gloss: NICE   MEET   YOU

"nice to meet you"

CSL's goal is to provide services that empower individuals with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities(ID/DD) so that they may live to their fullest potential.

Goals:

• expand my ASL vocabulary and conversation skills 

• break down any biases I may inherently hold about members of the Deaf community and the langauge of ASL as a whole

• learn more about communication and critical thinking skills, leadership abilities and how to talk effectively with professionals 

• provide quaity service to my community partners

Why did I take this class?

I took this class because I wanted to experience the deaf community "out in the wild" aka outside of the classroom. I was excited to finally use what I've learned in my ASL classes to serve others. 

Expectations:

I knew this class would be challenging because it would be filled with a lot of firsts. I knew it would be the first time I entered a deaf space, the first time I would be using my ASL outside of the classroom, and outside of campus and the first time I was going to be "the outsider" linguistically. I anticipated the nervousness of stepping outside of my comfort zone but also the excitement for the growth I knew I was going to make because of it.

What were my responsibilities?

My main responsibility was to run activities for clients/residents at both CSL & CCEC. Another large task of mine was to socialize with clients in ASL since many did not receive many visitors. In general, I assisted staff with various tasks that they needed me to do.

The Day Program - CSL

The day program runs from 9am-2pm every weekday. Both hearing and Deaf clients come to spend the day at CSL. They typically do fun activities such as games, puzzles, movies, outings and converse with each other. I would help run the day program by keeping clients entertained with activities such as UNO, bingo, puzzles and crafts. In addition, I tried to strike up conversations with clients to get to know them better. I have loved getting to know their personalities.

In-Home Services - CSL

When not at the Day Program, some clients recieve 24-7 services from the staff at CSL. This involves staff going to their home and staying the night. When I assisted staff with in-home visits, I stayed for a few hours around dinner time. The main responsibilites of staff at this time is to supervise the client. They make sure they are staying active, eating dinner, taking their medications and getting proper rest. Sometimes we played games or watched Netflix with the client for fun.

CCEC Activities

The Activites Director at CCEC was my supervisor, and she had me do things like paint residents' nails and lead art classes, facilitate games. I also spent time sitting and chatting with residents.

Day 1 - CSL

2/9/23

Description of activities/tasks:

The main task for my time there today was decorating for the Valentine’s Day party. There were several decorations that our supervisor asked us to help put up. We worked together with some of the day program participants to hang everything up. This took about an hour. After all the decorations were hung, the day program participants sat down and began small Valentine’s themed crafts. Some chose to paint while others chose to color with markers. The supervisors asked me to help them with the crafts and to sit and visit. For the most part, they did the crafts on their own. I helped them pick out what craft they wanted to do and what supplies they needed to complete it. 

Emotions experienced: 

I was pretty nervous walking into an entirely new environment. Thankfully, I arrived with a student who had been working there for a couple weeks and knew what to do. I was thrown into work without knowing what it was or what I should be doing, so I followed the lead of the other student. I felt behind since complications delayed my start date by a couple weeks. My orientation was brief and I was still unsure of a lot of things. I could tell that relationships were already formed between the other students and people at the Day Program. I had fun and did more observing than signing. My ASL was rusty, but I enjoyed being in a Deaf space for the first time. I am eager to go back and become more comfortable in that environment. 

Day 3 - CSL

2/15/23

Description of activities/tasks:

Today I joined the day program as they were finishing the bead craft we started last week. We problem solved the best way of doing it. One of the cients is a mother, and she taught us the best way to iron the crafts. After, we played UNO with several clients and supervisors. This was my first time playing UNO in a deaf space. I quickly got to wondering how to call "UNO!" which is an important part of the game. When I saw one clients slam the table and get excited, I quickly learned that this was how they signal UNO when they have one card left.  I also assisted a client working on a puzzle before leaving. Most of the clients got transported home in a van by one of the supervisors. 

Emotions experienced:

The hearing members have been learning some basic signs and such as colors and common conversational terms such as THANK-YOU and YOU’RE-WELCOME. I love seeing them bridging the language barrier and having fun with each other even during this simple game. The hearing members become more expressive with their body language especially with their humor and with conveying something without necessarily knowing how to sign it. 

One member got transported home by personal staff rather than CSL, and that staff person was running late. During this time, we were all waiting around for his staff to come and I experienced the "deaf goodbye". We stood and had a lengthy conversation with the supervisor which included our plans for coming in next. The conversation lasted a good 15 minutes past when we were originally scheduled to leave. 

Day 5 - CSL

2/22/23

Description of activities/tasks:

today I joined a staff member at a consumer’s home. The consumer receives 24/7 staff services at her home. The job of the staff member during this shift is to accompany the consumer and ensuring that she eats dinner, takes her medicine, and encouraged to be active. The consumer arrived home from the day program around 3 pm which is when I and the staff member arrived. Upon arriving, I rang the doorbell which was connected to the light switch inside. When I arrived, I was greeted by the staff and the consumer then given a run-down of what they do during this time. The staff member showed me around the apartment and said that the consumer wanted to stay in her room and watch TV. The staff member and I sat in the kitchen and got to know each other a little better. I found out that she used to attend OSU. She was telling me about her experiences about growing up deaf in a hearing family. She would speak as she was signing to me and could hear fairly well when wearing her hearing aids. 

Since she chose to sign and speak, I did the same. I found this very helpful, and I was able to pick up a lot of few signs. After a little while, she needed to go to the store and get a few things, so the consumer and I went with her. This was my first-time riding in a car with deaf people. We ended up going to Target and Office Max. In the car, the staff member would continue speaking but also do one-handed signs. She was able to see what the consumer was signing in the back seat through the rear-view mirror. A few times, I turned around to sign with the consumer in the back seat while I was in the back seat. I did not have any tasks to do today, but I was able to chat with both the staff member and consumer at great length in ASL. 

Emotions experienced:

Before arriving to the consumer’s home, I was nervous. I was reassured that I already knew the consumer from the day program who has always been very friendly. I was unsure what I would be doing since I didn’t know what services were provided after the end of the day program. After meeting the staff member, I immediately felt more comfortable with the situation. The staff member was around the same age as me, so we related on a lot of things. During the visit I experienced a deaf-friendly household for the first time, as well as what riding in a car and having a conversation with a deaf person was like. The staff member shared a book she was working on and how it was a spinoff of a show she enjoyed watching, but all the characters were deaf. It was cool to see her interpretations of how each character from the preexisting show would exist and participate in Deaf culture. After leaving, I was significantly less nervous and felt that I had become a little more comfortable in my conversational and casual ASL skills. I am excited to go back.

Day 7 - CSL

3/1/23

Description of activities/tasks:

Today I arrived at CSL and began by saying hello to the other students, consumers, and staff members. I sat down at a table and chatted with some of the consumers then they asked me if I wanted to play UNO. We played about 4 games of UNO. I have noticed that some of the hearing consumers have improved with their signing skills. They are now pretty good with colors and numbers. During the games, we have friendly conversations and sometimes talk to the other tables doing other things such as puzzles and drawing. After playing several games of UNO I switched tables and worked on a puzzle with other consumers. Before leaving we drew pictures. I drew a picture of baby Yoda and gave it to one of the consumers who has repeatedly told me how much she likes that character. 

Emotions experienced:

Today one of the staff members explained to us that one of the day program members is an alcoholic and I felt bad for him. He has a disability in addition that I am sure that is hard enough to navigate, so I am sorry that he struggles with alcoholism too.

I found out an answer to a previous question as to why one of the consumers cannot understand or produce any sign language. I was told he has AUTISM (I learned this sign as well) which can lead to issues with expressive language. I am not sure if he was once able to understand or produce sign. 

Day 9 - CCEC

3/24/23

Description of activies/tasks:

Today was my first day being able to serve at CCEC after finally getting through the background check and TB tests. My main task today was to paint residents’ nails at their “nail salon”. I began by taking off their old polish, filing their nails, then giving them a couple coats of fresh paint. I did nails for 4 residents (2 deaf and 2 hearing). I got to have conversations with them as I was doing their nails and got to know them all a little bit. I noticed how similar symptoms of aphasia or dementia were present for both spoken and sign language speakers. 

Emotions experienced:

This was my first day actually serving at CCEC so I was nervous and unsure of what I would be doing. I quickly realized that visiting with residents and doing their nails was very fun. I felt that they appreciated getting to visit with someone new while being pampered at the “salon”. I was able to pick up on how older people have a different signing style. I noticed that their signs were not as clear because some of them had limited mobility or a tremor in their hands. I had to get used to the appearance of their hands as well. When I was painting the deaf resident’s nails I ran into the issue of having to one-handed signing, messing up wet paint, and not being able to look at the resident while I was painting. Anytime I wanted to ask them something I had to take a break from painting and I could not ask a question requiring a lengthy answer because it they would end up messing up their wet polish.

Day 11 - CCEC

4/7/23

Description of activities/tasks:

Today I came and my supervisor did not have anything specific for me because resident council was about to start. She just told me to mingle and socialize, so I went to the middle atrium where many residents hang out and I found some that I knew. I sat with them and caught up. We talked about Easter since it was Good Friday. 

I sat down with the resident who helped me hang calendars last week and colored a page from her coloring book with her. She had to go to the resident’s meeting before we were done, so I finished it and left it in her room for her to keep.

Before leaving, I found two other deaf residents hanging out in the activity director’s office, so I asked if I could join them. They said yes, and we played with the animatronic dog and cat. 

Emotions experienced:

I’ve learned not to ask questions like “are you looking forward to this weekend?” or “do you have any plans to celebrate?” because several times they it has triggered sad responses from residents who cannot leave, don’t have family visitors, and can’t celebrate like they used to. I’ve gotten the hang of “reading the room”, some residents will share their plans for holidays and such if they want.

I ran into a situation, where one of the hearing residents wanted me to sign about Good Friday to the deaf residents I was sitting with. He started with a few simple sentences about Easter, then I lost him. I knew STORY, JESUS, EASTER, DIE, GOOD-FRIDAY, but then he began saying “crucifixion, scapegoat, hypocrite, etc.” and I told him he would have to find an interpreter. He continued to talk to the two deaf residents. I signed to them, ME INTERPRET HE  and they pretended to know what he was saying, then one responded with YOUR SHIRT COLOR I LIKE, and the other had fallen asleep. I found this a bit funny. I could tell that they were nodding, hoping that he would finish and leave.