Students are immersed in lessons to use sign language

From: Sun-Sentinel.com, FL - Sep 25, 2005

By Yvonne Carey
Special Correspondent

September 25, 2005

A new class at Cypress Bay High School requires students to use their hands.

Stephanie Sirois, 27, of Boca Raton is teaching sign-language classes at the Weston school, which draws students from Pembroke Pines, Southwest Ranches and Davie. About 250 students are taking the class.

"I'm ready to teach these kids what it's really like to be deaf," Sirois said.

She plans to use "full immersion" techniques. Sirois wants to go beyond the curriculum and host "silent dinners" where students have a meal and can only communicate with sign language. Also planned is a day where students wear earplugs, again relying solely on sign language.

"It's going to function just like a regular language course, and our teachers plan lots of things outside the regular curriculum to enhance the classes," said Marguerite Kirschner, chairwoman of the school's foreign language department. "We have Spanish singing telegrams for Valentine's Day, we have Mardi Gras in French ... so we really have teachers who do amazing things."

Sirois' passion for the subject is personal -- both her parents are deaf -- and she has studied the topic's history, from society's nonacceptance to later strides to accommodate the deaf and hard of hearing.

Sirois, who has worked as an educational interpreter, said she will teach students that history, and explain the different degrees of deafness.

Grammar is very different in sign, so students will have to be on the ball, she said.

"Instead of 'I'm going to the store,' you say, 'Store go I,'" Sirois said. "You have to be very careful about your facial expressions and body language, as it really is just that, language. Any kind of random movement will confuse those that depend on it."

Sirois said she will also cover new technological and educational advances for deaf people, such as cochlear implants, close-captioned videos and total communication schools.

"So many groups are automatically identified by language, with a common bond and background they all know, love and share," she said. "This is the same thing."

Hearing impairments

About 28 million Americans have a hearing impairment.

Between two and three of every 1,000 children in the United States are born deaf or hard-of-hearing. Nine of every 10 children born deaf have parents who can hear.

About 4,000 new cases of sudden deafness occur each year in the United States. Ten percent to 15 percent of patients with sudden deafness know what caused their loss.

Source: National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders

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