it is differing forms of communication that separate the groups.
“The more we learn about each other, the more we realize that, really, we are no different from each other - except that we often have to find a good and often different way to communicate,” Gannon said.
Gannon further explained that there is the misperception that a deaf person cannot accomplish as much in life as a hearing person.
A role model himself, Gannon stood on stage as a physical model of achievement.
He graduated from Gallaudet University in 1959, and his resume now includes numerous distinguished service awards, multiple books authorships and high-ranking positions at Gallaudet. Gannon also was the curator of “History Through Deaf Eyes,” a traveling exhibit depicting two centuries of deaf history.
“As others learn about us and what deaf people have accomplished, it helps (the hearing) see us in a different light,” Gannon said. “It also opens doors and often improves our relationship.”
Missouri School for the Deaf senior Kyle Mengwasser said he has read some of Gannon's books, and he is inspired by the “deaf hillbilly from southern Missouri who grew up to be successful.”
“I want to be successful like him,” Mengwasser said. “He was successful, and he functioned in a deaf world.”
Gannon challenged the crowd to find ways to communicate with each other by using “a little imagination and a little creativity.”
“(Communication) takes two - the sender and the receiver - for a message to click,” he said.
Pat Adams, a deaf resident from Fulton, said he shares Gannon's communication philosophy.
“We need to communicate,” Adams said. “To have good communication skills is a motto of my life.”
At the conclusion of his speech, the crowd stood together and sent Gannon the same message.
The hearing clapped and the deaf shook open hands in the air.
Finding inspiration in stories, historian Jack Gannon retold some of his personal favorites Wednesday night to illustrate a simple message for the crowd.
“From my perspective, the challenge of deafness is not a question of how much you hear or how well you talk. It is a question of how well you communicate,” Gannon said. “Successful communication is the ability to understand and be understood.”
Gannon - the first deaf person to publish a history of the Deaf culture - was the featured speaker at William Woods University.
Both the school's students and members of the Deaf community came to hear Gannon speak through sign.
Through poetry, song and story, Gannon explained both the hearing and Deaf communities share in the same life, but it is differing forms of communication that separate the groups.
“The more we learn about each other, the more we realize that, really, we are no different from each other - except that we often have to find a good and often different way to communicate,” Gannon said.
Gannon further explained that there is the misperception that a deaf person cannot accomplish as much in life as a hearing person.
A role model himself, Gannon stood on stage as a physical model of achievement.
He graduated from Gallaudet University in 1959, and his resume now includes numerous distinguished service awards, multiple books authorships and high-ranking positions at Gallaudet. Gannon also was the curator of “History Through Deaf Eyes,” a traveling exhibit depicting two centuries of deaf history.
“As others learn about us and what deaf people have accomplished, it helps (the hearing) see us in a different light,” Gannon said. “It also opens doors and often improves our relationship.”
Missouri School for the Deaf senior Kyle Mengwasser said he has read some of Gannon's books, and he is inspired by the “deaf hillbilly from southern Missouri who grew up to be successful.”
“I want to be successful like him,” Mengwasser said. “He was successful, and he functioned in a deaf world.”
Gannon challenged the crowd to find ways to communicate with each other by using “a little imagination and a little creativity.”
“(Communication) takes two - the sender and the receiver - for a message to click,” he said.
Pat Adams, a deaf resident from Fulton, said he shares Gannon's communication philosophy.
“We need to communicate,” Adams said. “To have good communication skills is a motto of my life.”
At the conclusion of his speech, the crowd stood together and sent Gannon the same message.
The hearing clapped and the deaf shook open hands in the air.