Here is a post that may inspire you to learn sign language from a new perspective. - Once in a while, people who work in jobs that serve the public surpass the call of duty to be able to provide their customers with outstanding attention and care. One such case involves two kind waitresses from Murfreesboro, Tennessee, who made a Hard-of-hearing boy’s 4th birthday one that he and his mom will never forget.
Young Octavius Mitchell Jr., together with his mother Shatika Dixon and uncle, recently visited a Texas Roadhouse restaurant in Murfreesboro to celebrate the boy’s fourth birthday. Octavius has been deaf since birth. While the three were enjoying their meal, their server Kathryn Marasco noticed that Shatika was using sign language to talk with her child. Kathryn also noted that the boy was wearing a hearing aid. As she said, “I’m sitting there, and I’m watching from a distance, and the mom is signing to the little boy, [and] I noticed he had his hearing aids". She later made a decision to Do something special to make Octavius' special day even more exciting.
When Kathryn understood that it was Octavius’ birthday celebration and that he was hard of hearing, she asked her co-worker Brandie White if she knew the right way to say “Happy birthday” in sign language. Brandie said that she didn’t, however like Kathryn, she wished to help Octavius experience an extra bit of fun during his birthday celebration.
Brandie, a speech-language pathology and audiology student at Middle Tennessee State University in Murfreesboro, then went to YouTube on her phone. She and Kathryn wanted to learn a special phrase in sign language for the birthday boy.
After researching how to say "Happy birthday" in American Sign Language (ASL), Kathryn and Brandie quickly mastered all of the necessary hand gestures. The servers then went up to Octavius' table to show him what they had learned.
Both waitresses not only wished Octavius a happy birthday verbally. They even did it in another way that was special to him, hence putting a big smile on the boy’s face and making his mom very thankful. “"Happy birthday," the 2 waitresses signed in American Sign Language. The action delighted both Octavius and his mother. "Everybody thinks we’re crazy when we’re out talking and we’re signing. So it’s really important to me that someone noticed that and picked up on that and made that special just for him, my baby,” Shatika stated.
Being a customer service rep for a local company, Shatika knows firsthand exactly how essential it is to continuously give the utmost in care for clients in all of the types of businesses. This background made her especially appreciative of Kathryn and Brandie’s special act of compassion toward her boy. Shatika went on to say that the interaction with the servers was the first time anyone other than her and his teacher had used sign language with Octavius.
The Benefits of Hearing People Learning and Ultizing ASL
As in the case of Octavius, making contact with Deaf and Hard-of-hearing (HOH) people by using ASL could make them feel happy and more fully included in the larger (hearing) society. Just by watching individuals come in contact with them by using their language, the Deaf and HOH population can gain a greater feeling of inclusion.
Hearing People Who Sign Can Better Customer Relations
This point of view is shared by Vicki Robinson, a hearing individual who has been teaching physics to Deaf university students for over 40 years. In reply to the Quora question, “What do Deaf people think about people who aren’t deaf learning sign language?” Vicki wrote, “I’ll defer to the Deaf Quorans here for the definitive answer. But my experience is that Deaf people appreciate hearing people learning ASL.”
It's Best to be Invited Before Entering a Deaf Area
Vicki also explains that her daughter’s circumstance is one that involves communicating with Deaf people in the hearing world. Nonetheless, each time a hearing individual who can do sign language enters an area where only Deaf individuals are present, the hearing individual should not think that they’ll be instantly welcomed. This is due to the fact that hearing people do not share Deaf people's life experiences. An example would be connecting to a small group of Deaf individuals at a club with no specific invitation. So, in a Deaf space, it is advisable never to presume that one is welcomed, even among people that one knows well.