This month, Florida State College at Jacksonville is holding events to help hearing people understand deaf culture.
Seminars called “Deafology 101” kicked off the month.
Their purpose was to expose people of all ages to the deaf community, teach appropriate terminology, and allow hearing people to interact with deaf people by turning off their voices and learning some basic sign language skills.
Rachelle Settambrino is a deaf professor at FSCJ who teaches American Sign Language. Through an interpreter, she says the programs taught communication strategies and some dos and don’ts of deaf culture.
“You can text back and forth or write back and forth. If you know sign, sign back and forth or gesture,” she says. “And in general, deaf people can read and write. We have eyes; we are not blind. Braille is for blind people. So, those are a lot of the misconceptions encountered as deaf people.”
Next Tuesday and Wednesday, the school will host two performances by a deaf actor, and a lunch where people will be encouraged to practice sign language.
John Maucere is the star of “No Ordinary Hero: The Superdeafy Movie.” He will perform in American Sign Language twice on Tuesday, Feb. 23: at 10 a.m. at the FSCJ Kent Campus, 3939 Roosevelt Boulevard, Room F-128; and at 6:30 p.m. at the downtown campus, 101 W. State St., Room A-1068.
Then on Wed., Feb. 24, from 11:45 a.m. to 1 p.m., the “open campus” at 9911 Old Baymeadows Road will host a signing lunch at the campus Subway restaurant to allow people to practice American Sign Language skills and interact with the community.
