Tag: audience

So what did the dying Deaf man want to say? This tale popped into my mind yesterday. It came from a newsletter about a Deaf hospice care project that a friend of mine was involved in as a sign interpreter. A Deaf man in hospice care was trying to communicate with his caregivers and was getting frustrated at not getting his message across. A social worker came to see him and formed an opinion of what the man wanted to say. That opinion was influenced by the social worker’s own opinion of what a dying person would want to say. This social worker did not know sign language, and for some reason, this was not considered a problem. The man became more agitated in his efforts to communicate, and everyone assumed that he was afraid of dying. That brought up discussions of faith and comfort and lots of abstract ideas.…