I attended my first Deaf event on February 9th, 2017 in the Siverson Lounge here at Augustana University. The event title was ASL open house, and I attended from 5:30-7 P.M. Going into an experience like a Deaf event my nerves were running high for fear of the communication barrier that somewhat persists. I had previously learned from ASL-110 that the Deaf community is very welcoming to new signers, but my anxiety level does not seem to quite understand that concept. I feel much more comfortable signing and communicating with people who are on the same skill level that I am, but the requirements state otherwise so I branched out to find new people to communicate with. While attending the Deaf event I signed with a few old classmates that I had gotten to know fairly well from my interim class. But along with those friends, I signed to Brooke, an interpreting major, and Leroy, a Deaf person who lives here in Sioux Falls. I felt that it was much easier to understand Brooke because she was very animated with her signing. She told a group of us about her experiences as an interpreting major and how she took a level two class before a level one and it was the worst mistake of her …show more content…
Leroy was less animated with his signs, but also signed faster than I was able to understand. Luckily, one of the members of the lab staff was able to help me comprehend the information Leroy was sharing with me. That night I learned the sign for funeral because he was explaining to me about his wife and the type of work she does as a secretary/call-assistant for a funeral home. Eventually I was able to understand more as he slowed his signing down to accommodate my knowledge. This small gesture goes to show to acceptance that the Deaf community possesses because Leroy very easily could have continued to sign at his normal pace, but instead he put the effort forward for me to understand and grow in my