This is What It’s Like

WEEK 1

I have been given the task of “pulling out” the deaf students from their classes in order to…, to what? At first I am given no direction. Antonio says, “maybe you_________” many times over, but there is nothing specific to fill in the blank. I am desperate for some instruction. What is the goal? It seems for the most part, according to Antonio, it is to teach English. For Anna, Ahinsa, Dennis, Diego, and Agnese this makes some sense to me. They are in the fourth and fifth grades, and with the exception of Ahinsa, are all deaf of deaf. This means that their first language (LIS or Italian sign) is well established, with all it’s component parts and nuances. They read, they write, and they communicate fluently. Conceivably, then, they can learn a foreign language- two actually, ASL and English.

But what about the little ones? Serena (of the eyes so big they swallow her face) is five. Pendo and Afiza are in second grade. They still have a long way to go in their first language, and as immigrants, I don’t think Italian is spoken in the home. Also their parents are not deaf and are not fluent signers. They are not reading and writing sufficiently well, so now I’m going to confuse them with two more languages? And there’s Bader and Rocco and Carmine (he deserves his own blog) and this is when my head begins to implode on itself and press on my eye sockets and make me wonder what have I done.

WEEK 2

I ask Antonio if we can look at the schedule again and if we can talk about the expectations. I explain that for Serena, it would be better if I were to stay in the classroom with her. He agrees. For Vicenzo, I explain that to take him away from his class for an hour when his Italian is poor would be a mistake. Possibly where he lives, the Neapolitan dialect or a mixture of that and Italian is the model. He needs to stay in the classroom and have excellent Italian/LIS models and I am simply not prepared to deliver on that. Antonio agrees.

As for the others and the hour-long one on one sessions, there is nothing but me, the child, an empty room, and air. So I beg some materials. A house with people and furniture, or a barn with animals and various props, some colored blocks. In other words, things I can use to create games. Things the kids can manipulate which will allow me to narrate their play and teach objects and movements and descriptors.

WEEK 3

Today we began our third week, and Antonio took me up to Suor Piera’s kindergarten class. There are some toys and a few drawers of manipulatives. Across the hall are a few bookshelves with some other materials I might be able to use. These things have been around for a while. Parts are missing or broken, but they are better than the nothing I’ve been working with, so I am happy.

AND SO…

In the meanwhile, I study my LIS and I am getting better with the help of Giovanna, a lovely young university student who works part time at the school. She is deaf, but she only learned sign three years ago. Her signs are gorgeous and trip off her long fingers so elegantly. She is eager to learn ASL, and so she and I swap signs whenever we see each other.

I know this was a rather long and pedantic description of my job, but I felt like I owed an explanation of what the heck I’m doing here.

I so wish I could include pictures of the kids, but it is forbidden until we leave here. Then I can insert them into the blog. Why it is ok after we leave? No idea. For now you have to take my word for it- I’ve got some of the sweetest, darlingest kids I could have ever dreamed up.

I love this school

I love these kids

I love this staff

I love this city

sono contenta!