Deaf Youth in Transition and Signs of Summer...
My teenage years are far behind me--but some things one never forgets. I bet you also can quickly recall the gut wrenching feeling a teenager experiences if required to walk into a room full of people, late. Then perhaps that feeling intensifies exponentially if the teenager were to suddenly realize a bounce dryer sheet clung to their sweatshirt shoulder or toilet paper trailed from their shoe. This could spell the end of civilization as we know it. The feeling that the whole world is staring will immediately have flooded through the teen's being. Gut tightens. Palms and other more obtrusive places break into a sweat. Heart pounds. These days teens know that a snapshot of their embarrassing moment has probably just posted and no doubt gone viral. Remember these feelings?
Now imagine the same situation but add a language barrier to the mix. The teen in this scenario is now surrounded by clusters of people laughing and talking in an unknown language. Instantly the teen is sure they are laughing and talking about him. The teacher says something and the whole class laughs. Three students look up suddenly, raise their hands and run out the door. Feeling befuddled? The teen doesn’t know if he should unpack his books or hide under the desk. Whatever is happening, is it a drill or is it real? This is often the situation for Deaf students in mainstream Hearing settings. Auditory cues Hearing people take for granted and barely notice-- but react to-- are often completely inaccessible to Deaf people. The Deaf student must make many assumptions from only partial information. As teenagers, exquisitely sensitive and vulnerable to rejection as many teens are, Deaf teens can experience devastating feelings of inadequacy, confusion, overwhelm and social isolation.
The first day on a new job can be equally stressful. Many of us would not be brave enough to begin work in a setting where we cannot understand the language and have no idea what is expected of us. Welcome to the everyday experience of Deaf students transitioning into the world of work. Often no one signs. No-one can explain routines let alone the inevitable changes of routines. Everyone is busy. Mimed and gestured communications take too long for fellow workers who are impatient to accomplish their own tasks. The work setting is often designed for Hearing employees. Bells, buzzers, overhead announcements further isolate and exclude the Deaf worker. The Deaf person works very hard to half understand situations from which they glean visual information only. They may make brilliant solutions to the puzzles around them but to the hearing workers they may appear inadequate. Social connections with fellow workers can be extraordinarily difficult to develop because of communication barriers. Acquaintances often remain superficial and kind at best.
The Deaf person, like any person, will bring to the situation not only their own set of challenges but also their unique set of attributes. Too often the tendency is to focus on that which the Deaf person lacks while completely missing the gifts they bring. They may be more visually aware than hearing co-workers which allows them to notice lapses in quality and unusual behaviors. They may have become experts at reading between the lines and notice other employees under stress or exhibiting subtle signs of emotional discord others miss. Because of their isolation, they may think completely outside the box and bring diverse and enlightening perspectives to situations. The value of these gifts may be lost as they go un-conveyed and therefore unnoticed.
Similar to the way young children parallel play this becomes "parallel work" or even "parallel living". The job is done but the Deaf person feels left off the team. And that wonderful synchronous synergy of cooperative effort, brain storming and problem solving is rarely enjoyed.
It is difficult to "fix" a lifetime of the experience described above. However, a smooth entry into the world of work --including developing expectations of understanding and communication and problem solving-- can only improve the outcome. The Deaf person is thus empowered to bring to future arenas skills of interaction and participation-- the skills required to be part of the "team". The goal of "Signs of Summer" is to build conscious strategies for work environments-- strategies which empower Deaf individuals to be seen as whole human beings and to be effective in optimizing utilization of their skills and ultimately be more successful and more rewarded by their contribution in the workplace.
For more information on “Signs of Summer”, email Trilliumdeafprogram@comcast.net
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