Tanya Ruys
Words: 209
[Essay]

I came across this comment while reading an entry in someone's Livejournal:

"There is a boy who sits behind me who is deaf, and he looks like he'd be really cool to talk to. I wish I could get to know him but I don't know how to sign. It's too bad, really . . ."

Do many non-signing people really think they HAVE to know sign in order to converse with those who do sign? I think of all the wonderful connections we miss out on because of such misconceptions. And it's not only with non-signers, too. Signers are guilty of the same crime. I've had friends say to me:

"She looks like she'd be really cool to talk to. I wish I could get to know her but I don't know how to speak and she doesn't know any sign."

Doesn't it occur to either party that speaking and signing aren't the only ways to communicate, and that a common ground DOES exist? After all, when it all boils down to the basics, we DO speak the same language. Isn't it the CONNECTION that's important here, not the METHOD? You'd think that would be worth the extra effort it takes to say "Hi."

It's too bad, really.