Silent discussion conducted by hands
E-mail story
It's easy. Send a link to the story you were just reading to a friend. Just fill out the form on this page and we'll send it along.
Your name and e-mail address are transmitted to the recipient. Otherwise, it is considered private information; see Privacy policy.
WASHINGTON, D.C.
At first glance, it's a religion class like any other. The teacher projects an electronic slide on the wall with an illustration of Ammon tending King Lamoni's sheep, then poses a question. Students scan the pages of the Book of Mormon, zeroing in on Alma 18. Several hands go up, and the instructor calls on someone.
It soon becomes apparent that this is no ordinary classroom as the student steps in front of the class, sets the scriptures down, and begins to answer with both hands in American Sign Language. Her facial expressions help communicate her ideas. As fellow students add their comments, many hands and fingers start flying at once in a silent yet animated discussion.
This class of 18- to 30-year old college students meets each Friday in the interdenominational chapel of the student center at Gallaudet University in Washington, D.C., which serves people who are deaf. The university, signed into law by Abraham Lincoln in 1864, offers its 1,500-plus students a wide range of undergraduate and graduate degrees. Every subject and class is taught in ASL.
Jack Rose, who instructs this class, learned ASL while a missionary in Los Angeles, 1969-71. Although he coordinates seminaries and institutes in a widespread region of northern Virginia, he picked the Gallaudet University Institute class to teach because he speaks the language common to the deaf. He consulted on the Church's 14-year-project to translate the Book of Mormon into ASL and uses the video along with many other visuals in the class.
Brother Rose says the opportunities for people who are deaf are better now than they've ever been. He quotes Isaiah 29:18: "And in that day shall the deaf hear the words of the book," noting that it wasn't until the 1500s that people who were deaf were considered capable of learning. With ASL, their own deaf branch and institute, they can now "hear" the gospel in their own tongue.
All of the dozen or so members of the institute class are either current or recent Gallaudet University students, and nearly all are completely deaf. About 70 percent of them are converts to the Church in recent years. They come to institute for the same reasons their peers attend institute all over the world: gospel learning, good friends, spiritual uplift and support in upholding gospel standards.
"The university [atmosphere] is a huge challenge to moral values," said Melissa Forkner. "Coming to institute helps me feel that I'm not alone in my beliefs. Every week, I need the Spirit it brings." She referred to institute as a light in the GU community that draws many nonmembers to the Church's standards.
She met her husband in this class three years ago after Damian Forkner left his job as head of ASL at the Missionary Training Center in Provo and transferred to Gallaudet to study social work and athletic coaching. She was majoring in theater production and drama. They married two years ago.
They are now expecting their second child; their firstborn son passed away hours after his birth. The Forkners say they felt the support and love of their institute friends during that sad time.
"Institute helped me through difficult challenges and tests," Sister Forkner said. "I could understand God's plan for me, my son, and our family. It fed me, and the other students fed me and helped me get through."
"Institute here is invaluable," said Billy Kendrick, a hearing person who learned ASL on a mission to New York City and now serves as president of the Washington D.C. Deaf Branch. (Most of its 60 members are associated with GU.) President Kendrick displays a gift for interpreting fluidly in ASL at the same time he's speaking English.
"The pressures on the students here are the same as they are at other non-LDS campuses," he said while speaking with both his voice and hands. "Institute is a refuge and a safe place to come."
Kati Morton agreed. An unusual member of the class, from Pleasant Grove, Utah, she is a hearing graduate student in deaf studies and history at Gallaudet. As the only Latter-day Saint in her dorm, she values institute as an opportunity to connect with other LDS students.
In addition, she said, "By coming here, I can be away from everything — the pressures of school and the influences of the 'world.' It gives me spiritual uplift."
Other students in the institute class represent a wide range of age and experience, but they are bound by their common sign language.
Anthony Davis recently moved his wife and four children from California to Maryland to attend Gallaudet University after his partial hearing loss from childhood suddenly became total. He is working toward a master's degree in social work as he tries to learn the language that will open the world of communication to him again. He and his family attend the deaf branch in Hyattsville, Md., where his children — all hearing — are learning to sign the Primary songs as they listen to them on CDs.
Amanda Hackett, majoring in history and secondary education, joined the Church in St. Augustine, Fla., with her mother in 2006. She serves as the current president of the Latter-day Saint Student Association at the school. She sees the organization as an opportunity to develop leadership skills as well as identity. Institute and LDSSA support each other.
"[Gallaudet] Institute is a place where deaf people can come together and learn the gospel," she said. LDSSA provides weekly activities.
Kilee Bennett, from Orem, Utah, was born deaf, to deaf parents. She served a full-time mission speaking ASL in Phoenix and Tucson, Ariz., and Houston, Texas. She was thrilled to discover LDSSA when she recently arrived at Gallaudet to study emotional and mental health counseling. She serves as vice-president of the organization.
Damian Forkner, who is a former LDSSA president and now treasurer, believes the organization helps the Latter-day Saint students become known on campus as they seek opportunities to serve and participate with other organizations. Hand in hand with institute, it "helps build character and a love of Christ and His gospel."
NOTE: The school was named after Rev. Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet, a pioneer in education for the deaf and founder of the American School for the Deaf.
