A 7-year-old boy in Random Island inspires school to learn sign language

A Grade 2 child in Random Island has inspired his school to make American Sign Language (ASL) a common activityin the school, his teacher says.

Clark Butt, seven, is deafand uses cochlear implants that helphim hear and communicate in English. But he also needs special help to understand what teachers are saying in class, says Mallory Melay, an instructional resource teacher at Random Island Academy.

When Clarkjoined the school two years agohe was paired withTina Lawson, a teacher's assistant who is deaf. Lawsonuses a computer that transcribes the words the teacher says in class in real time. Shethen communicates to Clark through ASL.

His classmates quickly noticed the language spoken through their hands.

"Other students in our school quickly becoming very engaged and eager to learn ASL," Maley said.

After class, Lawson would often be surrounded by eager children asking her to teach them basic words and phrases.

Maley saysshe and other staff members saw the enthusiasm and wanted to find a permanent place for it in the school.

"Tina is the first deaf person that I've ever met," she said.

"As I got to know her and learned about the deaf community and the different barriers that she faced in her life growing up, I wanted to remove those barriers for Clark."

Cards, puzzles and posters

That's how they came up with the idea for the ASL learning centres.

She says there are three locations in the school with large cardboard posters providing information about ASL. Each poster has an attached iPad that plays videos toteach students ASL. They also have cards with ASL-related activities, like puzzles, that kids can take home to practice.

Melay says students visiton their own time to learn a new word, and some teachers take a small group of students to practice ASL.

It's one way to remove language barriers, she says, which often exist without manypeople realizing it.

The school also installeda computer in the teachers room that transcribes what's being said through an app, so Lawson could not only hear but participate in conversations.

A similarcomputer is in the lobby for visitors, along with whiteboards in case someone prefers to write.

Since the implementation of the ASL centres in the school in May, Melay says other schools contacted them for advice on bringing something similar to theirs.

All the work is worth it, she says, if it means children won't feel excluded.

"We want Clark to be proud of who he is," she said."He comes in and he sees everybody signing or lots of people learning, so he feels very much a part of our team and celebrated."

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