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The student is now in 10th grade, but her memories from kindergarten are still vivid. Back then, when this student would try to communicate using sign language, her teacher would clasp her hands together.
“No hands,” the teacher would tell this student. “Just pay attention.”
The now-10th grader is Deaf. Back then, this student attended a mostly hearing kindergarten. (LAist is withholding the student’s name to protect her privacy because she’s a minor.)
The student wore hearing aids as a young child. With the devices switched on, she can access sound. But the devices gave her headaches — and she couldn’t process spoken language fast enough to keep up with the teacher who discouraged her use of the method she preferred: American Sign Language, or ASL.
A Note About The Language In This Story
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You might notice in this story that the “D” in “Deaf” is occasionally capitalized. That’s intentional; we’re following guidance from both the Associated Press and the National Center on Disability and Journalism (NCDJ). They both recommend:
- Using “deaf” — with a lower-case “d” — to refer to the audiological diagnosis or condition.
- Using “Deaf” — with an upper-case “D” — to refer to the culture and community of Deaf people.
In some instances, we refer to people who identify as “Deaf” with a capital D. The NCDJ also notes that not all people who are deaf identify as part of the Deaf community, and thus would prefer the lower-case “d.” For more, please check out LAist’s Style Guide, Dialogue.
“It was like silence all the time,” she remembered. “I would finish my work, and then at home it was silence. I had no communication with my parents, so I was alone.”
The silence broke for this student when she transferred to the Marlton School for the Deaf, a public school in the Los Angeles Unified system where teachers encourage the school’s 150 students — about 100 of whom are deaf — to use sign language. Teachers here want students to become bilingual: as proficient as possible in spoken English, as well as ASL.
Earlier this month, L.A. Unified school board members voted to expand the district’s use of this bilingual approach.
From birth, deaf babies born in LAUSD have long been eligible to receive services through the school district. Now, as part of the sweeping changes the LAUSD board recently enacted to Deaf education programs, the school district will now place every child identified as deaf or hard-of-hearing before the age of 3 — by default — into a bilingual program.
Why This Vote Matters
With these changes, LAUSD has …….