I have come across a few situations where I have felt exceptionally hearing. In BSL, there is a sign for 'exceptionally and obviously hearing' where you create a H with your fingers and tap your index finger against the side of your head and then your mouth. In America, the variety of people I met were mostly accepting of the audiological status of my ears. I only had a few incidences where I felt a little bit judged or patronized but I felt labelled on one occasion. We had found an Art Gallery Tour given in ASL at the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York, named ArtSigns. There was two categories to book onto this tour: Deaf community or ASL student. I would not class myself as either: I am not studying ASL, I am studying a different sign language and I would not say I am a part of the Deaf community either, as much as I would like to be. Unfortunately, the ASL student tickets had sold out therefore I had no choice to book on as a Deaf community member. After all, what does that entail? Not just deaf people but hearing children of deaf parents or interpreters or friends of the deaf? I figured I could pass off as a member of the Deaf community for one tour.
I was wrong. According to the ArtSigns tour and the Whitney Museum, I am not a member of the Deaf community because I am not deaf. Upon arrival at the museum, we were handed from staff to staff until we found ourselves in the line for the ArtSigns goers. The four of us stepped up and considering how the thing was named 'ArtSIGNS', I was a bit shocked to find the woman behind the desk utterly clueless to the 'wavy hand thing' or y'know, the fully certified and hugely popular language. We were passed onto a deaf member of the team and the woman did not even try to understand her and reached for paper and pen. It was embarrassing and a little shocking that this lady works with a deaf member of the team but did not even know the sign for ticket. The deaf lady asked us if the whole party was deaf and upon finding out that no, we are not, asked us to buy a proper tickets for entry into the museum. I was told that this was because I was hearing. That was it.
I had to pay $18 for my ticket into the museum for an event that is free to deaf people. I couldn't understand why it mattered, I was still going to stand there and gawp at the tour guide just like everyone else. Sure I wasn't going to understand most of it but if I had kept my hands tied and mouth shut when they asked whether I was hearing or deaf then they would have been none the wiser. It states on the website that an ASL interpreter would be provided to give a voice-over and I apparently needed to pay for this because I was hearing. The deaf people did not need to pay because they did not need the interpreter- the tour was given in a language they could access. 
After silently whispering sorry to my wallet and handing over the cash and a few miss -communications later between the deaf and hearing staff, I finally received a ticket. I really, really wanted to see the tour after seeing one similar in DC but after all the fuss over different ticket prices, I found there wasn't an interpreter. I don't know what happened here, I didn't really care what I wanted to know was: where was my money going? How come the deaf members got in free for exactly the same service as me but I had to pay?
Despite the expense and the miscommunication, I really enjoyed socialising with the members of the Deaf community there, chatting to various people and explaining what we were doing in New York. It felt like I was really getting stuck in, like that night we went to the ASL coffee chat in Miami, not pushing myself to sign to much but making polite and simple conversation. It was worth going just for the socialising at the start, despite the looks and treatment I got from those on the tour that knew I was hearing and was not using an interpreter.
Luckily, an interpreter was provided for us when we visited Ground Zero, the 9/11 Memorial site. They had ASL interpretation, BSL interpretation and a few other signed languages available for the tour which was surprising as most of America didn't even have captions on TV. Seeing the tour translated into BSL and portrayed visually made the information so much more emotional and visceral and the interpreter made sure we were included in all the information, even the questions that the tour guide was asked separately. I thought this was very fair. I was offered the headset that the other members of the tour were given but decided that I would try and go without, wanting to rely only on the signing. I highly commend the interpreter we met at the Ground Zero site, his signing clear and fluid, his manner professional and calm despite the harrowing information he was relaying. He painted a clear picture. The guide that led the ArtSigns tour also worked at the 9/11 Memorial Museum, interpreting into BSL and this made me wonder how an ASL interpreter is booked and organised.
I have found that ArtSigns was not the only situation where a person changed their language when they found out we were hearing and could not sign fluently. We managed to get in touch with an interpreting agency who worked in New York under the name of 'Deaf and Hard of Hearing interpreting Services'. This meeting turned out to be a lovely meeting but as forewarned, a little bit cramped. The four of us filed into the tiny fourth floor office that was covered in inspirational quotes and a tiny kitchenette and were welcomed in to four horrifically uncomfortable chairs with two ladies behind massive desks looking at us quizzically.
Different to the other groups we had met, the ladies were not interested so much in us but in imparting their wealth of knowledge and experience onto us instead. The service didn't just cater for those that are deaf but also for the deaf blind, worked as deaf relay interpreters and for the deaf that have no language. They had a VLS service too and told us a lot of information on how the company was funded. They gave us the lowdown on how the company worked- they had 150 interpreters in total and matched the interpreter to the client based on previous knowledge and experience. The stories they had to tell and the information they had to give was insightful, funny at points and beautifully signed with such passion and rigour it was difficult to rip your eyes away. However, when we asked questions, it became clear that we were not fluent and suddenly the two ladies changed. The hearing lady changed to use voice at some points but still used full ASL whereas the deaf lady switched to a lot more gesture and switched on her voice and dropped her hands for some of the dialogue. It was a mixed myriad of voice, gesture, mime, ASL. sometimes BSL and sign and voice and I am sure a few language rules were broken but I was too carried away by the information to care. It bothered me a little that when they found out that some of us weren't fluent in sign, they changed their language. I suppose we all modify how we act and communicate to some extent when in different company but I wish that people would forget that I am hearing and that I cant sign fluently and treat me as they would any other person who is trying to learn the language.
Luckily, an interpreter was provided for us when we visited Ground Zero, the 9/11 Memorial site. They had ASL interpretation, BSL interpretation and a few other signed languages available for the tour which was surprising as most of America didn't even have captions on TV. Seeing the tour translated into BSL and portrayed visually made the information so much more emotional and visceral and the interpreter made sure we were included in all the information, even the questions that the tour guide was asked separately. I thought this was very fair. I was offered the headset that the other members of the tour were given but decided that I would try and go without, wanting to rely only on the signing. I highly commend the interpreter we met at the Ground Zero site, his signing clear and fluid, his manner professional and calm despite the harrowing information he was relaying. He painted a clear picture. The guide that led the ArtSigns tour also worked at the 9/11 Memorial Museum, interpreting into BSL and this made me wonder how an ASL interpreter is booked and organised.I have found that ArtSigns was not the only situation where a person changed their language when they found out we were hearing and could not sign fluently. We managed to get in touch with an interpreting agency who worked in New York under the name of 'Deaf and Hard of Hearing interpreting Services'. This meeting turned out to be a lovely meeting but as forewarned, a little bit cramped. The four of us filed into the tiny fourth floor office that was covered in inspirational quotes and a tiny kitchenette and were welcomed in to four horrifically uncomfortable chairs with two ladies behind massive desks looking at us quizzically.
Different to the other groups we had met, the ladies were not interested so much in us but in imparting their wealth of knowledge and experience onto us instead. The service didn't just cater for those that are deaf but also for the deaf blind, worked as deaf relay interpreters and for the deaf that have no language. They had a VLS service too and told us a lot of information on how the company was funded. They gave us the lowdown on how the company worked- they had 150 interpreters in total and matched the interpreter to the client based on previous knowledge and experience. The stories they had to tell and the information they had to give was insightful, funny at points and beautifully signed with such passion and rigour it was difficult to rip your eyes away. However, when we asked questions, it became clear that we were not fluent and suddenly the two ladies changed. The hearing lady changed to use voice at some points but still used full ASL whereas the deaf lady switched to a lot more gesture and switched on her voice and dropped her hands for some of the dialogue. It was a mixed myriad of voice, gesture, mime, ASL. sometimes BSL and sign and voice and I am sure a few language rules were broken but I was too carried away by the information to care. It bothered me a little that when they found out that some of us weren't fluent in sign, they changed their language. I suppose we all modify how we act and communicate to some extent when in different company but I wish that people would forget that I am hearing and that I cant sign fluently and treat me as they would any other person who is trying to learn the language.
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