American Sign Language & Deaf Culture Merge Cube VR App Idea
As of 2002 in the U.S., 0.64% of school-age children (ages 6–17) are hard of hearing or functionally Deaf. That is more than 1 in every 200 students (SIPP, 2001). And as of 2014, a significant portion of the U.S. population was Deaf and hard of hearing (D/HH); according to the National Health Interview Survey (2014), “15% of adults aged 18 and over were [D/HH] as of 2012.” But even with these high numbers, the majority of the U.S. population has little to no knowledge of either ASL or Deaf culture, even though the majority of Deaf children are born to hearing parents (Coyne, B.). Historically, in the U.S. D/HH children’s education strictly enforced English, denying almost any use of ASL. While this has started to change in recent years, the use of bilingual education for D/HH students is still not as commonplace as it should be, even though using a bilingual approach not only helps to develop cognitive learning skills, but also aids in the development of students’ positive D/HH culture identity (Hicks, 2014).
According to Hicks, using a bilingual format (using both English and ASL, as they are distinctly different languages) is, “the most effective way in educating [D/HH] students” as it helps to aid the, “development of student’s positive Deaf identity … it is imperative to valorize both of students’ languages” (Hicks, 2014). The first step is for hearing educators to integrate ASL into their programs. While an interpreter is extremely helpful, the initiative needs to come directly from the teacher. As Hicks says, “It is still unknown whether a students skill in fingerspelling helps with their literacy development or if a student’s literacy development helps with their fingerspelling, [however,] we do know there is a correlation and that we should fingerspell more often in the classroom” (2014). Every other handshape in ASL is based on the alphabet and number system; just learning these simple signs can be the first step in the right direction. The other main point Hicks makes is that visual learning aids are extremely helpful in aiding D/HH student learning.
So how can we spread knowledge of ASL and Deaf culture to the public, support D/HH students to learn bilingually, initiate the use of fingerspelling to support both literacy development and a positive Deaf identity, and create a hands on, visual learning platform that is easy for both teachers and parents to implement? Merge Cube VR tech was made as a hands on, visual educational tool, however, it has yet to be used to further the education of ASL and Deaf culture. The solution would be to develop a new, free, educational Merge Cube app that can be used to learn about not only sign language, but also Deaf culture.
Though I am not D/HH myself, and have no D/HH family members, this is something that I care deeply about. My first interaction with ASL and Deaf culture came from growing up next to Deaf neighbors. Our dogs didn’t get along with theirs, and in the midst of trying to sort it all out, it was quite clear what it meant to them that was made from my parents putting in the effort to learn just a few basic signs. As a side effect of this, I grew up knowing and using some simple signs with my parents (bathroom, mom, dad, eat, please, thank you, etc.), and even my dog’s command to come was actually the sign for dog. I took a few random ASL classes throughout school that I didn’t learn too much from, but I still decided to take ASL as my foreign language in high school. I completely lucked out in finding Becky Coyne, a local ASL interpreter and instructor who is CODA (Child Of a Deaf Adult), and have been taking ASL classes with her since then. During my time with Becky my knowledge of this beautiful language and culture has blossomed, and I do my best to share it, or at least spark an interest of it, with everyone I meet.
Citations
Blackwell, D. L., Lucas, J. W., and Clarke, T. C. 2014. “Summary health statistics for U.S.adults: National Health Interview Survey, 2012.” National Center for Health Statistics. Vital Health Stat 10(260).
Coyne, B. Unpublished class notes, 2017.
Hicks, M. M. 2014. “Going Green — an Environmental Studies Curriculum for Deaf Learners.” University of California, San Diego.
“Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP).” 2001. Wave 5, public use file.
