Personal Narrative: My Contact With The Deaf World
September 10th, 1994 was my first day of 6th grade. This was also the first day that I came in contact with the Deaf world. During recess, my friend Elizabeth brought out a new girl by the name of Megan Leschly. She was deaf, and her interpreter, Ms. Rosener, did not go out to recess to help her communicate. This was the day I started to learn sign language. From 6th grade to 8th grade Megan went to public school with me and all of our group of friends. We celebrated everything together, even Ms. Rosener went to her going away party we threw at my parents house. In those 3 years I saw a lot of deaf culture, and I can now see the negative side of things. Her mother (who adopted her) didn’t know sign very well, and her brothers and
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(Middle ground, since she’s living in Carmel Mountain area now, and I’m in Pacific Beach) She brought her son, River, so I could meet him a little more. He is very shy, and clings to her like flies on poop. I told her I was taking a sign language class, and she said my sign was very good as it was but was happy that she peaked my interest in it. We talked about her mom, (who was also my 8th grade math teacher) and how she moved to Oregon with her new husband. She told me how after 8th grade she went to Model Secondary School for the Deaf. She loved the fact that she was able to learn freely. There was no barriers, which is what lead her to apply, and get accepted into Gallaudet. She graduated from Gallaudet in 2006 with a degree in Social Work and Communication Studies. Her senior year she ended up getting pregnant and hasn’t spoken to the father since graduation. I learned that she is planning on staying in San Diego because she has an excellent job at Purple Communications as a San Diego Center Supervisor. It was nice talking with Megan because I didn’t have to feel nervous about talking to a total stranger, and when I had questions about signs I felt comfortable enough to ask. I asked about raising her son, who is hearing, and she feels that she is lucky in the fact that she is a deaf mother. She can and has communicated with him from such a younger age, than many hearing parents do. She
(Middle ground, since she’s living in Carmel Mountain area now, and I’m in Pacific Beach) She brought her son, River, so I could meet him a little more. He is very shy, and clings to her like flies on poop. I told her I was taking a sign language class, and she said my sign was very good as it was but was happy that she peaked my interest in it. We talked about her mom, (who was also my 8th grade math teacher) and how she moved to Oregon with her new husband. She told me how after 8th grade she went to Model Secondary School for the Deaf. She loved the fact that she was able to learn freely. There was no barriers, which is what lead her to apply, and get accepted into Gallaudet. She graduated from Gallaudet in 2006 with a degree in Social Work and Communication Studies. Her senior year she ended up getting pregnant and hasn’t spoken to the father since graduation. I learned that she is planning on staying in San Diego because she has an excellent job at Purple Communications as a San Diego Center Supervisor. It was nice talking with Megan because I didn’t have to feel nervous about talking to a total stranger, and when I had questions about signs I felt comfortable enough to ask. I asked about raising her son, who is hearing, and she feels that she is lucky in the fact that she is a deaf mother. She can and has communicated with him from such a younger age, than many hearing parents do. She