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The Iowa School for the Deaf is partnering with Lewis Central High School to teach American Sign Language to hearing students. The hope is to bring together the hearing and deaf communities. Miranda Kuehne, who teaches ASL at the Iowa School for the Deaf, emphasized that despite not hearing, there is a lot of communication happening within the school. “A misconception is that we are quiet because we don’t speak. We are not quiet. I promise you, the deaf community is not quiet,” Kuehne said.Lewis Central High School students, like senior Marley Stacey, are participating in the ASL class. “Right now, we’re learning numbers, letters, shapes and names,” Stacey said.Stacey has a special reason for taking the class. “My brother is deaf, so I just wanted to learn more,” she said.The collaboration between the Iowa School for the Deaf and Lewis Central High School began after ISD students attended classes at Lewis Central, where Principal Joe Vinchattle noticed communication challenges between those who use spoken word and those who use ASL. “What are we going to do to make this a better experience for both students? That was when we started offering ASL, and that was 12 years ago,” Vinchattle said. He believes the program is bridging the gap between the two communities. “I think just getting our kids to better understand what it means to be deaf and be part of that community, and then bringing them over here and for them to see what’s going on in the ISD school is awesome,” he said.Senior Luke Vaca was born deaf and learned ASL at ISD. “I think it’s inspiring. I think not a lot of people are willing to learn sign language. So, seeing other students who want to sign, I’m really thankful for that,” Vaca said. He describes the school as a safe haven.”My family doesn’t know sign. They speak English and Spanish. I have to speak all day, but when I come here, I can just sign, turn off my voice and I feel like I can express myself more easily,” he said.Kuehne highlighted the communication barriers faced by deaf children born to hearing parents. “Some of the 5-year-olds that arrive here, they have had no language up until that point. No exposure to sign language, and that critical window is closing at that point,” she said. She advocates for early communication, emphasizing that language is key in any form. “Because the brain does not prefer spoken modality versus signed modality. It doesn’t prefer one over the other. It’s just simply about language. Language is the key in any form. It can be visual or spoken,” Kuehne said.
The Iowa School for the Deaf is partnering with Lewis Central High School to teach American Sign Language to hearing students.
The hope is to bring together the hearing and deaf communities.
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Miranda Kuehne, who teaches ASL at the Iowa School for the Deaf, emphasized that despite not hearing, there is a lot of communication happening within the school.
“A misconception is that we are quiet because we don’t speak. We are not quiet. I promise you, the deaf community is not quiet,” Kuehne said.
Lewis Central High School students, like senior Marley Stacey, are participating in the ASL class.
“Right now, we’re learning numbers, letters, shapes and names,” Stacey said.
Stacey has a special reason for taking the class.
“My brother is deaf, so I just wanted to learn more,” she said.
The collaboration between the Iowa School for the Deaf and Lewis Central High School began after ISD students attended classes at Lewis Central, where Principal Joe Vinchattle noticed communication challenges between those who use spoken word and those who use ASL.
“What are we going to do to make this a better experience for both students? That was when we started offering ASL, and that was 12 years ago,” Vinchattle said.
He believes the program is bridging the gap between the two communities.
“I think just getting our kids to better understand what it means to be deaf and be part of that community, and then bringing them over here and for them to see what’s going on in the ISD school is awesome,” he said.
Senior Luke Vaca was born deaf and learned ASL at ISD.
“I think it’s inspiring. I think not a lot of people are willing to learn sign language. So, seeing other students who want to sign, I’m really thankful for that,” Vaca said.
He describes the school as a safe haven.
“My family doesn’t know sign. They speak English and Spanish. I have to speak all day, but when I come here, I can just sign, turn off my voice and I feel like I can express myself more easily,” he said.
Kuehne highlighted the communication barriers faced by deaf children born to hearing parents.
“Some of the 5-year-olds that arrive here, they have had no language up until that point. No exposure to sign language, and that critical window is closing at that point,” she said.
She advocates for early communication, emphasizing that language is key in any form.
“Because the brain does not prefer spoken modality versus signed modality. It doesn’t prefer one over the other. It’s just simply about language. Language is the key in any form. It can be visual or spoken,” Kuehne said.
