Deafness requires own language, expert says
Carole Brenton, of the Wycliffe Bible Translators, explains some of the intricacies of communication with the deaf to first- and second-graders at Moses Lake Christian Academy Tuesday.
MOSES LAKE - Does a deaf person in China use the same sign language to communicate as a deaf person in Kenya or Argentina?
The first- and second-graders at Moses Lake Christian Academy puzzled over that Tuesday. At first the kids were inclined to say there's only one sign language, but after they thought about it they weren't sure, because after all, spoken languages aren't the same.
And that was the point, Carole Brenton said, who was talking to the class about communicating with the deaf. Language is different, and sign language is still another difference.
Brenton works with the Wycliffe Bible Translators and the group's Global Language Team. Her goal is to work with deaf people overseas, and anywhere in the world will do, she said, although Kenya is her first choice.
She's in training for the overseas work, she said, and so far she's spent time in Kenya, Ethiopia, Ghana and Belize as part of the training process. She has 35 years experience in working with deaf people, she said.
She was in town to visit her sister, who is a teacher at MLCA, and talked to some of the classes while she was there.
She asked the first- and second-graders how they learned to talk, and that was kind of a difficult question. The kids decided they had learned by listening, and "that's how other children learn it too. They just listen. And listen and listen," she said. But deaf kids can't do that, because they can't hear. They can learn sign language, if their parents know it, but if their parents don't know it, they have to wait to meet someone who does know, she said.
And just like spoken languages, there are different rules for different sign languages, Brenton said.
In fact, deaf people all around the world face similar challenges, she said in a later interview. In her opinion there's definitely a deaf culture, she said, and it has similarities all around the world. "It's all the country, if you will, it's just spread out all over the globe."
Brenton said her goal is to teach deaf communication to people overseas, focusing on helping Christian pastors communicate with deaf people in their congregations.