When we lived in Utah and then Arizona, we attended the Deaf Branch. This means that the majority of those in attendance are either deaf, a spouse or family member of a deaf person, or, on rare occasion, a hearing person who knows ASL and wants to attend.
When I tell people that we went to a Deaf church, their comment is almost always the same:
"Oh, I bet it was so quiet and peaceful. That must be nice."
My response:
(Holding my sides,) "Hold on one second. Bwahahahahahaha!!.. Oh...Oh..boy..."(wiping tears from my eyes).
You see, in case your forgot, Deaf people can't hear.
This means, when they are choosing toys to keep their children quiet in church, they usually load up the one that has music...excuse me, I mean loud annoying music playing. Not just one..most of the time it is several. So it wasn't uncommon, in the middle of the prayer, to hear, "La la lala, la la lala, Elmo's World."
This also means that they can't hear their children fighting over the noisy toy. Or their cute child singing the song in their head out loud....LOUD. They also can't hear their children talking to their neighbor who is across the room about their many Saturday adventures. (I will have to do a post about children of deaf adults or CODAs. Understanding that would help you understand just how much noise they can make. Tazzmanian devil comes to mind.)
There is also a lot of visual noise. See, when hearing people talk to each other across the room, it makes a lot of noise and thus would be highly distracting and disruptive to ALL in attendance. ASL, however, is not loud. In fact, there isn't much noticable noise that you can hear. So you can speak to someone across the room and no-one will hear you...with their ears that is.
But visually, there is a lot going on. There is nothing like looking away from the
So my answer is a big fat "No! Deaf services are not quiet. "
Not even close.
12 comments:
I never thought about it before, but what a funny thought!
i agree w/the other lara...i had never given it much thought. i still enjoy the story of ur hubs thinking the kids go to bed when they are actually making noise above him.
when is your book coming out? you could sooo print these stories and have many households giggling away...
Laughing.
I guess it's not so quiet after all. :)
I love reading your posts on your experiences because it gives me an insight into a previously unknown world. I would never have begun to imagine how very different a deaf service in church might be until today, but it is absolutely fascinating.
That is so hillarious! I was trying to picture it in my mind with all the kids. I guess the positive thing would be you wouldn't have to worry about stink looks and comments (that you're not meant to hear but ofcoarse can cause old people talk so loud) because you're kids are totally out of control and making all kinds of noise while they're trying to listen but can't really hear anyway cause they're half deaf but ofcourse any noise from the kid four rows back and it's a crime...even though they once had kids but obviously don't remember what it was like cause I highly doubt they had perfect kids. (I think that was a run on) Ya and don't even get me started on how difficult it is to get kids to sit reverent and quiet after already sitting through 2 hours of classes!
Sorry I guess I could have just ended it at "stink looks and comments". :)
The deaf ward by the mall in Provo? I went there several times years ago…it was really loud. Also, the sign language 'conversations' going on during the meeting were quite distracting also. Then, there was the Hispanic ward meeting in the same building and being pretty loud in the hallway because - after all - the ward which was meeting was deaf.
I still loved it though.
I went to a deaf branch years ago, and oh boy was I surprised. It was VERY VERY loud. If kids wanted a different colored crayon, they yelled down the pew to a sibling... Quite the eye-opener!
Love this post! I have three years of ASL under my belt and would love to work on some more so I can be a certified interpreter.
Thanks for stopping by my place - I'll be sure to try some watermelon instead of Twix! :)
Wow, what an enlightening post. Until now, I'm sure I would've been one of the people commenting about how quiet and peaceful church service must be.
Interesting post! Wow, I never even thought about how a deaf person attends church! I feel like I learn something new every time I come visit :) From the way you describe it, Deaf church is much more noisier than regular church.
I never thought about it before. You have enlightened me on this fine morning.
That Elmo's World comment made me spit out my water. If my E key stops working..all the blame is on you;)
Post a Comment