The play is the story of a Hans a Deaf political prisoner who struggles to survive in Sachsenhausen and later in the Auschwitz concentration camp.

This original production by Teater Manu, an award-winning NationalDeaf Theater in Oslo, has toured extensively across Norway and abroad. With four of Norway’s most dynamic actors, it is performed in both ASL and English.

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Lauren does not cease to impress all for being on the forefront of empowering and advocating for the signing community. Congratulations, Lauren, on your SignTalk Award, and we can’t wait to see you on The Walking Dead! Rumor has it that her first appearance will be on Sunday, October 28th.

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What’s the best story on Broadway? Consider this: At age 40, Lauren Ridloff, a stay-at-home mom with no professional theater experience ever, and who is deaf, was offered a starring role.

“Is there a part of you that still can’t quite believe it’s real?” asked Wax.

Joshua Jackson and Lauren Ridloff in “Children of a Lesser God.” Photo by Matthew Murphy

“A part of me? No, all of me!” she laughed.

And Ridloff put all of herself into the performance in the revival of “Children of a Lesser God.” She plays Sarah, a cleaning woman at a school for the deaf who falls in love with an able-hearing teacher, played by Joshua Jackson.

When asked how unusual Ridloff’s story is in the business. Jackson said, “Oh, she’s a one of one. She is a totally unique woman, person, mother, and now actor.”

Ridloff was born deaf to hearing parents. As a child, she worked on using her voice to speak, but spending time at a camp with kids and counselors who communicated only with sign language, led to an awakening, as Lauren told Wax through her interpreter, Candace Broker Penn:
“And for the first time, I never had to use my voice to communicate clearly with anyone. And I realized I could speak without thinking so much about how to say what I had to say.

“So, when I got back home, I really told my family, in a sense I ‘came out’ to my family. I said, ‘I’m not going to use my voice anymore.’ And my family accepted that, and accepted who I was.”

She was asked, “Does this feel like a dream? “It’s a wonderful dream!” she replied.

To see the interview with Lauren, please see CBS News’ full article at https://www.cbsnews.com/news/tony-nominee-lauren-ridloff-children-of-a-lesser-god/

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As interpreters we play a large role in inclusion. We are often hired so one or two Deaf people can be included in a meeting or event. In a world with full access, rather than inclusion, everyone would sign, making interpreters unnecessary and making Deaf people full participants. While there are a few spaces where ASL is the dominate language and Deaf norms are upheld, this is unlikely to become the standard in American life any time soon. So, how can we help make the spaces we inhabit more egalitarian?

When I arrive at an assignment for the first time, I do not introduce myself as “John’s interpreter,” which bolsters the misconception that the interpreter is only present for the benefit of the Deaf person. I say, for example, “Hi, I’m Amy. I’m the class’s interpreter for the semester,” or “I’ll be the interpreter for your meeting.” I want to start our working relationship with a clear signal that everyone in the room is using my services.

This mindset extends to how we use CDIs. I don’t say, “The consumer needs a CDI.” This implies that the deficit resides in the Deaf consumer, who lacks some quality that does not allow him or her to use a hearing interpreter alone. Actually, the deficit lies in the hearing consumer who does not know sign language, and in me, who does not know the foreign sign that the consumer uses, or does not have the skills to communicate with a consumer with nonstandard language use.   Rather, I say that “the meeting requires a CDI,” or even that I lack the skills to communicate with this specific consumer and therefore require a CDI as a team to effectively facilitate communication.

Do these subtle changes in language make a difference? I can’t be sure. But as an interpreter who respects the power of language to communicate one’s beliefs and perspectives, I believe that words matter. By choosing words that do not contribute to the audist assumptions that spoken English is the natural language in any environment and only Deaf people need accommodations, I believe I’m chipping away at the assumptions too many of our hearing consumers make.

One challenge facing most every interpreter is negotiating turn-taking between signing and speaking participants in a meeting. Many hearing interpreters, myself included, privilege spoken comments over signed comments, forcing the Deaf participants to wait longer to get their points across. When a Deaf consumer begins signing at the same time that a hearing consumer begins to speak, do we interrupt the hearing person to prioritize the Deaf person’s right to contribute? While there are many factors to consider, including the formality of the meeting and the relative statuses of the participants, too often hearing interpreters relay hearing people’s comments first. This is the very nature of “inclusion”: Deaf people may participate, but never at the expense of any hearing person’s power.

To combat my habit of favoring what I hear over what I see, I make a special effort to begin speaking, in order to take the floor, as soon as a Deaf consumer begins signing. Depending on the dynamics of the situation, I may use a comment such as, “I want to jump in here to share my perspective on this…” or “Not to interrupt, but I did want a chance to say….” These introductory phrases can smooth over any overlap or competition for the right to speak. They also can fill the silence while you’re receiving the message and formulating an English interpretation before you begin voicing.

My perspective has shifted through the years. Instead of viewing my role as providing Deaf people with access to the hearing world, I now see how I can help transform the spaces where I work into level playing fields, where Deaf people may freely contribute to a project, influence their colleagues, or guide the conversation. Until every person learns to sign, we will be in the rooms where inclusion can, hopefully, transform into full participation.

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This story rubbed me the wrong way for a few reasons. The man has the right under the American with Disabilities Act to a paid note-taker of his choosing. He should not have had to be accompanied by his mother to attend classes and have access to note-taking. I can only imagine the impediments Marty faced to making friends or asking for dates while attending class with his mother. Was he less willing to participate in class, afraid of asking a simplistic question or giving a wrong response in front of his mother? Was she even a skilled note-taker, and was she willing to adapt her style to suit her son/consumer, or did she think she knew best?   None of these questions is answered, because not one of them was asked — or at least not reported on in the published story.How often are Deaf consumers ignored while hearing teachers, doctors or co-workers speak directly to the interpreter? Hearing people who have made no effort to get to know their Deaf colleagues or classmates are never shy to ask the interpreter how to say something in ASL, or inquire whether we have Deaf people in our families or how we got involved in the interpreting profession. Of course, I often defer to the Deaf consumer to answer questions about ASL and the Deaf community, but I have to wonder why do these people ask me in the first place, instead of the Deaf person whom they’ve known for months or years?

Chapman University took this focus on the service provider to an extreme by granting Marty’s mother an honorary degree for being her son’s note-taker. She did not pay tuition, nor did she take any tests or write any papers. She had not accomplished extraordinary achievement in the field of business, as most all honorary MBA degree recipients have. She was a service provider for a person who had the legal right to the service, and she worked for free, allowing the university to avoid the cost. For this, she was rewarded with a degree others work for years to earn.

Years ago, the Deaf actress Marlee Matlin appeared on The Tonight Show, and the host, I believe it was still Johnny Carson at the time, asked questions of Matlin’s interpreter, Jack Jason. This was long before I was an interpreter—I had only begun learning ASL—but I remember wondering why Carson was directing questions to the interpreter when Matlin was his guest. While it’s understandable that the language barrier can seem daunting to hearing people who don’t sign, interpreters are present to bridge the gap, not widen the chasm. Let’s not allow hearing people’s focus on us to be one more obstacle to Deaf people’s full participation in their gatherings, or in forming direct relationships with others.

Interpreters, note-takers and other service providers do important work. In the best-case scenario, they allow Deaf people and people with disabilities to better connect with their teachers, co-workers, health care providers. In the worst cases, they block those connections, stealing the attention and forming relationships of their own, rather than acting as a conduit for their consumers. In short, we can stand between our Deaf and hearing consumers so each must look around us to see the other, or we can stand behind our Deaf consumers as they face the wider world.

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Photo by Jennifer Wilkinson http://www.consciouscontactli.com/about.html

I wholeheartedly encourage everyone in the world to try yoga – I practice regularly up to five or six times a week. It has changed my life — helped me be a better mother, gotten me through rough patches in my life, brought me better health, more energy, and a sense of inner well- being.

A few months ago, I suggested to a deaf friend that she come to yoga with me. She immediately responded, “Well, I would love to… but I can’t. I’m deaf. How will I follow the class?” I said, “What do you mean, you CAN’T? Of course you CAN. Just show up to class. I’ll be there by your side, and I guarantee you will feel comfortable.”

Thankfully, she agreed.

I arrived 20 minutes early to prepare my teacher at the yoga studio in Greenpoint, Brooklyn for the deaf yogi that would be attending her class. I’m an ASL interpreter and I taught her a few basic signs — breathe, inhale, exhale, child’s pose, relax — and told her to teach the class just as she always does. I arranged my friend’s mat and props in the center row so that she would have a clear sightline of all angles and students.

I arranged my mat next to hers — I didn’t plan on interpreting in front of the class, but rather alongside her.

When my friend arrived she seemed nervous yet excited. Throughout the practice I used touch signals to let her know when to open and close her eyes or to change movement. When we were lying on our backs for back bends or seated pigeon, I would hold her hand and squeeze it to communicate any new information. When we were both in downward dog (Adho Mukha Svanasana) pose, I lifted my right hand slightly and finger spelled LEG then moved my right arm up and bent it at the elbow. She knew to lift her right leg and bend it while following others in the class. I did the same with the left arm when it came time to do the other side.

All the while, I was reminding her to breathe so she understood the importance of Ujjayi breath (a technique used in most yoga practices). I was continuously signing inhale or exhale whenever I had a free hand. Breathing is definitely the most important part of yoga. This Ujjayi breath is a friction breath creating an audible sound on the throat which is often heard by the students. At one point I took my friends’ hand to my throat so she could feel the friction on my throat of the exhale. and then had her watch my nose and belly as I took a deep inhale. I described fogging up a mirror with the exhale. This amazing sound gives not only a focus to the practice but also creates heat in the body as well.

The class (although not as focused for me as my regular practice) was an incredible experience. My friend signed up for a class card. Success!

After that experience, I attended an ASL weekend yoga/meditation retreat in Delaware County. I was one of two hearing individuals. The entire weekend was conducted in ASL. It was a life changing experience for me. We practiced yoga, reiki, meditation, and ate family meals together, sharing stories. I came back from this retreat hopeful that more yoga studios would accommodate deaf and hard of hearing students. Where are all the classes for deaf people, I wondered?

Doing my part, I invited another deaf friend to join me for yoga at my studio. This time I interpreted in front of the class. I knew that once I interpreted for my friend a few times she would be able to follow a class on her own.

The teacher and students were all excited to have an interpreter up front. To interpret this class successfully and smoothly, I wore yoga clothes. I demonstrated poses for her once in a while and needed to be prepared.

Many of the asanas (poses) call for eyes closed or head down, so I had to get creative. I signed inhale and exhale on my friends’ back often. When she was in downward dog, I took my fist resembling the head of a person and shook it lightly from side to side directly in her sightline.

She immediately shook her head from side to side. When the teacher instructed the class to hollow out the belly and pull it up towards the spine, I took my left hand and signed a scooping motion of the belly while simultaneously pinching up at her back, pulling it up like a parachute so that she could actually feel it. She totally understood to pull her belly button into her spine.

When it was time to slowly stand up, vertebrae by vertebrae, I signed SLOWLY on her arm then walked my two fingers upwards from her wrist to her elbow.

Child’s pose (balasana) is a simple pose but one in which the head is down and the eyes remain closed. During this pose I signed on both her arms and back. When it was time to lift up her head I drummed my fingers lightly on her mat by her head. She lifted her head.

When she was in shoulder stand (sarvangasana), I stood directly in front of her legs and signed above her. I always made sure to have clear sight lines and bent MY body so as not to interrupt the flow of HER body.

In shavasana (corpse pose) I held firmly onto her ankle. and signed EYES CLOSE. She kept her eyes closed and was able to relax, not wondering when to open them because she felt the firmness of my grasp. The teacher went around massaging oil into our chests, necks and temples. I saw my friend smile in full relaxation mode while inhaling the scent of lavender. When the teacher instructed, after five minutes or so, to bring back the breath, wiggle fingers and toes and wake up the body, I lightly let go of her ankle and she opened her eyes. An unspoken trust.

Practicing side by side OR interpreting with/for a deaf friend requires mindfulness, compassion and a knowledge of yoga. The physical and spiritual experience can be incredibly rewarding for both. It is so empowering for a Deaf person to walk into any class at any time and say, I CAN and I will. All it takes is a human body and soul. And of course, breath.

Resources for Deaf yoga:

www.deafhoodyoga.com
www.deafyoga.org
www.consciouscontactli.com/about.html
www.deafrootsandwings.com
www.yogajournal.com/category/poses

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But welcoming potential signers will go a long way in opening up communication between Deaf people and the rest of the hearing population. This is a good thing.

• Interpreters don’t have a monopoly on communication. We aren’t going to lose our jobs if teachers, lawyers, nurses, mechanics, and baristas decide to take an ASL class. Not everyone wants to be an interpreter even if they do want to become youTube stars by interpreting Bruno Mars songs.
• Hearing signers open up communication. We’ve all seen Rebecca King order her frappuccino from Katie Wyble via the Evolution Screen at the St. Augustine, FL Starbucks. What made that interaction possible, along with technology, was hearing signers, not interpreters. Ms. Wyble is one of a handful of signers at that Starbucks.  Ms. Wyble was smitten the first time she saw ASL, so she studied it for 4 years.  Her studies helped her do her job well and made Ms. King’s day. St. Augustine has a huge signing community as the Florida School for the Deaf and Blind is located there. The large signing community makes it easy for Starbucks to hire signing baristas.
• Native ASL users live among us. ASL differs from other foreign languages in that many non-English speakers may understand sufficient English with which to communicate and may improve their English skills with time. (I took 2 years of high school Russian and have never said more than da or niet to any native user.) But often ASL is the only language accessible to native users. Therefore, ASL students may have the opportunity to interact with Deaf people in their own neighborhood.
• ASL feels accessible to hearing Americans. Unlike other foreign languages, ASL doesn’t threaten English speaking Americans, either because we code it in English or because it’s a manual language. Whatever the case, Americans are willing to take ASL and practice it almost immediately, by approaching complete strangers and awkwardly signing, “H-I. My name is A-M-B-E-R.”
• Signing students have exposure to Deaf culture.   Hearing people who become ASL signers will naturally learn much about Deaf culture and to  appreciate the Deaf accent. As more people include Deaf people among their community of friends and acquaintances, there will be more acceptance and fewer acts of discrimination, like this one.

So, the next time an eager, potential signer tells you ASL is beautiful, invite them in. A warm response–It is a beautiful language! Learn it!–will go a long way in creating an abundance of recreational signers.

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