Cartoon Network (CN), a cable television channel belonging to Warner Bros. Discovery. Featured Craig of the Creek, an Emmy, GLAAD, and Annie-nominated animated TV series.
During the episode entitled “The Champion’s Hike,” the main character Craig goes to his Deaf friend Jackie’s house before heading off to look into a waterfall. The particular scene features Jackie interacting with his father in Black American Sign Language (BASL) as he is leaving the family house in order to explore the waterfall along with Craig.
This communication in BASL was a remarkable breakthrough for Craig of the Creek and for children’s TV programs. Jackie along with his father are among the first users of BASL to generally be represented on kids’ TV. Used in Black Deaf communities throughout the US, BASL is a unique form of ASL marked by features including signers’ body gestures and face expressions. Besides using a bigger area for signing, BASL users also employ more two-handed signs and integrate African-American English slang within their conversation.
Working on an episode of Craig of the Creek named “Dodgy Decisions,” during which Craig and Jackie are captains of opposite dodgeball teams, character designer Nick Winn suggested that Jackie could possibly be Deaf or Hard of Hearing. As Winn says, “I just really liked Jackie. I liked that he was one of the silent champions [and] he was anonymous. We hadn’t really heard him speak.”
After seeing an online video clip of an individual teaching sign language, Winn thought of having Jackie utilize sign language on the program. This idea was appealing to the series creators because it offered the opportunity to explore exactly why Jackie was always quiet, as well as the opportunity to make the show more inclusive of the Deaf and Hard of Hearing community.
Advantages of Learning ASL Online to Deaf/HoH and Hearing Children
“The Champion’s Hike” episode of Craig of the Creek additionally highlights the importance of having hearing children learn ASL. Doing so can assist them communicate more efficiently with regards to their Deaf and Hard of Hearing (Deaf/HoH) classmates and friends. These children can be more fully incorporated into their particular peer groups. Being allowed to be part of the conversation at school and also on the playground helps Deaf/HoH children progress socially and academically quicker.
Utilizing ASL to convey can be an eye-opening practical experience for hearing children. It can help them establish a much deeper connection with varied groups of people, thus improving their cultural understanding and broadening their social network.
Just How Can Kids Learn ASL Online in an Exciting and Versatile Way?
Due to the fact learning and utilizing ASL offers children countless opportunities to expand their horizons, an increasing number of families are searching for ASL training sources.
A very popular approach is to learn ASL online by means of sources such as StartASL.com, which can be more enjoyable and much easier for youngsters than learning by following along with an in-person teacher. Online ASL learning also has the benefit it can easily be carried out in the convenience of the family home and stay adjusted to fulfill the needs of busy household and school activities.