Helping Home School Students Learn ASL

For Jessica Oliver, an advocacy specialist for Deaf and Hard of Hearing Services, teaching American Sign Language classes at Four Square Community has been a fun and rewarding experience.

Every Monday, from 9 am to noon, she helps about 75 students in fourth through seventh grades either encounter ASL for the first time or improve their skills and understanding of a language invented by the Deaf some 200 years ago.

She said the classes are right in line with the D&HHS efforts around education and advocacy.

“I think this is a great partnership for D&HHS,” she said, “because it is teaching hearing children, and adults, skills that will aid with inclusion and will create a better sense of being allies in the Deaf and Hearing worlds.”

Four Square Community supports home education, and on Mondays, students rotate through four 45-minute enrichment classes, one of which is Oliver’s ASL class.

Students and parents said the class has been a fantastic addition to the Four Square offerings.

A second-grade student said simply: “I really think it’s fun, especially learning how to sign the animal names, and I like working with a partner because it feels like I am talking in code.”

And a fifth-grade student added: “I think it’s really interesting and cool how you get to learn a new language and you get to learn it from a different perspective.”

For parent Michelle Drake the opportunity for her elementary-age children to learn ASL goes beyond language and vocabulary.

“I love that they are learning about the culture of sign language and the importance of sign language,” she said. “It has opened up many opportunities for us to speak about this subject in our family and how we can be more accommodating and sensitive to those who might have different needs than ours.”

Such comments are gratifying for Oliver and for D&HHS executive director Deb Atwood.

“That parent gets it,” she said. “Community education, youth programs, advocacy, those are all such a big part of why we exist, why we’ve done what we’ve done for 25 years now. It’s hard work, but when you see the results, it makes it all worthwhile.”

Ann Troast, director of Four Square Community, noted that her organization is entering its fourth year of partnering with D&HHS.

“We have been offering a variety of classes, including sign language, art, music, and physical education,” she said. “We were interested in offering sign language classes, and a friend referred us to D&HHS. It has been a wonderful partnership! Our students have made progress with sign language, and they enjoy learning the language. Parents are grateful that we offer sign language because it is not a commonly offered class.”

D&HHS also offers ASL classes, now virtually, to anyone who wants to know more about the language with new classes beginning October 22.

The eight-week course is just $100 and includes signs and some of the history and culture of the Deaf community. Classes meet once a week from 6-8 pm for eight weeks using Zoom video conferencing. Each week the instructor teaches new signs and goes through practice exercises with the students. Students must have access to the internet and a webcam on their computers. The class uses a book called “A Basic Course in American Sign Language” by Tom Humphries, Carol Padden, Terrence J. O’Rourke, and Frank A. Paul. The book includes exercises that are used for homework practice and is used for all D&HHS ASL classes.

Said Troast: “I would highly recommend other programs integrate sign language classes! D&HHS does a great job with students of all ages.”