Coffee chats, ASL class open doors for deaf
May 25—On Saturday, May 28, some members of the deaf and hard-of-hearing community are holding an American Sign Language workshop to raise money for a mission trip in Malawi.
The cost is by donation, but $20 is recommended per person, and organizers will hold two sessions at the Park Hill Baptist Church: 10 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. — with an hour break at 11:30 a.m. In the workshop, community members will learn the basics of ASL.
Jameie Combs is a cultural interpreter who is putting on the event.
"We will do an introductory history of the deaf community. We'll share about linguistic features that are distinct to ASL, survival signs, then I'm going to teach how to sign a song. It is a light introduction, as it piques interest in people's minds and hearts," said Combs.
She said that about one in 10 people experience some kind of hearing loss in the U.S., often due to old age or an accident, but culturally deaf people are fewer in population and live within a deaf culture.
"In the U.S., there are one to two million who are culturally deaf and subscribe to deaf culture. Here in Tahlequah, there are 20-25 people that are culturally deaf," said Combs.
Many deaf people throughout Cherokee County have struggled to find a gathering place to socialize, so Combs and Dawn Sledd are bringing them together monthly at Northeastern State University.
"Some are isolated. We provide that social outlet. We call them ASL coffee chats. We bring people and invite them. Last month, we had 28 people and eight deaf people at that gathering. It's a great outlet and is an opportunity to share," said Combs.
Sledd served as president of the NSU ASL Club, which met biweekly for silent coffee chats so students could practice sign language. The organization has expanded, and it continues to meet with members of the community.
"We started in March and met at the NSU Baptist Collegiate Ministry community room on the lower level. We met every month and began to see more of the deaf community members locally in Tahlequah attend. Some I have never met before in my five years of living here. We realized the need for a social opportunity for the local deaf. Several of them didn't know there were other deaf people living in the same community. It was a great way to be able to practice," said Sledd.
Since she has joined, more members have shown up, even from as far as the Tulsa area. After Sledd graduated, she continued to push silent coffee meetings. Now, the organization meets the first Tuesday of each month at the BCM at 5:30 p.m.
"It's a small community, but we continue to see it grow, thanks to organizations like Park Hill Baptist Church, NSU BCM, NSU ASL Studies Program, and the potential NSU ASL Community House," said Sledd.
The Park Hill Baptist Church currently has a deaf ministry Sunday School class that meets every Sunday at 9:30 a.m., and the sermon is interpreted in ASL at 11 a.m. The deaf ministry group of the PHBC plans to train deaf students in Malawi and help them to understand the Bible in ASL. They also plan to evangelize to local deaf people.
"At the NSU ASL studies program, ASL Lecturer Jameie Combs and I are hoping to expand the program by providing a permanent space/house to continue the ASL events and provide ASL students with an immersive learning environment," said Sledd.
She also said the sign language workshop on May 28 offers a great opportunity for locals to learn a little sign language, even if participants do not know any deaf people.
"There are 70 million deaf people worldwide. Anyone may come across many deaf people in their everyday lives more than any other minority group. The language is beneficial to use in many circumstances. You can communicate silently, across from each other at a long distance — as far as your eye can see — and many other things. But most importantly, you can communicate with other deaf people," said Sledd. "ASL is a beautiful rich language, and I also noticed many hearing people say they understand things better because they're visual learners and ASL helped them see things in a visual way, since English is formatted in a linear structure while ASL is in a 3-D structure."
She said that technology has improved many deaf people's lives. Through text, Facetime, video phones, Zoom calls, deaf people have a whole new set of tools to communicate with the world and their family and friends, including those who don't sign.
"Back in the olden days, deaf people had to use their hearing families or friends to call another person or write a letter and wait a long time. It has better efficiently helped our method of communication with those who live far away," said Sledd.
Dana Kellner, a Tahlequah mother of children who are hard of hearing, learned to finger-spell in grade school and fell in love with ASL.
"When my children were born, I had read that signing to your babies helps them put names to their needs and I learned simple words like 'milk,' 'eat,' 'stop,' and 'help'. It was a big help," said Kellner.
Her second child wears hearing aids, and she has had two other children who are hard of hearing or deaf.
"My recommendation is that everyone learn the alphabet and hopefully some frequently used signs. It's very interesting, and you never know who you may bless with the ability," said Kellner.
