Hear The Voice Of The Deaf

Growing up, the general understanding was that the basic needs of man are three; food, clothing and shelter, and without these, survival is just impossible. Even the eminent Abraham Maslow belabors this view, terming it among others as physiological needs of man.

Opposed to this acceptance rather, I think someone did a poor research by not including communication. How possibly could we attain any of these 'basic needs' without engagement with others? Communication is very relevant, and it's up there with the basic needs echoed in our ears over the years.

According to Dr. Louann Brizendine, the average woman utters about 20,000 words a day while the average man spews only about 7,000 a day. Thus, it isn't surprising ladies always need in large quantities, airtime, of which forms part of the drain of a man's pocket usually after the popular tune, “can you please send me some credit?” LOL

For us who utter words in speech, we might wonder how we could go a day without speaking, and still be able to communicate. Grossly impeding and discomforting that will be, but sadly, that's the situation some fellow human beings - through no fault of theirs, though, - find themselves in, using every means possible to convey information.

The cause? - A congenital speech defect.

The Deaf, as defined by the Advanced English Dictionary are people who have severe hearing impairments. As a linguist, I am well fascinated about how they communicate, using strong facial expressions, finger spelling and nuances. Per adventure you have come by someone with this defect their strides defying dumbness with sign language, then, you have a clue to why I write this piece.

Many of us have attempted using non-verbal means of communication where we were barred from using speech, but woefully we failed. A classic reminder is the days in basic school where more than half of the class gets punished because they have gone contrary to a two word command of “keep quiet!!” May be, we all needed to have taken lessons in sign language to have not been culpable.

Sign Language (SL) was introduced into Ghana by Reverend Andrew Jackson Foster in 1957. He (Rev. Foster) then opened a school in Osu in Accra, where he taught the American corrupted Ghanaian SL. This language became the official SL and is currently being used mostly by the educated. The students of Akropong School of the deaf are one of such people.

After this introduction, there has been the emergence, but rather, steady growth of various village sign languages in the country. There are about 45 SL in Ghana, each language however, having distinct signs depending on its society of emanation. What this means is that, for instance, a fist lifted slightly above the chest and pointing into the face will have different meanings in different communities, thus, making the study of sign language even more difficult.

My admonishment, however, as a sign linguist is to drum down the necessity of paying a tad more attention to the deaf in spite of the challenges. Long they have been harshly treated as though they are not a part of the human race, and ignored without any consideration.

Deaf and dumb they are but they have a voice with which they speak, and ears with which they hear – Signs.

Just how enthused we are about learning speech languages such as French, Chinese, and Russian for interaction, we could channel at least a quarter of such zeal into learning sign language too. Our familiarity with just the rudiments of SL will inspire us to say hi or hello, and trust me, the response will be one to relish.

I appeal that we find the need to acquire the ability to sign and develop interest for the deaf. Also, we owe it to them to treat them with respect and recognise that though they can't talk, they can communicate. Let's make moves to hear their voices by saying something first. This initiative will breed co-existence and acceptance and eject segregation and discrimination.

I charge you to educate yourselves with Ghanaian SL to safe this ebbing gap and relationship with the deaf. 'Deafness is not Dumbness.'!!

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