hello! we're in big bear
remember yesterday, i told you that we have a special treat
for you today, well today my treat is that
i'm interviewing him.
interviewing him.
i remember vlog: deaf party vlog
and i noticed that many people were interested
in the interview of Jenna
that i decided to ask him if it is alright with
him, to interview him.
alright. ok.
so, first of all what is your name?
My name is Israel (sign name)
were you born deaf, hard of hearing or hearing?
I was born hearing
oh born hearing? what happened?
now, you are deaf or hard of hearing?
right now i would see myself as
hard of hearing or oral
I was born hearing,
but at the age of two, i was sick
with scarlett fever
you were raised orally?
do you mind explaining what its like
growing up orally?
explain about school
well, i lost my hearing
at the age of two
my mom wanted to make the decision
for me to go to a hearing, well not hearing but
but, yes, a hearing school but
that hearing school had an oral program for deaf and hard of hearing
growing up oral, i never heard of or saw
sign language until the age of 14
but, going back,
when i was young, growing up, growing up oral,
it felt like
it was tough. there were many obstacles
many obstacles to face.
but sometimes i struggled with hearing
and i have to ask people to repeat
what they said, you know?
sometimes that would frustrate people
my friends, my hearing parents,
my hearing parents that don't know sign but
but i still managed to have converstations with
with anyone with no problems.
but sometimes, i'm not saying perfect but i do have some
obstacles.
so you said you learned sign language at age 14
yes.
how?
well that's when i first met ryan
in high school
we played on the same football team
and i surprisingly found out that he was in my sign language class
and i thought "he knows sign language!"
but, he was there to help the hearing learn more about sign
we started hanging with another deaf friend
too, Austin
The three of us took ASL classes together.
good times! good times.
so, that's when i started learning asl,
i learned it through him and other deaf friends
they brought me to hangout with deaf people
i saw the culture, and thought it very different and fascinating
and
i liked it
so, speaking of culture,
now, outside of school
and an educational setting,
do you feel like you identify more with the hearing or deaf community?
i don't identify myself
hearing or deaf.
i don't believe there is two different worlds
but i can respect that there are boundaries
and i can respect that there is a culture difference
speaking of boundaries,
do you feel like you are better suited
to cross that boundary between deaf and hearing?
yes, yes i do feel very much suited
because i feel like it was beneficial
in a hearing world, when hearing people look at me,
they look at me as an asset for deaf people
you know? like interpreting converstations between deaf and hearing
sometimes i can have some, have deaf friends
and be able to put my deaf friends with my hearing friends
it's good, beneficial to some of my hearing friends learning how to sign
its pretty good
so..
yes, two worlds but i don't see it as two worlds
like i said before,
i respect that there's a culture
and i respect that, and boundaries too
but to me they're the same
in deaf culture, they have a language
i learned that
and hearing culture has a multitude of languages too
so i see it as one. one people
i don't see myself
as deaf or hearing
a lot of people can label me anything they want
but if they want to "label" me
i would prefer them to say
"oh he's oral" because
i, not the best of both worlds but
i was going between both worlds
so it feels like one to me
last question i think i have for today,
do you feel that
i know you said this already but
i want to clarify,
do you feel
thankful, that you grew up orally?
and have more
knowledge, knowledge about the hearing
and the ability to communicate?
does that make it easier for your life?
yes, i feel very happy/ thankful
that i was orally educated.
because, i'm able to speak
and hear conversations with my family
if i was not raised and had a learning oral education,
i would not learn how to talk in spanish
wow! you speaks spanish?
yes.
speaks spanish, english (spoken) and sign language, three!
Just call me tri-lingual
i feel thankful because
if i was not orally educated
maybe i would feel lost,
i would still have to find my identity
i wouldn't know what college career path that i would pick, you know?
so, yes i was placed in
an oral program with a lot of kids who are deaf
and in the same situation as i was in
but, it worked for me
not because i'm lucky, but because i worked hard
after school, i would go through intensive speech therapy
to improve my speech
well, i hope you all found that interview,
well, small interview interesting
thank you for being on our vlog.
i appreciate it
Thank you for having me
so, both of us would
like to ask you
to support, show support
donate to the deaf community
through GLAD INC
Another good thing you get from supporting
and donating on Patreon
is that you can see our FULL big bear trip
early, before we post it onto youtube
and we will show you early
so please don't forget to suscribe
subscribing , that's important!
and, donate to the deaf community
SIGNDUO OUT