🤟 Two Languages, One Journey

For much of my life, I’ve moved between two languages: English and American Sign Language (ASL).

I write in English. I communicate in ASL. Sometimes I move from one to the other depending on the person, the situation, or simply what feels natural.

My educational journey included both worlds. During elementary and high school, I attended mainstreamed classes as well as all-Deaf classes with an ASL teacher, depending on the subject. When I went to college, my education was fully mainstreamed, with ASL interpreters providing access to communication in the classroom.

Those experiences became part of my journey. They helped shape how I communicate and how I see the world today.

I know there are many discussions within the Deaf community about language, education, Deaf teachers, hearing teachers, and different experiences growing up Deaf. I respect that people have their own experiences and perspectives.

But my journey is my own.

I don’t feel confused about using both English and ASL. I don’t feel that choosing one means rejecting the other. They are simply different ways I express myself and connect with people.

My Deaf experience has shaped who I am, but it doesn’t fit into one simple category.

That’s also why I’ve been thinking about something new for RPJ.

I want to begin sharing more of myself through ASL video blogs, or vlogs. Not as a word-for-word translation of my written blogs, but as storytelling.

I may take an idea from one blog, connect it with something I’ve experienced in another, and simply sign what comes to mind. Some stories may be about Deaf life. Others may be about faith, personal growth, my dogs, everyday experiences, or lessons I’ve learned along the way.

The written blog can be one expression of my journey. ASL can be another.

Maybe that’s what RPJ can become: a place where people can choose how they want to experience the journey — English, ASL, or both.

I’m still figuring out what that will look like.

But I’m ready to open the door a little wider and let people see more of the real person behind the writing.

This is my journey. And I’m still walking it.