The shuffling of feet, crinkling of paper, and an occasional giggle was all that could be heard as about 100 students filled the Curry Student Center Ballroom Thursday night.
They were there for Deaf Deaf World, an event that capped off the Northeastern University Deaf Club’s 2009 Deaf Awareness Week.
“Deaf Deaf World has two purposes, to help students practice their ASL (American Sign Language) and to help hearing people understand what being deaf in a hearing world feels like,” said NU Deaf Club President Sarah Honigfeld, who is deaf, speaking online through instant messaging.
During the event, participants had to complete everyday tasks like ordering a meal, going to the bank, and finding a job in silence.
There were seven stations the students had to visit: a restaurant, post office, bank, travel agency, bookstore, hospital, and employment office. At each station, students were graded on a scale of one through five, five being the highest, on how well they communicated, sincerity and enthusiasm shown, and effort put forth.
Law enforcement officers, some disguised as hearing people, patrolled the event, deducting points from anyone who spoke.
“We have a very small deaf community, so these types of events help raise awareness throughout campus, and hopefully that will allow more people to feel comfortable interacting with deaf people by seeing what deaf culture is like,” Honigfeld said.
Twice throughout the event the lights turned off as a video flashed “Special Report” on a projector screen. Both times, a man appeared on the screen singing an emergency message, with no spoken interpretation. The reports were meant to simulate warnings for emergency situations.
Kim Gray, a member of NUDC, said she thought the emergency alert was one of the most important parts of the event.
“It really emphasizes the exclusion that most deaf people feel from the hearing world,” Gray, who is also deaf, said in a text message to The News.
After the second emergency,Deaf Club Advisor Jim Lipsky, who is also deaf, brought the event to a halt and gave a short speech in sign language, which was spoken through an interpreter.
“How do you think deaf people feel in an emergency like that? Do they just follow the line? Sometimes the announcement is signed but mostly it’s spoken and we don’t know what’s going on. It’s a very serious situation,” Lipsky said in the speech.
He and other deaf people went on to share first and second-hand accounts of times when being deaf has put them in danger. Accounts ranged from Sept. 11, 2001 to being deaf in an African village.
“His speech was very good — I hope it helped the students make the connection between having Deaf Deaf World and how it’s really like for deaf people,” Honigfeld said.
John Alvarez, a sophomore history major who said he has taken two semesters of ASL, said an event like this helps to raise awareness.
“People will talk about it and get others to come next year,” he said. “It was fun, I’ll definitely be coming back.”
Activity recreates living in a deaf world
Published: Monday, October 5, 2009
Updated: Monday, October 5, 2009
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