Though hearing people would consider deafness a disability, people who are deaf would say that they just have a different culture. During the Deafinitely Not Different 5k on Mar. 28 at Plano East High School, hearing and deaf individuals got to share that culture, while supporting the deaf community through volunteering and participating.
“The deaf 5k is a great way to raise funds for the deaf education program, which serves the entire Collin County deaf community,” ASL teacher Brendon Feagans said. “Students from all over Collin County go there, and really support our local immediate deaf community in immediate ways.”
Due to how the event is run, many different types of people collaborate, sharing the same goal of being a part of the community. These people could be those learning ASL, hearing people involved in the deaf community, or just those who want to support the community.
“You don’t have to be deaf to be involved in the 5k,” junior Elizabeth Kahler said. They make it accessible [for] everyone through interpreters for the hearing and deaf so you don’t need to know sign language to participate.”
The interpreters allow for people to properly understand the nuance behind signing, bringing an understanding of how the deaf communicate and live differently. By having the deaf and hearing community in the same space, people are able to learn and embrace each other’s culture and understand each other’s norms.
“One of the things I always found interesting was when two people are signing, and people can walk through your conversation and no one gets upset,” senior Ean Milburn said. “They are also more blunt and if they see something they will say it at face value.”
