A 7-year-old boy in Clarenville inspires school to learn sign language
Clark Butt is in Grade 2 at Random Island Academy. (Submitted by Mallory Melay)
A Grade 2 child in Clarenville has inspired his school to make American Sign Language (ASL) a common activity in the school, his teacher says.
Clark Butt, seven, is hard of hearing and uses hearing aids that help him hear and communicate in English. But he also needs special help to understand what teachers are saying in class, says Mallory Melay, an instructional resource teacher at Random Island Academy.
When Clark joined the school two years ago he was paired with Tina Lawson, a teacher's assistant who is also hard of hearing. Lawson uses a computer that transcribes the words the teacher says in class in real time. She then communicates to Clark through ASL.
His classmates quickly noticed the language spoken through their hands.
"Other students in our school quickly becoming very engaged and eager to learn ASL," Maley said.
After class, Lawson would often be surrounded by eager children asking her to teach them basic words and phrases.
Maley says she and other staff members saw the enthusiasm and wanted to find a permanent place for it in the school.
Clark Butt and Tina Lawson have been working together since Butt joined the school two years ago. (Submitted by Mallory Melay)
"Tina is the first deaf person that I've ever met," she said.
"As I got to know her and learned about the deaf community and the different barriers that she faced in her life growing up, I wanted to remove those barriers for Clark."
Cards, puzzles and posters
That's how they came up with the idea for the ASL learning centres.
She says there are three locations in the school with large cardboard posters providing information about ASL. Each poster has an attached iPad that plays videos to teach students ASL. They also have cards with ASL-related activities, like puzzles, that kids can take home to practice.
Tina Lawson, left, and Mallory Melay during Deaf Awareness Month. Melay says the school made the T-shirt for the staff. (Submitted Mallory Melay)
Melay says students visit on their own time to learn a new word, and some teachers take a small group of students to practice ASL.
It's one way to remove language barriers, she says, which often exist without many people realizing it.
The school also installed a computer in the teachers room that transcribes what's being said through an app, so Lawson could not only hear but participate in conversations.
A similar computer is in the lobby for visitors, along with whiteboards in case someone prefers to write.
Since the implementation of the ASL centres in the school in May, Melay says other schools contacted them for advice on bringing something similar to theirs.
All the work is worth it, she says, if it means children won't feel excluded.
"We want Clark to be proud of who he is," she said. "He comes in and he sees everybody signing or lots of people learning, so he feels very much a part of our team and celebrated."
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