Deaf for a Day

When you walk down the halls everyday you may not realize how privileged you are to be able to listen to a friend’s conversation or yell down the hall to get your buddy’s attention. Some children are either born or become deaf, having to use American Sign Language to communicate

 When you are deaf there are things that become harder such as communication with someone who is not deaf. How can deaf students cope?

ASL teacher Cynthia Harp sponsored a project where her students were deaf for a day.

 “When you are placed into the situation of being deaf it is a very humbling experience,”” You learn that things are nowhere near as easy as you might think.” junior Tiffany Marshall said.

In Cynthia Harp’s classes students pretended to be deaf for a day to experience just how hard it is for a deaf kid to be in a normal environment where the vast majority of people don’t understand what they are saying and they are unable to communicate.

“This was designed to put the students into the life of a deaf child during a school day,” Harp said.

The project took place throughout the entire day where students wore ear plugs and only sign in class to communicate.

“I gained so much respect for deaf people. They have to push through a large barrier merely to live a normal life. All I could hear was my heart beating and my blood pumping, it’s an awkward feeling that I gained respect for,” junior Suhail Anbarci said.