Deaf Nation Expo event

For the past several years, even before we joined Milpitas ASL, the congregation has participated in Deaf Nation Expo in Pleasanton CA.  Many of you might be wondering what Deaf Nation Expo is?  It is an annual event that takes place at one of the exhibit halls at the Alameda Fair Grounds.  This event has services, churches, and, businesses that cater to the Deaf community. You might wonder how the Deaf community differs from the Hearing community when it comes to products and services?  Well, how do hearing people wake up on time in the morning in order to get to work on time?  Easy, an alarm clock with either an annoying alarm or music.  But the Deaf can't hear.....so there are special alarm clocks for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing.  These consist of a vibrator that you can set under your pillow or mattress to vibrate the bed to wake you, or very bright lights (but obviously this doesn't work very well).  There are many specialized products made specifically for the Deaf, and since this group are a small in number, some of these products and services are hard to find.

There are other products and services directed to the Deaf community: Sign Language movies (not closed caption, but movies where the actors are signing), jewelry, T-shirts, keychains, books, etc.  Also at the Expo there are tables and areas rented offering services to the Deaf community, such as interpreting, legal, religious, real estate, cell phones, etc.  There are some very savvy business persons that learn sign language for no other reason that to further their business. Every year there is a Real Estate agent that sets up a table.  The Deaf community have a difficult time trusting people in the Hearing community. But the Deaf community like to talk about people that sign, who they can trust. So if a person is a real estate agent, car salesperson, bank executive, etc., the Deaf will tell each other about that person and go to them when they need a house, car, etc.  I'm pretty sure that the Real Estate agent we see every year does a good business dealing with Deaf clients. Smart man.

So Jehovah's Witnesses, our Milpitas ASL congregation, sets up a table every year.  We have 2 TV's going with our videos (either the Bible, tracts, or dramas), large printed signs advertising JW.org, and usually those invited to sit behind the tables bring their iPad's and set them on the table in front of them, showing visitors how accessible JW Sign Language app is and what it can do for them.  Also set out are sign language DVD's and a sign-up sheet just in case they would like a visit from us to their home.

We don't have the numbers in yet, but we heard that the DVD's were not moving as much as  in past events, but the JW.org tract was moving like hotcakes. The Deaf LOVE their smartphones. They LOVE apps that are directed specifically to the Deaf. This is exactly why JW Sign Language app was developed. This is how Deaf Jehovah's Witnesses and Hearing Witnesses that attend sign language meetings do our personal study. Very few of us still use DVD's in our TV's or computers.

Another nice thing about Deaf Nation Expo is that we ALWAYS see many of the friends from other local congregations visiting the event. So it was very nice to see brothers and sisters from Oakland, San Francisco, Modesto, Stockton, as well as other Deaf who are not Jehovah's Witnesses that we have met in the past. Every year I look for both of my ASL college professors, but have never seen them. John always runs into a nice man that he works with at Toyota named David. He's always friendly and happy to see us.

We didn't stay too long at the event, but we did enjoy the time we were there, and we are always proud of the witness made by our JW table.

Visiting Oakland Sign Language Congregation

Since our Kingdom Hall in Milpitas CA is being remodeled, we needed to attend a different meeting. We could have chosen to attend an English congregation nearby. There are dozens of English congregations within 15 miles of us, but we have no real connection to any English congregation in the area. We technically live in Oakland Sign Language territory. We didn't intend to start in a congregation outside of our territory, but the territory lines are drawn by freeways. Anything south of the 580 freeway belongs to Milpitas Sign, anything north belongs to Oakland. But since we were 2 years into attending Milpitas when we found this out, we just continued there.  Also, the distance of driving is almost equal.  Our house, apparently, is the farthest point in the territory from 3 different ASL congregations! Stockton Sign, Oakland Sign, and Milpitas Sign are all about 35 miles from the Kingdom Hall. I guess we really do live in the Boon Docks!

I have been wanting to switch congregations for a while, John, not so much. I had heard that Oakland ASL congregation had very skilled signers, and the interest in the territory was outstanding.
Since we needed to attend a different meeting, we decided to attend Oakland Sign. We arrived a little late, but enjoyed the meeting tremendously (at least I did).  The elders who had meeting parts were excellent signers, extremely skilled. Many of the elders were young which keeps things fresh and interesting.  I was surprised how many people I had already met from Oakland Sign, so it was nice to see so many familiar faces (but in the Deaf JW world, your world is very small, you see the same people over and over again at assemblies and conventions).  My good friend Jane Sweet attends there, and I had been so looking forward to visiting with her again.  We haven't known each other for very long, but we made an immediate connection, like Kindred Spirits.

The one bad thing about the location of this Kingdom Hall is that it is in the very heart of Oakland. Nearby are Fruitvale Ave and International Blvd., which any from the Bay area will recognize as sometimes dangerous.  But the friends in the congregation have an enormous amount of interest from the Deaf in their territory.  And since there are more Deaf in their congregation, the hearing signers are more skilled.  Wow! I really felt at home there.  One of the Deaf sisters was impressed that I had only been signing for 3 years, but was able to easily communicate.

 I really think that John will become a more skilled signer if we switch.  One of our Deaf friends, E-Do (Eric) was in conversation with John and he humbly, kindly, and patiently corrected John on several signs. John really needs this, and he always appreciates when our Deaf brothers and sisters help him become a better signer.

Unfortunately we had to leave sooner than I wanted to.  The Kingdom Hall parking lot is small, and we were stacked in the parking lot, so we needed to move our car to let other people leave. Plus it was late and we were in a shady part of town (and we didn't really fit the demographics of the neighborhood). But we will attend next week again.  I'm looking forward to it.

Why I joined an American Sign Language congregation

For years, even before I married, I was interested in sign language. I thought it was an interesting way people could communicate. Little did I know how important it would become to me.

The funny thing is, without even knowing it, I married a man that was interested in learning sign language WAAAAAAYYYY before we married. He would position himself at District Conventions where the Translators were signing to the Deaf brothers and sisters.  I did the same thing. My sister started learning sign language from a friend of ours, and I was always kind of jealous, but I didn't make an issue out of it, but was a little put off when our friend (who was teaching my sister) didn't ask me to join in. But I don't hold a grudge about it.  There were plenty of things to keep me busy in my teen years and early 20's.

Then I started losing my hearing.  At first I didn't even notice it. But eventually I couldn't sit in the back of my classroom in High School without being able to hear the teacher, especially if he/she had her face turned away while they were speaking (like when they were writing on the chalk board was very difficult).  Finally I realized it was getting serious, so I mentioned it to my parents. I remember my dad trying to reassure me that, "it's probably just too much wax in your ears. It's probably nothing."  But, of course, anyone that knows me, knows that my physical problems are anything but normal. Apparently it's quite common for persons with this Brittle Bone disease, or Osteogenesis Imperfecta, to lose their hearing. It has to do with the small bone in your ear, your stapes, developing a calcium build up, thus not allowing the bone to vibrate and amplify sound. So in I go for surgery for a stapendectomy, full removal of the stapes to replace it with a stainless steel wire.

Well that fix worked for about 15 years, then I noticed my hearing diminishing again. I was devastated when the ear doctor said that the surgery probably would not work again, would not be worth the trouble, but that I was a good candidate for hearing aids.  HEARING AIDS?!?!?  I was not even 40 years old!!! No way!!! Only old people needed hearing aids.  Well, after about 10 years I realized that my hearing was not getting better, and I was starting to take my young daughter with me everywhere I needed a translator, so that she could hear clearly for me, then relay clearly what I needed to know. I knew I could not cripple her by doing this forever. And when I would sit at my Kingdom Hall and not be able to clearly hear the Public Speaker or follow along in the Watchtower lesson, I knew it was time to give in.

At first hearing aids were hard to adjust to.  I had lived in such a quiet, peaceful world for so long, it was frustrating to now hear EVERYTHING! My bare feet scuffing against the carpet made noise.  The computer keyboard made noise when I typed. The cat, who I thought was a quiet cat, was LOUD! I was shocked when sitting in my mom's family room, I hear a hum start up, like a machine.  I didn't realize that the refrigerator was so noisy! But eventually, after about a month, I adjusted, and I have to say, hearing aids changed my life. I went back to work, working at Disneyland in the ticket booth. Wow! What a difference! From avoiding public situations to putting myself right in it. Anytime anyone would like to ask me if they should get hearing aids, I'll be happy to talk to them. I wouldn't tell you that you should get hearing aids but I will tell you how happy I am with them, and that you are really missing out on a lot of life.

So learning sign language, now I realize, was a great fit for me.  Probably because of  the fact that I've been losing my hearing for decades, it was quite easy for me.  I had read, people had told me "Sign language is the hardest language to learn," I but immediately made sense to me, even though I didn't understand it immediately, there was an immediate connection to it.  Now I do all my Bible study in ASL. I prefer the bible in ASL. It's like living the bible, not just reading about it.

So, one of my first posts will probably be from yesterday's experience, but eventually I'll tell other stories that happened in between the beginning of my journey to present day.