Maureen Klusza
What is a Wapsi Girl and what makes me a Wapsi Girl?
It all started one morning with Sesame Street on television when I was a little girl. I was waiting for my school bus to arrive. All of the sudden, I found myself trying to understand why the muppets kept opening and closing their mouths. They were not making any sense when they barely moved their hands. I got distracted when my mom told me my bus was here. I got on the bus and saw my bus driver doing the same thing with her CB radio but my friends didn’t. I waited to see my favorite 1st grade teacher do what the muppets did but she didn’t. Later on, while my friends and I were busy coloring, I saw my teacher do it to another teacher in the hallway. I got home all confused and asked my mom what was going on. I’ll never forget what she told me that afternoon.
“Oh, they are hearing people and they use their voice to speak. We, on the other hand, are deaf and we use our hands to use American Sign Language.”
Wait a minute. I’m deaf? They’re hearing? They’re different from us? From that point on, I started to think about the people around me. Little did I know, I was up for a big challenge for the rest of my life. The thing is, you get labeled because you are different and you’re considered part of the “minority”. With that attitude from our society, I’ve learned that it is up to me to educate others about how being deaf can actually be a positive experience.
I’ve been deaf since birth – growing up with a deaf family. Yep, I can’t hear a thing. Don’t start feeling sorry for me. Lemme tell you, I get the best sleep of my life like, every night. Let’s say, you never drank a frappuccino in your whole life. People are shocked when they learned you never tasted a frappuccino before. People feel sorry for you but you feel just fine, right? You don’t feel like you’re missing out anything. You don’t feel “something is wrong” with yourself. My point is, they’re making it a big deal than it actually is for you. You’re not disabled. you’re not handicapped. There is much more to life than just missing out on one thing.
So what do I do to overcome the obstacles and make it into a positive learning experience for others? In the past, I used to “warn” people by shaking my head and pointing my ears to let them know that I’m deaf. It was like a signal to let them know that the best way to communicate is to write back and forth on paper. That was when I would often see the sympathetic look on their faces and get asked the infamous question: “Can you speak?” Can you sign? No? Then we’re even, let’s go back to paper and pen, Okay? That used to be aggravating for me.
Nowadays, I would just simply use sign language to say “Hello, I need your help, do you have – ” Even if they don’t know a single sign, they still get the message loud and clear. That is the exact moment when they reach out to get a piece of paper and pen. They would smile and I start writing what I want to ask with such a positive feeling. Or if I’m lucky, they sign back to me.
So, I’m perfectly happy with being deaf. I don’t need to hear birds tweeting to live normally. Twitter is a lot more fun, if you ask me.
My name is Maureen and that is what makes me a Wapsi Girl – a Deaf Wapsi Girl
Cheers Maureen! I’m glad to hear you’re such a positive person! The world needs a lot more of that, I think!
When I worked in retail, I learned ASL to help some of our regular customers. Best moment was finding a little boy who was signing “where” over and over… I was able to introduce myself and help him find his mother. Just a little moment but his smile made my day.
I haven’t had a chance to use my sign language for a while… I know I can remember how to say “Hi, I’m Jayne and I’ve forgotten a LOT of sign language” with a smile and then reach for the pen and paper.
One bad habit I admit to: I have the hardest time not ‘easedropping’ on signers. There was a couple in the table next to us at a restaurant and once I noticed they were signing… I sooooo wanted to see what I could remember but wouldn’t that be the same as someone leaning over our table so they could listen to what we were saying? I did manage to resist finally! 😀
Welcome aboard Waspi Girl! Cheers once more to you!
Great story, Maureen. I have the same problem – I want to practice sign and have the hardest time not being nosy and obnoxious when deaf people are having a conversation! When you know sign, it is so frustrating that everybody can’t just communicate at a distance with their hands, or in a noisy room, or to have a side conversation, or to talk to their kids without being disruptive, or underwater, or to other drivers, or to not have to hear their annoying private conversation, or in emergencies, or to have a universal world language, or to have fun, or to be able to communicate with deaf people, or for when you get older and lose your hearing … or on and on and on. It’s an overlooked treasure nobody should miss out on – you don’t have any idea how useful it is until you learn even a little and pass it on to your kids.
Frappa-what? 🙂 Great analogy, I quite like it.
More seriously, I’m a language geek who’s been increasingly interested in ASL. I’m a Japanese translator by trade, and have had fun studying Māori, Hawaiian, Chinese, Korean, German, Spanish, Dutch, and now Navajo. So where would one go online to find teach-yourself-ASL type materials? I’m all eyes. 🙂