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CLARIN

Teaching Deaf Children To Read With Help From Seniors Who Know How They Feel

Breaking the barriers of linguistic isolation, one fairy tale at a time
Breaking the barriers of linguistic isolation, one fairy tale at a time
Alfredo Dillon

BUENOS AIRES – When she was young, Rita would browse through books in her house and not understand a thing. Why did Sleeping Beauty wake up? Why did Little Red Riding Hood open the door for the wolf?

Rita would stare at the illustrations but her mother and father didn’t know how to tell the stories: like 95% of deaf children, she was deaf but her parents were not, and they didn’t know sign language.

But now there is a solution to help children with hearing disabilities to learn about fairy tales and stories like other children. Canales, a non-profit organization created to help deaf people in Argentina, has launched a videolibros (video-books) project. A group of women – mostly deaf, mostly grandmothers – have recorded videos in which they read and comment on classic fairy tales – in Argentinian Sign Language (SLA).

“Most deaf children have grandparents who are not deaf and who can’t read stories to them. Video-books allows these children to hear the stories from deaf grandparents,” explains Silvana Veinberg, Canales project leader.

Beyond the emotional effects, the project’s goal is to promote reading: according to numbers from the Argentine Confederation of Deaf-mutes, 80% of deaf people are functional illiterates – they don’t understand what they read.

“In general, it is very hard for them to read and write, because their parents and teachers do not master sign language beyond basic expressions,” says Veinberg. The video-books project aims to “break the barriers of linguistic isolation and exclusion.”

“When I was a girl no one ever told me a story. My mother didn’t know what to do with me, she only knew a few signs,” recalls Hilda Croci, 74, one of the grandmothers who participated in the project.

“I believe this project will help deaf children, and can serve to motivate these children’s parents, encourage them to learn sign language,” says Pablo Baldrinch, an LSA interpreter.

For Celia Salas, 80, the experience was different: she had the care and support of her mother, who learned sign language. “I needed to learn how to read like the other children. And I was able to, thanks to my family’s help. It was hard, but they taught me how to read. Unfortunately, most deaf children don’t have this kind of support,” says Salas.

An essential part of culture

The video-books are available online and can be downloaded for free so that schools can also use them as learning material. The stories are told in LSA and every video also includes optional voice-overs to encourage conversation between deaf children and family members, teachers etc.

“In this way, the books serve not only as a way to promote literature, but also for children to be able to converse with hearing adults, something that is uncommon. They can now talk about the fairy tales, comment on the stories and ask questions,” says Veinberg.

It is also about making sure all children have access to the stories that form an important part of culture. Some of the deaf grandmothers only learned the stories as they were reading them in sign language. Stories like The Ugly Duckling and Puss in Boots.

“We want to prevent children from going through the experiences we went through in school,” explains Rita Andreotti, 57, born deaf and speech impaired. Fellow volunteer Emilia Machado, 78, says they jumped at the opportunity of participating in a project aimed toward children: “As deaf adults, we really appreciated to be able to do something for the children, to be able to be ‘grandmothers’ for them by telling stories, giving some of our time and reading to them. Today there are many parents who work and have no time for it.”

Alicia Ares, 68, whose parents did not let her use sign language as a child, is also proud of feeling she is part of being part of an initiative led by the deaf community.

There is much enthusiasm for the project among these deaf grandmothers who grew up without knowing Snow White, Cinderella or Hansel and Gretel. “I want to bring books to deaf people,” sums up Dora Riego, 61, who grew up without any deaf family members or friends.

Her and the other volunteers are happy to participate in the project because they believe in the importance of these stories. They remember how much they would have loved to hear these stories as girls, and are convinced that having access to these children’s books and fairy tales makes the world a less lonely place.

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eyes on the U.S.

The Weight Of Trump's Indictment Will Test The Strength Of American Democracy

The U.S. legal system cannot simply run its course in a vacuum. Presidential politics, and democracy itself, are at stake in the coming weeks and months.

The Weight Of Trump's Indictment Will Test The Strength Of American Democracy

File photo of former U.S. President Donald Trump in Clyde, Ohio, in 2020.

Emma Shortis*

-Analysis-

Events often seem inevitable in hindsight. The indictment of former U.S. President Donald Trump on criminal charges has been a possibility since the start of his presidency – arguably, since close to the beginning of his career in New York real estate.

But until now, the potential consequences of such a cataclysmic development in American politics have been purely theoretical.

Today, after much build-up in the media, The New York Times reported that a Manhattan grand jury has voted to indict Trump and the Manhattan district attorney will now likely attempt to negotiate Trump’s surrender.

The indictment stems from a criminal investigation by the district attorney’s office into “hush money” payments made to the adult film star Stormy Daniels (through Trump’s attorney Michael Cohen), and whether they contravened electoral laws.

Trump also faces a swathe of other criminal investigations and civil suits, some of which may also result in state or federal charges. As he pursues another run for the presidency, Trump could simultaneously be dealing with multiple criminal cases and all the court appearances and frenzied media attention that will come with that.

These investigations and possible charges won’t prevent Trump from running or even serving as president again (though, as with everything in the U.S. legal system, it’s complicated).

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