Business students, ASL Club presenting “Deaf Deaf World”

Business students will join with members of the American Sign Language (ASL) Club and other volunteers in presenting a “Deaf Deaf World” event on campus on Saturday, Feb. 28.

The day will include two activities: Deaf Deaf World from 1:30-3 p.m. in the O’Hare Academic Center, Room 106, and a Mass in ASL with voice for the hearing audience at 4 p.m. in Our Lady of Mercy Chapel.

The event is part of a one-credit workshop offered by the Department of Business Studies and Economics where students are learning to communicate with colleagues in business and in the community who may be deaf.

Deaf Deaf World will consist of several “stations” that participating students will approach and communicate with volunteers using ASL, body language or written words on a notepad. Audible voice is not permitted. The volunteers at each station will role-play such real-world jobs as hospital emergency room front desk attendant, restaurant waiter, bank teller, airport ticket counter agent, traffic court administrator and Division of Motor Vehicles clerk.

At the close of the interaction, each student will present a report card to the volunteer at the station, who will enter an evaluation code ranging from 1-5. Students will not know the value of the number score until the end of the entire session. When all students have visited all the tables and are done, students will be told what the score means. The station volunteers will then form a panel and present a question-and-answer session with the students.