HANDS-ON LESSON IN APPRECIATION

Sign language -- it's been around for almost 400 years and still is used today by deaf people around the world.

It also is being studied by hearing people. Whether their interest is learning a new way to communicate or simply to gain high school credits, many hearing students are taking sign language classes each year.

Sandra Delph is a free-lance sign language interpreter who also teaches American Sign Language to home-schooled teens once a week. Y-Press talked with three of Delph's students, who meet at Meridian Church of God on the city's Far Southside.

These students had different reasons for learning sign language. April Webster, 15, wanted to communicate with deaf people at her church.

Amy Cunningham, 15, wanted to learn another language. "I don't have to go to a Mexican community and talk to those people. There's deaf people all over the place.''

Joel Hutton, 14, saw a future benefit to learning sign language. "This class is good for my college and future job resumes.''

Each week, Delph leads the class in a variety of activities. First, she tells the students about her week as a translator or about the deaf community and culture. Then they watch ASL videos and practice finger spelling.

Sometimes she gives the kids home work assignments, asking them to find information on a topic, then translate it into ASL for a class.

"We have members of the class go up and they'll have sentences prepared, and they'll sign to the rest of the class and we'll have to figure out what it is," Joel explained.

These hourlong classes are fun, but a lot of work.

"It takes more acting and creativity than just speaking to people," said April.

Delph takes the students on field trips so they can see what deaf people go through every day.

"Last year we went to McDonald's as a field trip, and we had to be completely silent the whole time," Amy said. "We had to order in sign, or if people couldn't understand, we wrote everything down, and we had to talk to each other using sign language.

"We kind of got strange looks, but the cashiers were really nice."

The students have found those field trips very useful. Now when they are faced with situations in which they need to use sign language, they can.

Joel described one situation he handled at Ritter's Frozen Custard, where he works. "This lady came up to the window, she wanted a Boilermaker, so she did something with Purdue. I had no clue what she meant. I asked her to finger-spell it, and she did and I understood it. I gave her what she wanted, gave her her change and she left.''

Amy said her ASL training has given her confidence. "Now I'm not afraid anymore because I understand most of it, and I can communicate with them. If I ever come in contact with a deaf person, I won't be afraid to let them know I can communicate with them and help them understand things."

These three now have an idea of how difficult it is to not be able to hear.

"I think (deaf people) feel really discriminated against because they're people just like we are. It's not their fault they have to speak a different language, and their language deserves just as much as respect as our language does," Amy said.

April agreed. "Before, I kind of used to think that they were handicapped or something, but now they seem more like normal people who just have a different way of life."

ASSISTANT EDITOR: Cameron Johnson, 16.

REPORTERS: Patrick Beyer, 12; Zack Jernigan, 12; and Courtney Sampson, 13.