Jordon, a Centerville resident, has an associate degree in manual communications and applied sciences from Sinclair Community College. She said that there are as many as 1,500 signs plus finger spellings to learn. She begins instruction with the alphabet.
“An abbey in Paris in 1760, founded the first school for the deaf using signs and finger spelling,” Jordon said. “Primitive man talked in sign language. Early monks with vows of silence used sign language. Today, sign interpreters are available and essential in theaters, churches, medical centers and courtrooms. Signers in a courtroom environment need a particular knowledge in legal affairs.”
Connie Coffman of New Lebanon is now retired after signing for 20 years at Epiphany Lutheran Church on Far Hills Avenue. While living in the Dayton area she was associated with the Dayton Public Schools helping hearing impaired students. “I remember the fine training I received in sign language from Sinclair College,” she said.
Patrick White of Oakwood is an associate with the Dayton Community Services for the Deaf. A graduate of Sinclair Community College’s deaf training program, White accepts assignments from corporations interviewing job applicants who have a hearing loss. He teaches hearing impaired youth in Dayton public high schools in Drug and Alcohol Prevention Education.
Through the Miami Valley Interpreters Association, parishioners of St. Francis of Assisi Church on Wilmington Pike have had their 11 a.m. Sunday Mass signed by White for the past five years.
“I stand next to the choir,” White said. “Usually the first three or four rows are filled with the hearing impaired. When they can hear the service, the quality of devotion is certainly increased.”
Contact this columnist at (937) 433-1552 or adeleauk4737@sbc global.net.
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