Just Deaf

"My hearing children are learning sign language and spoken language at the same time."

Julie Hochgesang (Gallaudet University): sign language as a first language

"Sign language allows you to express yourself more freely."

"What I really miss for Sofie now is contact with older deaf people. I organized something for that myself."

"When you run into a deaf person you're kind of scared of showing off what you can do."

"In a classroom like that, or in the hallway, they miss out on large chunks. That's very difficult."

"The children don't care if you're hearing or deaf, it's about someone being able to sign."

"It's easy when your child is hearing, you can just call out to them."

Children almost always wear their CI. What role is then left for sign language to fulfill?

"As a child I was already aware that everything was based on sight, and not sound."

"We used to take a quarter to the neighbor's house, to ask if they could make a phone call for us."

"I'm able to read lips a little bit, but not very well."

"We agreed to use NGT at the dinner table."

"I think it's important for them to learn to be around hearing people as well."

"I want to offer them both the deaf and the hearing world. So they can decide for themselves when they grow up."