Wait, how would you sign “shh”?

A few weeks ago I was teaching a lesson to two deaf students.  One of the students I work with every week, the other one is the student of another college student who had to stay home sick.  Both students have cochlear implants, both at different hearing levels.  Both of them are very vocal in the sense that they make a lot of sounds.

When I first started my lesson, they were very very loud interacting with each other.  My hearing mind was kind of freaking out.  How do I get them to quiet down?  Wait, how would I sign that?  I just put my finger to my mouth and mouthed “shh,” told them to focus and got on with the lesson.  As I mimed “shh” I realized that’s something they wouldn’t know, but when I told them to focus they calmed down.

Later I realized, why would it matter how loud they were?  They weren’t disturbing any of the other students, they’re all deaf!

It’s shocking how “hearing” I am.  Just when I think I’m getting a grasp on the Deaf culture and the language, something knocks me back down to step one.  At least this lesson in Deafness was a funny one for me, something a teacher for the hearing will never experience.

This week I don’t get to work with my student, but next week we get to paint pumpkins together!!!  I think she’s going to be grateful that I wont be making her read   Working with her has definitely been a learning curve, but I’m so very thankful she’s patient with me.  I just hope that after this semester our paths will still cross somehow.