The Deaf Mute Howls

12 .THE UNBRIDGED GULF

THE UNBRIDGED GULF A GREAT MANY of the deaf are employed at manual labor side by side with hearing co-workers. Throughout the day they must limit conversation to matters pertaining to the work at hand. At the close ofthe day, each seeks the company ofhis own kind. At their clubs, fraternities, etc. congregate all classes of the deaf and hard-ofhearing . No matter how they may differ in tastes, mentality, race or religion, they are thrown together. When differences arise, to the point that they become intolerable, certain factions break camp, and form other clubs. But the new ones are always ofthe same sort, composed of all species, and, as always, shut away from the mass ofhumanity that hears. The deep, wide gulfbetween the deaf and hearing remains unbridged. The enforced herding inherited from school life gives rise to the erroneous beliefthat the deaf are, by nature, clannish, narrow, and class-conscious. All they need is a bridge-a means ofconversation -to connect them with those that hear. Then the deaf as a CLASS will disappear altogether and forever. I propose to present a picture ofthis bridge, a bridge ofwonderful solidarity, guaranteed to last. The material to build it abounds on every side; it is evident at all times. To see it without giving it notice or appreciating its true value, we are as blind as when we saw steam without realizing its power until one John Watt showed us how it could benefit mankind.1 How many millions ofmen had I. Presumably, Ballin means James Watt, inventor ofthe steam engine. Ed. 51 THE DEAF MUTE HOWLS seen quadrillions of apples fall from trees before an Isaac Newton saw one-and thought about it for the first time? Did not his thinking result in an understanding of a fixed law? Ofwhat material is my bridge? Nothing more or less than the sign language, although still in the rough, unhewn and unpolished, as the deaf have used it. Now we should think about making it attractive . Remember that the American Indians use it among themselves and in their contacts with other tribes as a distinct language. They employ it in a form that is more dignified than the form of the deaf. But it is still lacking in artistry and limited in range. In a preceding chapter I have explained how it is used as emphasis in oral speech among the southern races, such as Italians, Greeks, French, etc. As one travels north, the use ofsigns and gestures lessens , until we find only traces among the English and inhabitants of colder climes. Perhaps the latter feel the cold too keenly to wish to take their hands out oftheir pockets. The instinct to use gestures has never been completely suppressed anywhere on the earth. It explains why deaf children take to signs and gestures as naturally and zealously as ducks to water when they find other mediums ofself-expression beyond them. It is a fact that hearing children learn the sign language more readily than do adults. I have met some learned college professors who wrestled with it for months, but in vain. What is the reason? My wife had four congenitally deaf brothers and sisters and therefore became accustomed to using signs from infancy. Naturally she was as proficient as they. Indeed, she can, when the whim seizes her, pass for a deaf-mute. Our firstborn surprised us by making signs for milk or water when only nine months old-long before she could stand or prattle one word. Our second child performed the same feat. We flattered ourselves that we had prodigies for offsprings and bragged to our married deaffriends. But they only laughed and demonstrated that their children acted the same, and at an earlier age than our children . Further investigations revealed the fact that hearing children 52 THE DEAF MUTE HOWLS ofdeafparents always excel in the elegance and brilliance ofexpression in signs. Furthermore, as normal children, blessed with all the five senses, they easily forge ahead, because they get a real education , and pass through many experiences and emotions that the deafdon't. As these truths, and a few others yet to be touched upon, grew clearer, I arrived at the conclusion that it was so easy to teach and to learn the sign language that there was no longer any valid reason why it should not be taken up by all. It should be...