Issue link: http://educator.cta.org/i/381166
Dianne Lippe (left) helps students like Raven Grove (above) venture out of their comfort zone by taking them to events at the School of the Deaf in Riverside. "For Hearing students, learning ASL offers insight into other world views and ways of living, and learning that to be Deaf is not necessarily a handicap or calamity," says Grushkin. "Often, I get an ASL stu- dent who tells me about encountering a Deaf person in their work or daily lives and how they were able to make a brief connection with these people due to their learning ASL." Building bridges with the Deaf community Many of Diane Griffith's Shasta High S c h o o l s t u d e n t s h a v e u s e d A S L i n t h e o u t s i d e wo r l d a n d f o u n d i t t o b e extremely practical. Taylor Hanson was volunteering at Camp Ronald McDonald at Eagle Lake when she saw a man spelling out words on his phone to communicate with other volunteers. "I asked him if he knew ASL and he said yes, with immediate relief. We were instantly friends that weekend. Every time I saw him he would sign with me. He was glad to have someone to communicate with." A former student who went to Disneyland met Deaf actor Sean Berdy, who plays Emmett in the ABC television show "Switched at Birth." "I won't ever forget the experience," says Morada Ingraham. "He told me that most of his fans do not sign, and he seemed pretty happy I had a conversation with him." Griffith started teaching just as the oral approach to teaching the Deaf (using speech and lipreading) began to wane. "Total communication" became the preferred method in schools, where signs, gestures, finger- spelling, and oral and auditory methods are used to teach and communicate. She began teaching ASL classes at Shasta Community College at night, while teaching Deaf teenagers during the day. One day, the parent of a Deaf teen asked if the high school could offer ASL classes, so her child could feel more comfortable and communicate with other students. The school agreed, and Griffith was the logical choice for the job. She's been teaching ASL at the high school ever since. Some former students became interpreters. One became a speech-language pathologist for students who are Deaf, and another became a marriage and family therapist with Deaf clients. "I make learning ASL fun, although there are times when I have to be serious," says Griffith, Shasta Secondary Education Association. "We do a murder mystery in ASL where students must sign and discuss 30 clues to solve the mystery. Typically this is a three-hour process, but this year one class solved it faster than any other class in 30 years." One of her students is Deaf and two are hard of hearing in a third-year ASL class. The Deaf student, Dominic Rosado, is new to the school. He already knows ASL, but his mother thought the class would be a good way for him to connect with other students. So far, it seems to be working, says Griffith. "He is starting to smile. I've started seeing other kids talking to him and including him when they gather around hand-held video games. Recently, I saw Dominic elbow one of the other kids playfully. That was nice." P H O T O G R A P H Y B Y S C O T T B U S C H M A N It's rare for students to drop out of ASL class, says Gala Parker. 47 V O L U M E 1 9 I S S U E 2