Open E-Message to Richard Roehem, OCED (ASL Issue)

Hey Richard,

Why should we, deaf people have to be obligated to accomodate hearing people's rudimentary (limited and inferior) signings at any various deaf events for their own sake???

Deaf people in general NEED some break from the dominant (hearing) society from time to time and want to interact with other deaf fellows in their own language WITHOUT taxing themselves to please hearing signers. Deaf events are not the time or place for practicing ASL.

Hearing signers ought to know better than imposing themselves upon any of us, deaf people at any deaf events or coffeehouse gatherings.

Deaf people are NOT only the linguistic group really annoyed with gawkers and so-called fluent speakers (signers). Many minority or dominant-speaking linguistic groups OFTEN get impatient and crassy with some people barge into their social lives.

French Parisians are well-known for scoffing at many tourists, especially Americans for speaking unintelligent linguistic sentences/phrases. Parisians do NOT have time for anyone, who wish to polish up their French spoken skills!!! Excuse moi! No questions about handful of rural French populace generously sacrifice their time for any gawkers speaking inferior French which they have not much things to do.

Deaf events, coffeehouse social times and silent suppers are not supposed to be the annexation of ASL classrooms. Any hearing people have the ability to sign much fluently in ASL. Deaf attendees will feel worthy of their time to have non-awkward conversations with fluent hearing signers.

I often could not wait for hearing signers with poor ASL skills leaving the ASL Dinner. So we, deaf people could take our social time back to ourselves and speak freely without worrying about other hearing people not comprehend what we are talking about.

Other minority/dominant-speaking linguistic groups will give you subtle message - "Get lost! We just want to have good time, not laboring ourselves to teach hearing people on our own time". Or we should get paid for partial tutoring hearing signers? Why not!

I often was told by hearing people as a deaf kid that they just talked "all nothing, not anything important" within their social conversation. Getting even with hearing people and make them understand what many of us, deaf people were going through for years. D'accord?

ASLize yours,
Robert L. Mason (RLM)
RLMDEAF blog