Ahh, the best part of my job...days when we don't have school. Oh, yeah, there are those days that I help the deaf kids actually learn something new. Those are good days, too. But, let's face it, I work in a middle school. I have to put up with, listen to, and observe a lot of nonsense before we can actually learn anything new or exciting. And, don't worry, we may not have school today, but I'm still learning. I have Sesame Street on as I type. So far, I've learned about the letter "D" and the number "17." I've also learned about feelings with Dr. Phil and the muppet Dr. Feel; and right now Oscar is busy grouching about something (have you ever noticed that Oscar is like the Andy Rooney for the four-year-olds of the world?). They just had Evelyn Glennie on, which was cool because she is deaf, but it was a little discouraging because when Oscar and Telly asked her how she knew what they were saying, she said that she could read their lips. Now millions of little children are under the impression that deaf people can read their lips. Very, very few deaf people can accurately read lips.
Speaking of deaf people, you should check out this short film. It's in BSL, but some of the signs are similar to ASL. http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=8NoOKcpZzGE
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But Evelyn Glennie can accurately read lips, it's well documented, so what should she have said? Evelyn doesn't represent all the deaf people in the world, just herself.
Kudos to Evelyn Glennie. If you notice, I said that "very, very few deaf people can accurately read lips." This is true. Many of the sounds produced in English are indistinguishable on the lips, especially when there is no auditory input.
Whilst I realize Evelyn Glennie is one deaf person in a world of millions of deaf people, who are all different and all rely on different modes of communication, I was making the point that the everyday person who may be watching "Sesame Street" does NOT know this.
Again I say, kudos to Evelyn Glennie and her speechreading skills. None of the deaf students with whom I've worked could rely solely on speechreading for their communication needs.
Since we're discussing Ms. Glennie, I highly recommend reading her essay on hearing. It's quite interesting, as it presents hearing in a philosophical sense in addition to the physical aspects of hearing. You can find her essay on her website at http://www.evelyn.co.uk/live/hearing_essay.htm
And kudos to Ms. Glennie for reading the lips of MUPPETS. She's probably the only person who can do so. :o)
And speaking of lip reading, in the Sunday School class I co-teach, I play the part of Sprout, who happens to be a puppet. The teacher's guide has "Teacher Tips" in the margins, and this was one of them:
"Move your mouth when you speak for a puppet. Children with hearing disabilities will watch your mouth and be able to pick up some of the words by lipreading." Which is probably helpful, yes, to those children who may be hard of hearing...but I'm thinking, how many ventriloquists are actually teaching this Sunday School class?!
True story: I met a woman at the library who had worked with Andy Rooney at CBS. I did not unfortunately get to really ask her much about working with Mr. Rooney because another patron needed assistance at that moment. :^( I think you might be on to a connection between Oscar and Mr. Rooney. Can I just say that Oscar has always been one of my favorites? Because seriously, he glories in being grouchy. Awesome.
I like peanut butter, and I like cookies, but I do not like peanut butter cookies...
I like vanilla and I like Coke...but I don't like Vanilla Coke.
Seriously, about Oscar...he was great. Remember that little worm that used to hang out with him? I can't remember his name right now, was it Wormy or something? I wonder if he's still around.
What kind of puppet is Sprout? And do you use a cool voice for him? And by "cool" I mean "ridiculously silly."
No, no. Not Wormy! It was Slimey! And I think Slimey is super cute. I mean, ewww. He's super hideous and disgusting!
Ick, very true about the Vanilla Coke.
Sprout (and Lily, who rarely makes appearances, she must be in all the winter sessions) is a hand puppet. He's a little boy with black hair (that's super soft) and wears an orange shirt and green backpack. Lily has orange-ish hair, done up in pigtails, with a purple shirt and green purse/messenger bag. They're pretty cute. The kids always want to hold them during class. Umm. I try to do a silly voice, but it's not really perfected yet. I didn't want to completely scare off the kids, or my co-teacher for that matter. I do try to sound like a little kid, though.
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