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When deaf story teller KR Glickman and her husband, hearing story teller Tony Toledo, perform at schools and libraries around the state, children usually can’t seem to get enough of learning to talk with their hands.
“The biggest complaint we have is the program isn’t long enough,” Toledo said.
“Children come up to us after the show and ask, ‘How do you sign cat?’ How do you sign dog?’ ”
On Friday at 4 p.m. in the Atheneum Weezie Library for Children, Glickman is offering a sign language workshop for children 5 and older. Then, at 7 p.m. in the Great Hall, she and Toledo and their hearing dog Shana, a German shepherd-pit bull mix, perform “Unseen Borders” for the Atheneum’s monthly Family Night. Both events are free and open to the public.
“Unseen Borders: Stories in Sign and Voice” combines Toledo’s verbal story telling with Glickman’s sign language. Using as its central tale the folk story “Why Rabbit Has Long Ears,” Toledo narrates while Glickman translates his words into signs, like a reverse interpreter. Once the kids catch on, Toledo stops talking.
From their home in Beverly, Mass. on Sunday, Toledo spoke the words over the phone while Glickman was signing to him. “The kids like to watch my signs so they can figure out what I’m doing,” Glickman said, communicating through her husband.
Her workshop centers on the book “The Very Hungry Caterpillar” by Eric Carle. It teaches kids basic signs, Toledo said, and enables them to learn the signs that interest them.
“The kids always like animal signs but on Nantucket it might be beach signs, or signs of the sea,” Toledo said. “KR will make it fit to whatever they want to learn.”
He said learning sign language and what it’s like to be deaf opens young people’s minds. It can also come in handy on the playground. For example, if they want to invite someone who’s deaf to join a game. Glickman said children pick up sign language very quickly, much like any new language. “They definitely learn quickly,” she said.
Glickman, a Massachusetts native, was born deaf. Speaking Sunday through Tony, who “introduces” her to people, she said her parents never encouraged her to learn sign language and still don’t know it themselves even though she’s been teaching it through her company, Karen Signs It, since 1983. Instead, in the 1960s and 70s when she was growing up, they encouraged her to learn to read lips.
KR Glickman and Tony Toledo combine storytelling and sign language to entertain kids.
“Ninety percent of deaf kids have hearing parents,” she said, “and parents think if deaf kids learned to lip read they’ll fit into the hearing world better,” said Glickman who eventually attended the Clark School for the Deaf in Northampton, Mass. to learn sign language.
Glickman said TTY (also known as TTD, or Telecommunications Device for the Deaf), e-mail and video conferencing have made it much easier for deaf people to communicate. But, she said, it’s still easier and more comfortable for her to communicate through Tony.
“I’m spoiled. With Tony it s so much easier,” she said. “He’s my bridge.”
Along with speaking the words over the phone Glickman was signing to him, Toledo explained how he’s come to appreciate his wife’s world. At night, for instance, he said he can play the clock radio without disturbing her in bed. And sometimes when she’s not at home he said he enjoys keeping the TV on closed captioning.
Toledo said adults seem to enjoy “Unseen Borders” as much as kids. The presentation is an American Sign Language Program and teaches some of the basics of communicating with your hands.
“If most people don’t have any experience with sign language they’re as excited as the kids to learn it,” he said.
Toledo said KR provides a list of books families can read together to learn more about people who are deaf and how to communicate with sign language.
Glickman said it can come in handy for two adults in different cars trying to communicate with the windows rolled up. Mainly, she said she wants people to come with an open mind. “ I don’t want people to think I’m different,” she said. I have all the same emotions, I just talk with hands and hear with my eyes,” she said.
Atheneum Children’s Librarian Maggie Head said she learned of Glickman through the CLAMS (Cape Libraries Automated Materials Sharing) children’s librarian group. “She was recommended by another librarian as a highlight of their summer program,” Head said.
Head said the year-round family nights nearly always fill the Great Hall, which seats 100.
Other Family Nights this year have featured a magician and an Irish story teller. Next month, the Atheneum hosts David Zucker, a mime who performs around the world and in 1996 received the National Young Audiences Artist of the Year Award. Along with two Family Night performances in the Great Hall, the Atheneum is collaborating to offer Zucker’s performances in the schools.
Head said Glickman’s performance, like all Family Night performances, has a strong educational component.
“There’s a performance component and an educational component because the audience is learning while they’re watching her perform,” Head said. “Her talents are multi-faceted and I think although people might have a hard time envisioning it because it is a different kind of performance and it might be intimidating, it is very entertaining. She’s teaching people a little bit of what it’s like to live without hearing.”
KR Glickman and Tony Toledo present “Unseen Borders” at 7 p.m. Friday, May 13 in the Great Hall of the Atheneum, 1 India St. Also Friday from 4 to 4:45 p.m. Glickman will hold a sign language workshop for children ages 5 and older at the Atheneum Weezie Library for Children. Both events are free but seats are limited. For more information or to register call or visit the Weezie Library at (508) 228-0001 ext. 103.
When deaf story teller KR Glickman and her husband, hearing story teller Tony Toledo, perform at schools and libraries around the state, children usually can’t seem to get enough of learning to talk with their hands.
“The biggest complaint we have is the program isn’t long enough,” Toledo said.
“Children come up to us after the show and ask, ‘How do you sign cat?’ How do you sign dog?’ ”
On Friday at 4 p.m. in the Atheneum Weezie Library for Children, Glickman is offering a sign language workshop for children 5 and older. Then, at 7 p.m. in the Great Hall, she and Toledo and their hearing dog Shana, a German shepherd-pit bull mix, perform “Unseen Borders” for the Atheneum’s monthly Family Night. Both events are free and open to the public.
“Unseen Borders: Stories in Sign and Voice” combines Toledo’s verbal story telling with Glickman’s sign language. Using as its central tale the folk story “Why Rabbit Has Long Ears,” Toledo narrates while Glickman translates his words into signs, like a reverse interpreter. Once the kids catch on, Toledo stops talking.
From their home in Beverly, Mass. on Sunday, Toledo spoke the words over the phone while Glickman was signing to him. “The kids like to watch my signs so they can figure out what I’m doing,” Glickman said, communicating through her husband.
Her workshop centers on the book “The Very Hungry Caterpillar” by Eric Carle. It teaches kids basic signs, Toledo said, and enables them to learn the signs that interest them.
“The kids always like animal signs but on Nantucket it might be beach signs, or signs of the sea,” Toledo said. “KR will make it fit to whatever they want to learn.”
He said learning sign language and what it’s like to be deaf opens young people’s minds. It can also come in handy on the playground. For example, if they want to invite someone who’s deaf to join a game. Glickman said children pick up sign language very quickly, much like any new language. “They definitely learn quickly,” she said.
Glickman, a Massachusetts native, was born deaf. Speaking Sunday through Tony, who “introduces” her to people, she said her parents never encouraged her to learn sign language and still don’t know it themselves even though she’s been teaching it through her company, Karen Signs It, since 1983. Instead, in the 1960s and 70s when she was growing up, they encouraged her to learn to read lips.
KR Glickman and Tony Toledo combine storytelling and sign language to entertain kids.
“Ninety percent of deaf kids have hearing parents,” she said, “and parents think if deaf kids learned to lip read they’ll fit into the hearing world better,” said Glickman who eventually attended the Clark School for the Deaf in Northampton, Mass. to learn sign language.
Glickman said TTY (also known as TTD, or Telecommunications Device for the Deaf), e-mail and video conferencing have made it much easier for deaf people to communicate. But, she said, it’s still easier and more comfortable for her to communicate through Tony.
“I’m spoiled. With Tony it s so much easier,” she said. “He’s my bridge.”
Along with speaking the words over the phone Glickman was signing to him, Toledo explained how he’s come to appreciate his wife’s world. At night, for instance, he said he can play the clock radio without disturbing her in bed. And sometimes when she’s not at home he said he enjoys keeping the TV on closed captioning.
Toledo said adults seem to enjoy “Unseen Borders” as much as kids. The presentation is an American Sign Language Program and teaches some of the basics of communicating with your hands.
“If most people don’t have any experience with sign language they’re as excited as the kids to learn it,” he said.
Toledo said KR provides a list of books families can read together to learn more about people who are deaf and how to communicate with sign language.
Glickman said it can come in handy for two adults in different cars trying to communicate with the windows rolled up. Mainly, she said she wants people to come with an open mind. “ I don’t want people to think I’m different,” she said. I have all the same emotions, I just talk with hands and hear with my eyes,” she said.
Atheneum Children’s Librarian Maggie Head said she learned of Glickman through the CLAMS (Cape Libraries Automated Materials Sharing) children’s librarian group. “She was recommended by another librarian as a highlight of their summer program,” Head said.
Head said the year-round family nights nearly always fill the Great Hall, which seats 100.
Other Family Nights this year have featured a magician and an Irish story teller. Next month, the Atheneum hosts David Zucker, a mime who performs around the world and in 1996 received the National Young Audiences Artist of the Year Award. Along with two Family Night performances in the Great Hall, the Atheneum is collaborating to offer Zucker’s performances in the schools.
Head said Glickman’s performance, like all Family Night performances, has a strong educational component.
“There’s a performance component and an educational component because the audience is learning while they’re watching her perform,” Head said. “Her talents are multi-faceted and I think although people might have a hard time envisioning it because it is a different kind of performance and it might be intimidating, it is very entertaining. She’s teaching people a little bit of what it’s like to live without hearing.”
KR Glickman and Tony Toledo present “Unseen Borders” at 7 p.m. Friday, May 13 in the Great Hall of the Atheneum, 1 India St. Also Friday from 4 to 4:45 p.m. Glickman will hold a sign language workshop for children ages 5 and older at the Atheneum Weezie Library for Children. Both events are free but seats are limited. For more information or to register call or visit the Weezie Library at (508) 228-0001 ext. 103.