Subj : Alternatives...  2.
To   : Richard Webb
From : Ardith Hinton
Date : Fri Mar 02 2018 02:36:56

Hi again, Richard!  This is a continuation of my previous message to you:

RW>  My lady's eldest daughter learned sign, as she has
RW>  deafness in one ear, and a Sunday school program she
RW>  attended in Florida was very inclusive and got their
RW>  deaf members involved in all their church programs.


          Good for them!  Over the years I have noticed that some denominations 
seem more receptive to folks with disabilities than others.  When I was growing 
up, there were two families with offspring in wheelchairs who attended the same 
church my family did.  For as long as I remember there has been a ramp into the 
church... and when renovations were made to the church hall & office area, i.e. 
some time before Nora was born, an elevator was added.  At the other end of the 
continuum, there was a woman in this echo years ago who said the members of her 
church had shunned her family because one of the kids had a learning disability 
& they interpreted it to mean the family weren't good Christians... (sigh).



RW>  HEnce, when she was a clerk at a fast food establishment
RW>  years later the deaf folks who liked to gather for coffee
RW>  gravitated toward the line she was working at the counter,
RW>  as they didn't have to write out their orders on a slip of
RW>  paper, but could converse with her naturally using sign.


          They may even have been attracted to this place because they knew she 
understood their language.  We know which coffee shops in our neighbourhood are 
receptive to folks with disabilities & we're glad to support them.  On numerous 
occasions these establishments have attracted groups of eight or more customers 
who would otherwise be unable to get together... a win-win situation IMHO.

          While I'm not fluent in sign language, I know a lot of people who use 
it for various reasons.  It's helpful with kids who have difficulty enunciating 
certain sounds... e.g. the consonant blends in words like "please", "thankyou", 
and "hungry"... and we still use it in certain social situations to indicate to 
one another without interrupting the flow of conversation that we need to go to 
the washroom.  I can also relate to how this person's customers must have felt. 
When Nora was younger & still using the stroller, I would often stop to let her 
observe construction crews etc.  One day, as the two of us approached the glass 
door at the entrance to the community centre, we saw a woman washing the glass. 
She started to make a move toward opening the door for us... but I indicated to 
her in my best Sesame St. sign language that Nora wanted to watch, knowing Nora 
couldn't see what I was doing from behind.  The woman grinned from ear to ear & 
cheerfully went on with her job.  Only then did I realize she was deaf....  :-)



RW>  Even if you can't do things in the "normal" way the
RW>  important thing is that you get them done, and can
RW>  live a full life.


          Absolutely... you do what works!  In our bathroom we have a key chain 
with a stuffed animal suspended from a toggle switch.  Before that... when Nora 
was too short to reach the light switch... we attached a bit of dowelling to it 
as a less expensive alternative to the commercial product we'd seen in the home 
of a friend whose husband was quadriplegic.  Although Nora's needs have changed 
we're still using the basic concept of modifying the switch so she can turn the 
light on & off by herself.  If other people think we're weird, chances are they 
already realized that before visiting our home or before we invited them.  :-))



RW>  Even if that's as simple as using our dry measuring
RW>  cups to measure liquids


          I hadn't thought of using dry measuring cups that way, but I think it 
might work well for Nora too.  She often finds it difficult to read the numbers 
on the graduated cups associated with liquids.  Thanks for the suggestion.  :-)




--- timEd/386 1.10.y2k+
 * Origin: Wits' End, Vancouver CANADA (1:153/716)

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