Miss-Delectable
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NewsOK
Shanna Cater wheeled her 6-month-old son around in a stroller at the Oklahoma State Fair. She let him sleep as her hands flew in a flurry of signs to friends.
The McLoud mom was one of hundreds of deaf people who visited the fair Thursday as part of Deaf Awareness Day. Last week was National Deaf Awareness Week.
More than 13,000 Oklahomans are deaf, and more than 160,000 others are hard of hearing, according to the state Rehabilitative Services Department.
A broken inner ear nerve left Cater deaf when she was an infant. She attended public school and has spent most of her life around hearing people. She said she tries to teach others to sign whenever she can.
"It’s real exciting to meet new friends that way,” she said.
Mari Buckley, who coordinated Deaf Awareness Day at the fair, said the deaf and hearing communities should interact as much as possible. It makes people on both sides more comfortable around one another.
The hearing world is more accepting of deaf people, but there is still a long way to go, said Larry Hawkins, superintendent of the Oklahoma School for the Deaf, a residential school for about 150 students from throughout the state.
"The deaf have to live in a hearing world,” he said. "That’s true. That’s one reason we encourage students to interact all the time with the hearing world.”
Debbie Staten interpreted the lumberjack show for deaf audience members Thursday afternoon. An unusual medical condition left Staten without the ability to talk; doctors recommended she learn sign language. She did, but her voice eventually returned.
Now she interprets. Deaf people can miss nuances without an interpreter, she said.
"They need equal access,” said Staten, who lives in Oklahoma City.
Shanna Cater wheeled her 6-month-old son around in a stroller at the Oklahoma State Fair. She let him sleep as her hands flew in a flurry of signs to friends.
The McLoud mom was one of hundreds of deaf people who visited the fair Thursday as part of Deaf Awareness Day. Last week was National Deaf Awareness Week.
More than 13,000 Oklahomans are deaf, and more than 160,000 others are hard of hearing, according to the state Rehabilitative Services Department.
A broken inner ear nerve left Cater deaf when she was an infant. She attended public school and has spent most of her life around hearing people. She said she tries to teach others to sign whenever she can.
"It’s real exciting to meet new friends that way,” she said.
Mari Buckley, who coordinated Deaf Awareness Day at the fair, said the deaf and hearing communities should interact as much as possible. It makes people on both sides more comfortable around one another.
The hearing world is more accepting of deaf people, but there is still a long way to go, said Larry Hawkins, superintendent of the Oklahoma School for the Deaf, a residential school for about 150 students from throughout the state.
"The deaf have to live in a hearing world,” he said. "That’s true. That’s one reason we encourage students to interact all the time with the hearing world.”
Debbie Staten interpreted the lumberjack show for deaf audience members Thursday afternoon. An unusual medical condition left Staten without the ability to talk; doctors recommended she learn sign language. She did, but her voice eventually returned.
Now she interprets. Deaf people can miss nuances without an interpreter, she said.
"They need equal access,” said Staten, who lives in Oklahoma City.