Looking back to September, many may not know it as Deaf Awareness Month. The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee held a week-long tribute to this annual event. Each day last week had a theme to it which displayed the pride of the deaf community, guiding those who were unfamiliar into their world.
Prior to this year, there was Deaf Day that took place in the spring. Deaf awareness week was just introduced to UWM last week and will be annually. But Marika T Kovacs-Houlihan, a teacher of American Sign Language (ASL) and coordinator of the program, says that “One week isn’t really enough.”
According to Jason Anderson, counselor for Deaf/ Hard of Hearing & Physical Disabilities, there are about fifty-five deaf/hard of hearing students registered at the Accessibility Resource Center. He also notes that there are probably many more out in the community that just don’t request accommodations.
“The week was actually International Deaf Awareness Week, but we wanted to highlight it for Milwaukee because we have such a large population of deaf and hard of hearing people (on and off campus), as well as a large number of students learning sign language. We also did not want to make this specifically a university event, but instead wanted people from all over to know more about D/HH culture.”
On Monday, September 22, mini-lectures were held at Enderis highlighting deaf history.
Tuesday held an exhibit showing off the artwork of Deaf Artist Susan Dupor and deaf students. It also had a large table for students to create their own artwork using cut-out shaped hands.
The Union Concourse sponsored an interactive display Wednesday that uncovered myths and facts about the deaf community, also involving a booth that allowed students to learn some sign language.
On Thursday there was a panel of members from the deaf community who talked about their experiences and answered questions concerning their lifestyle.
Later that day an ASL film, Versa Effect, produced and casted by people of the deaf community, was shown for students.
The last day, Friday, the signing Student Association hosted a sign and dine. Deaf Awareness Week ended with a performance by the Houlihan family and a comedy routine by Christopher Rawling.
Each day gave students an in-depth perspective of the deaf community which sometimes may be otherwise unrecognized. Kovacs-houlihan says as a community “We have a strong identity with our culture, community, and our language.” The key word of last week and all September was “awareness,” explaining deaf people are just people, and that they “don’t bite.”
Deaf Awareness Week is a teachable moment for those who are unaware of the identity of the deaf community. The community’s objective for the week was to get people to be more open-minded and come to acknowledge deaf people as the unique group they are.
Artist Susan Dupor is an art instructor at the Wisconsin School for the Deaf. Her artwork is meant to explain her view of the difference it is being deaf now from the era in which she grew up. She said that since many of the children she grew up with didn’t know sign language, she felt alienated. When asked about how it is now, she spoke of when she graduated high school nobody was interested in learning sign language. Now, at that same high school, sign language is the most popular foreign language offered there. “What I do see is more people that are able to sign and I think that is fantastic,” said Dupor. “That’s great, and I’m thankful for the ASL classes that are offered.”
Dupor also added that, “It’s not just about sign language. There are so many levels we are talking about. And one day cannot just cover all the many aspects. There are so many dimensions to the deaf community and deaf culture.”
Dupor explains that it’s supposed to be about the people, history and cultural decisions. She then expressed her happiness about being able to show the deaf culture through her artwork. “Having this opportunity to show deaf culture is a really rich experience…and it’s ongoing.”
UW-Milwaukee is known for being a diverse school, and the school believes showing its appreciation for the deaf community is a great way to express their pride of everyone on campus.
Deaf Awareness Week is a way to for everyone to take note of UWM’s ASL program. Its purpose is to show that it is just as important as anything else we celebrate throughout the year. It opens the minds of students and encourages them to learn and experience the deaf culture.