Personal Interview With Sharon Lucille
Description The following information comes from a personal interview with Sharon Lucille on April 3, 2018. When Lucille was in the womb, her mother suffered from a disease called Rubella, causing Lucille to be born deaf. As a result of her mother suffering from Rubella, her family knew that she would be born with a defect, they just were not sure what it would be. Being deaf is not a visible birth defect and therefore, she looked like a normal and healthy baby when she was born. When Lucille was an infant, she did not respond to noise and because her father was a doctor and her mother was a nurse, they knew that these actions did not fit the normal expectations for an infant. Lucille’s parents confirmed that she was deaf when one night when
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Lucille was sleeping and they rang a bell over her head, she did not wake up nor did she respond to the noise. At this point, Lucille’s parents knew that she was deaf. The following information comes from a personal interview with Sharon Lucille on April 3, 2018. Lucille attended a Deaf Catholic school until she was in third grade and this is where she was given a wrongful outlook on the Deaf community. During this time in school, the nuns made all the students sit on their hands so they were not able to communicate using their hands. This stopped all these Deaf children from learning American Sign Language, which could have helped Lucille and many others in the future. After Lucille left Catholic school, she was excited to attend hearing school and be “normal”. Lucille mentioned that all of her peers were eager for her to come because they all wanted to help her and be friends with the Deaf girl. However, hearing school was not all that Lucille was hoping for. She had to have a personal note taker in class so she could pay attention to the teacher, she had to sit in the front of the classroom, and there was also no technology at the time to accommodate her. When Lucille was about 13 or 14 years old, the TTY, Teletypewriter, came out. This device really helped Lucille in her learning process. Although this helped in a community setting, it was too expensive for her personal use, therefore she could only use this technology in schools and hospitals. Lucille’s teachers would also discriminate against her because she was deaf. They would not accommodate to her and they would never use closed captions when they watched a film in class, this made Lucille feel “out of the loop” and ashamed. Her friends also made fun of her and they would talk behind her back, knowing she could not hear. They also would cover their mouths when they were talking so she could not read their lips. When Lucille was asked how much she connected with the Deaf community she said that she did not feel personally a part of one. She has friends from the deaf school and friends from other deaf communities that she connected with but she was not in one herself.
Struggles
The following information comes from a personal interview with Sharon Lucille on April 3, 2018. Lucille faces struggles in her everyday life, just like any other average human being. Lucille disclosed that one of her main struggles is that people think she is ignoring them, when she is really not, she just cannot hear. Another struggle that she deals with is when she goes out it public and people hear her speak and notice that she sounds different, she will turn to the person that she is with to try to get them to explain what is wrong with her. For example, if she is at a cash register and they notice that she does not “sound right”, they will look at her eight year old daughter and speak with her. People will also ask her often if she is from another country and if so, where is she from. Lucille finds these actions hurtful and unacceptable. However, she also seemed to take people’s ignorance lightly. She did not seem to get too worked up if someone did not know how to respond to the situation, she would just try to fix it as much as possible. The following information comes from a personal interview with Sharon Lucille on April 3, 2018. Although Lucille deals with struggles outside her home, she also faces them within her work and home life. She is limited to the struggles with work because her business is online, therefore all of her work is done through the computer. At times, she has to recognize that her children are talking to her so she has to stop what she is doing to give them her undivided attention. Lucille also said that she struggles a lot at large family gatherings because everyone is talking at once and she is not able to keep up. Sometimes she has to stop the kids and have them talk one by one so she is able to follow everything that they are saying. Despite the fact that she has these struggles, she said that her family and friends were very supportive of her, resulting in a happier life for Lucille.
Meaning
The following information comes from a personal interview with Sharon Lucille on April 3, 2018.
When Lucille was asked what it is like to be a part of the Deaf community, she responded that she has always been deaf and she does not know what it is like to hear. As a result of this answer, Lucille does not put an exact answer on this question because she has always been a part of the Deaf community and she does not know life any other way. Although most people would look at being deaf as a disability, Lucille does not. She sees many positive aspects of being deaf and she hopes to keep this positive mind set for the future. Lucille described some of the positives as being able to sleep without being interrupted, she does not wake up to most things, except for her alarm clock that vibrates her bed in order to get her up. She also said that she is more observant of her surroundings and she is able to pick things up faster because of this. Her daughter also described her as being calmer than the average person because she cannot hear the noise around her, therefore it does not affect her. Lucille also said that her husband sometimes complains because when she watches television, the volume will be too high, even though it is not her fault because she cannot hear and she does not even touch the volume when she watches television. Lucille has a great outlook on her “disability” and because of this happy and positive lifestyle, she is able to share it with her friends, family, and the Deaf
community.
Skills Used During this interview, I used the common and appropriate skills in order to conduct a polite and useful interview. I was very polite and patient with Mrs. Lucille as I had to often repeat myself and slow down so she was able to read my lips. I was also intrigued and interested in everything that she had to offer me. I used prior knowledge of the Deaf community because I knew that I should look her in the face when I was talking and pronunciate my words. I also made sure that I did not mumble as I was talking with her so she was able to clearly see what I was saying. I believe that if I did not have this prior knowledge, it would have been much more difficult for her to understand me. I also made sure that I was friendly so she felt more comfortable opening up to me about her disability and her personal life. I would smile and laugh and make gestures that I was interested in her comments. I was also respectful of her, so I did not talk while she was talking, I listened actively as she was talking, and I always kept the conversation interesting. Having the prior knowledge that I did, allowed me to conduct proper questions for Mrs. Lucille’s interview. I know that Deaf individuals often struggle out in public and in school so I incorporated those type of questions in my interview. I also was aware that people react differently to these certain situations so I made sure to ask her about different people’s reactions to her being deaf. I really enjoyed this opportunity and I am so glad that I got to experience the Deaf community through another person’s eyes.
Lucille was sleeping and they rang a bell over her head, she did not wake up nor did she respond to the noise. At this point, Lucille’s parents knew that she was deaf. The following information comes from a personal interview with Sharon Lucille on April 3, 2018. Lucille attended a Deaf Catholic school until she was in third grade and this is where she was given a wrongful outlook on the Deaf community. During this time in school, the nuns made all the students sit on their hands so they were not able to communicate using their hands. This stopped all these Deaf children from learning American Sign Language, which could have helped Lucille and many others in the future. After Lucille left Catholic school, she was excited to attend hearing school and be “normal”. Lucille mentioned that all of her peers were eager for her to come because they all wanted to help her and be friends with the Deaf girl. However, hearing school was not all that Lucille was hoping for. She had to have a personal note taker in class so she could pay attention to the teacher, she had to sit in the front of the classroom, and there was also no technology at the time to accommodate her. When Lucille was about 13 or 14 years old, the TTY, Teletypewriter, came out. This device really helped Lucille in her learning process. Although this helped in a community setting, it was too expensive for her personal use, therefore she could only use this technology in schools and hospitals. Lucille’s teachers would also discriminate against her because she was deaf. They would not accommodate to her and they would never use closed captions when they watched a film in class, this made Lucille feel “out of the loop” and ashamed. Her friends also made fun of her and they would talk behind her back, knowing she could not hear. They also would cover their mouths when they were talking so she could not read their lips. When Lucille was asked how much she connected with the Deaf community she said that she did not feel personally a part of one. She has friends from the deaf school and friends from other deaf communities that she connected with but she was not in one herself.
Struggles
The following information comes from a personal interview with Sharon Lucille on April 3, 2018. Lucille faces struggles in her everyday life, just like any other average human being. Lucille disclosed that one of her main struggles is that people think she is ignoring them, when she is really not, she just cannot hear. Another struggle that she deals with is when she goes out it public and people hear her speak and notice that she sounds different, she will turn to the person that she is with to try to get them to explain what is wrong with her. For example, if she is at a cash register and they notice that she does not “sound right”, they will look at her eight year old daughter and speak with her. People will also ask her often if she is from another country and if so, where is she from. Lucille finds these actions hurtful and unacceptable. However, she also seemed to take people’s ignorance lightly. She did not seem to get too worked up if someone did not know how to respond to the situation, she would just try to fix it as much as possible. The following information comes from a personal interview with Sharon Lucille on April 3, 2018. Although Lucille deals with struggles outside her home, she also faces them within her work and home life. She is limited to the struggles with work because her business is online, therefore all of her work is done through the computer. At times, she has to recognize that her children are talking to her so she has to stop what she is doing to give them her undivided attention. Lucille also said that she struggles a lot at large family gatherings because everyone is talking at once and she is not able to keep up. Sometimes she has to stop the kids and have them talk one by one so she is able to follow everything that they are saying. Despite the fact that she has these struggles, she said that her family and friends were very supportive of her, resulting in a happier life for Lucille.
Meaning
The following information comes from a personal interview with Sharon Lucille on April 3, 2018.
When Lucille was asked what it is like to be a part of the Deaf community, she responded that she has always been deaf and she does not know what it is like to hear. As a result of this answer, Lucille does not put an exact answer on this question because she has always been a part of the Deaf community and she does not know life any other way. Although most people would look at being deaf as a disability, Lucille does not. She sees many positive aspects of being deaf and she hopes to keep this positive mind set for the future. Lucille described some of the positives as being able to sleep without being interrupted, she does not wake up to most things, except for her alarm clock that vibrates her bed in order to get her up. She also said that she is more observant of her surroundings and she is able to pick things up faster because of this. Her daughter also described her as being calmer than the average person because she cannot hear the noise around her, therefore it does not affect her. Lucille also said that her husband sometimes complains because when she watches television, the volume will be too high, even though it is not her fault because she cannot hear and she does not even touch the volume when she watches television. Lucille has a great outlook on her “disability” and because of this happy and positive lifestyle, she is able to share it with her friends, family, and the Deaf
community.
Skills Used During this interview, I used the common and appropriate skills in order to conduct a polite and useful interview. I was very polite and patient with Mrs. Lucille as I had to often repeat myself and slow down so she was able to read my lips. I was also intrigued and interested in everything that she had to offer me. I used prior knowledge of the Deaf community because I knew that I should look her in the face when I was talking and pronunciate my words. I also made sure that I did not mumble as I was talking with her so she was able to clearly see what I was saying. I believe that if I did not have this prior knowledge, it would have been much more difficult for her to understand me. I also made sure that I was friendly so she felt more comfortable opening up to me about her disability and her personal life. I would smile and laugh and make gestures that I was interested in her comments. I was also respectful of her, so I did not talk while she was talking, I listened actively as she was talking, and I always kept the conversation interesting. Having the prior knowledge that I did, allowed me to conduct proper questions for Mrs. Lucille’s interview. I know that Deaf individuals often struggle out in public and in school so I incorporated those type of questions in my interview. I also was aware that people react differently to these certain situations so I made sure to ask her about different people’s reactions to her being deaf. I really enjoyed this opportunity and I am so glad that I got to experience the Deaf community through another person’s eyes.