I am a hearing person. I can hear birds outside, the alarm clock
in the morning, and other people’s voices. My American Sign
Language teacher, Ms. Zahnen, is deaf. Most people would call
her disabled, but she doesn’t see herself that way and always
tells us not to feel sorry for her. This seems to be the general
attitude of those who are deaf - they do not want sympathy
because in their opinion, they are perfectly normal. In fact,
most hearing people do not know that they have their own
culture. The Deaf are united by the fact that they cannot hear,
and have created their own language and culture. American Sign
Language is the third most widely used language in the U.S.
after English and Spanish and uses a variety of gestures,
movements, and expressions to communicate. ASL, as it is called,
is adapted from spoken English but uses only important concepts
with a different sentence structure. In English we would say “I
need to go to the store.” The ASL equivalent is closer to “Need
go to store, I.” Each sign rep