Hi again, Richard!  This is a continuation of my previous message to you:

RW>  My lady's eldest daughter learned sign, as she has
RW>  deafness in one ear, and a Sunday school program she
RW>  attended in Florida was very inclusive and got their
RW>  deaf members involved in all their church programs.


          Good for them!  Over the years I have noticed that some
denominations seem more receptive to folks with disabilities than others. 
When I was growing up, there were two families with offspring in
wheelchairs who attended the same church my family did.  For as long as I
remember there has been a ramp into the church... and when renovations were
made to the church hall & office area, i.e. some time before Nora was
born, an elevator was added.  At the other end of the continuum, there was
a woman in this echo years ago who said the members of her church had
shunned her family because one of the kids had a learning disability &
they interpreted it to mean the family weren't good Christians... (sigh).



RW>  HEnce, when she was a clerk at a fast food establishment
RW>  years later the deaf folks who liked to gather for coffee
RW>  gravitated toward the line she was working at the counter,
RW>  as they didn't have to write out their orders on a slip of
RW>  paper, but could converse with her naturally using sign.


          They may even have been attracted to this place because they knew
she understood their language.  We know which coffee shops in our
neighbourhood are receptive to folks with disabilities & we're glad to
support them.  On numerous occasions these establishments have attracted
groups of eight or more customers who would otherwise be unable to get
together... a win-win situation IMHO.

          While I'm not fluent in sign language, I know a lot of people who
use it for various reasons.  It's helpful with kids who have difficulty
enunciating certain sounds... e.g. the consonant blends in words like
"please", "thankyou", and "hungry"... and we
still use it in certain social situations to indicate to one another
without interrupting the flow of conversation that we need to go to the
washroom.  I can also relate to how this person's customers must have felt.
When Nora was younger & still using the stroller, I would often stop to
let her observe construction crews etc.  One day, as the two of us
approached the glass door at the entrance to the community centre, we saw a
woman washing the glass. She started to make a move toward opening the door
for us... but I indicated to her in my best Sesame St. sign language that
Nora wanted to watch, knowing Nora couldn't see what I was doing from
behind.  The woman grinned from ear to ear & cheerfully went on with
her job.  Only then did I realize she was deaf....  :-)



RW>  Even if you can't do things in the "normal" way the
RW>  important thing is that you get them done, and can
RW>  live a full life.


          Absolutely... you do what works!  In our bathroom we have a key
chain with a stuffed animal suspended from a toggle switch.  Before that...
when Nora was too short to reach the light switch... we attached a bit of
dowelling to it as a less expensive alternative to the commercial product
we'd seen in the home of a friend whose husband was quadriplegic.  Although
Nora's needs have changed we're still using the basic concept of modifying
the switch so she can turn the light on & off by herself.  If other
people think we're weird, chances are they already realized that before
visiting our home or before we invited them.  :-))



RW>  Even if that's as simple as using our dry measuring
RW>  cups to measure liquids


          I hadn't thought of using dry measuring cups that way, but I
think it might work well for Nora too.  She often finds it difficult to
read the numbers on the graduated cups associated with liquids.  Thanks for
the suggestion.  :-)




--- timEd/386 1.10.y2k+