How important is sign language for a deaf family? Wang Jian's family gave the answer. Wang Jian and his wife Wang Yilan are deaf people who still have some hearing, and they have a healthy son Tengteng. Sign language is not only integrated into their daily lives, but also an important way for them to communicate with the outside world, and its meaning is self-evident – both a tool and a bridge. At the end of the day, Sign Language, like Mandarin Chinese, is their basic language.
Like most ordinary families, Wang Jian and Wang Yilan sometimes take Tengteng to the downstairs of the community for a walk, and if there is no in-depth communication, it is difficult for ordinary people to find out that this is a deaf family.
At the birthday party of Tengteng's 3rd birthday, Wang Jian carefully lit 3 candles for his son's cake, and then typed "Happy Birthday" in sign language. Tengteng responds loudly with "thank you Daddy" while gently bending his thumb with a Bitsan gesture – which means "thank you" in sign language.
This is an "atypical" ordinary family, Wang Jian and his wife Wang Yilan have hearing impairment, and son Tengteng is a sound person. The coexistence of speaking and sign language is interspersed with the daily life of a family of 3.
Same identity, different growth trajectory
Wang Jian was born in Beijing in 1983 and became deaf at the age of 3 due to drug injection; Wang Yilan was born in Qingdao in 1989 and also suffered from hearing impairment due to drugs. The two went out of their way to genetic testing before they got married—together if they didn't have hearing impairment defects in their genetic sequences; if there was a problem, they wished each other happiness.
This is a choice question that many deaf families have to do before giving birth, but Wang Jian and Wang Yilan moved this time node forward, which is also the premise of Wang Yilan's "decision whether to get married."
Fortunately, the result satisfied both sides, which led to the birth of Tengteng. But when the child was born, it still made the two sons tighten a string in their hearts. Wang Yilan's mother carried Tengteng, who was not yet a month old, for newborn examinations, including hearing screening. The couple looked at the 4 words "normal hearing" on the checklist, and the stone in their hearts finally fell to the ground.
(Below) As he grew older, Tengteng began to learn to speak, and Wang Jian would sometimes teach his son to speak loudly with a literacy card and a villain book, which was also a kind of vocal training for Wang Jian.
Parents are the earliest enlightenment teachers for children, and Wang Jian's family is no exception. Wang Yilan taught Tengteng to learn to speak, and Wang Jian taught his son to play sign language. The husband and wife have a clear division of labor, which is also related to the growth environment of the two.
Because Wang Jian's hearing loss was more severe, he did not have much contact with the circle of hearing people since he was a child, "At that time, the family was in a hurry to seek medical treatment and missed the best period for rehabilitation training." So although Wang Jian had weak hearing, he still couldn't speak well. When it was time to go to school, Wang Jian's mother asked someone to inquire and sent him to the First School for the Deaf in Beijing (in 2002, it merged with Dongcheng Peizhi Central School to form the "Dongcheng District Special Education School").
"The first lesson in school was to learn sign language." Wang Jian's grade has two classes, and their class has 14 students, all of whom still maintain different levels of hearing, and the other class is all deaf students. "We learned Beijing Sign Language." Wang Jian's first semester was spent in sign language. "From the second semester onwards, I gradually came into contact with cultural classes." For deaf people like Wang Jian, sign language is not a profound technology, but the most basic communication tool, if you can't master it, not only is it a problem to even go to class, but it is also difficult to make friends and integrate into the deaf circle.
Wang Jian studied in Beijing No. 1 School for the Deaf until high school, and then was admitted to the School of Special Education of Beijing Union University to study graphic design, and his first job after graduation was to repair drawings in a photo studio. "Most of them are wedding photos, there will be staff and customers to communicate, each photo where to thinner, where to light up, will be listed on a piece of paper." Wang Jian is responsible for "technical work", and the work of communication is usually done by other colleagues.
Wang Jian is also a member of the Beijing Deaf Basketball Team, the main striker of the team, and has represented the Beijing team in the National Paralympic Games many times and won the place. Some of the basketball team were his classmates, some were new friends, and later Wang Jian was introduced by the team members to work in a welfare factory, where all the deaf people were like him, "better than in the studio, and much more comfortable."
He and Wang Yilan were also introduced to friends in the team. Unlike Wang Jian, although Wang Yilan is a deaf person, if she does not deliberately explain, ordinary people can hardly detect it. At the beginning of their acquaintance, Wang Yilan was a graduate student at the Beijing Institute of Fashion, and Wang Jian looked at the generous Shandong girl in front of him and repeatedly confirmed her identity with her friends, because "at that time, she couldn't even play sign language."
Wang Yilan's growth process was "counterattacked" all the way under the strict requirements of his mother. Because of the imperfect hearing and language function, she made several times more efforts than ordinary people to learn to speak. Her mother never interrupted her rehabilitation, and insisted on sending her to a normal school, so that Wang Yilan later became more like an "outsider" to the deaf community. "I can communicate with able-bodied people without obstacles, and my mother is indispensable."
As she was about to finish her graduate studies, Wang learned that adults can also undergo cochlear implant surgery. It was also with her mother's encouragement that she "boldly" chose to undergo surgery. "In fact, many deaf people want to have cochlear implants, but most parents feel that this is 'surgery on the head' and do not want their children to take such a risk; and many more people cannot afford the high cost." The cost of an imported cochlear implant is more than 200,000 yuan, and when Wang Yilan is still hesitating, it is her mother who gives her the greatest support. "At first she let me decide for myself, but in fact she did a lot of homework in private, knew the benefits of cochlear implants, and told me when I hesitated to do it, even if I borrowed money."
In this way, after Wang Yilan underwent cochlear implant surgery for 1 year, his hearing and language functions became more and more perfect, and his speech and hearing were basically the same as those of ordinary people. Under her persuasion, Wang Jian also implanted a cochlear implant.
There is always one side to compromise first
For Wang Jian, who is accustomed to communicating in sign language, the cochlear implant did not bring a subversive change to his life. "Going out with deaf friends, I can barely act as their 'translator.'" Wang Jian sometimes eats with friends, when ordering food, they are all ordered, holding the menu to the waiter to point out, even if the order is completed, one person orders, the next person orders again. In Wang Jian's impression, there is very little "hospitality" in the deaf circle, and most of the time it is "AA system".
"Now many restaurants have scan code orders, and there are fewer and fewer cases where face-to-face communication is being required." Shopping, eating, traveling, can be completed through a mobile phone, on the one hand, to a large extent, to facilitate the life of the deaf group; on the other hand, it has also caused some deaf people to be "inert" - lazy to communicate with the outside world, it is more difficult to jump out of the "comfort zone".
Wang Jian's deaf friends also have decent hearing and language functions, but they still use sign language when communicating with each other, and "the habits developed over the years are difficult to change overnight." Unless there are able-bodied people present at the same time, "we will listen and we will speak." Wang Jian said, but only for that moment, "Turning around, the two deaf people still use sign language to communicate." "They only give up sign language briefly when they have to speak in certain situations, such as when they go to a hospital or have a meeting in a factory. At this time, the eyes of those all-deaf workers will brush on Wang Fitness—he has become a bridge between them and the outside world.
"My wife started learning sign language with me, but it was also to fit into my circle." At first, Wang Yilan came into contact with Wang Jian's friends, and although she was deaf, she seemed more like an "outsider". The content of the friend's communication with Wang Jian was relayed by Wang Jian to his wife. Similarly, Wang Yilan's words were also expressed by Wang Jianda's sign language to his friends. When they went out together, Wang Yilan communicated with the outside world instead of Wang Jian, and the personalities of the two also complemented each other - Wang Jian was introverted, even if he could say it, he didn't like to say much; Wang Yilan was extroverted, grinning and decisive.
In the words of Wang Jian's mother: "The daughter-in-law is too good, and only with her can Wang Jian grow up." In fact, in life, Wang Yilan was more accommodating to Wang Jian, and she became the "sound" one of the two. "It's harder for a deaf person to learn to speak than to ascend to heaven, but it's much easier for a healthy person to learn sign language." It's like a border, and one side has to take the lead in making compromises.
Wang Jian taught his son some simple sign language, such as "hello", "eat", "thank you", and Tengteng played more standard than many adults. Mandarin Chinese became the "first language" of Wang Jian's family, while sign language was the "second language."
The growth of the son is also the growth of the family
It was not until the birth of his son that Wang Jian's habit of "not loving to talk" changed completely. When Tengteng Yaya learned language, he would sometimes teach his son to speak loudly with a literacy card and a villain book. This is also a kind of vocal training for Wang Jian, the love of parents is always selfless, he must try to communicate with his son and integrate into his life.
In the process, Wang Jian also taught his son some simple sign language, "hello", "eat", "thank you", Tengteng beat more than many adults standard. Mandarin Chinese became the "first language" of Wang Jian's family, while sign language was the "second language." Wang Yilan quipped, "Our family can also be regarded as a 'bilingual family'. ”
Wang Jian and Wang Yilan's parents are both hearing people, and they found a phenomenon when teaching Tengteng language: if the parents are hearing people and the children are deaf, the parents will speak very little sign language; if the parents are deaf, the children are hearing people, and the general children will sign language. "Children are a blank piece of paper, learning things quickly, what kind of language environment will create their future language." Wang Yilan said that this is like a child who grew up in a foreign country, most likely to speak a fluent foreign language. "Ordinary people can't touch it, sign language is mysterious in their eyes, in fact, sign language is a language, the basic tool for people to communicate with each other."
For sign language to see the clouds in the fog, it will occasionally appear on Wang Jian, a "natural user". Sometimes the family sits together to watch the news, and the sign language interpreter in the lower right corner of the screen, Wang Jian can't understand it all. "I learned Beijing Sign Language, and now it's the national sign language."
Wang Jian said that for a long time, there was no unified national standard for sign language, and the special education school taught Beijing sign language, and there were dialect sign languages in various places. Sometimes deaf friends from other places communicate with him, and when they encounter both sides are confused, they write in the palm of each other's palms, and although there is no big problem in communication, it is not very convenient after all.
It was not until 2018, when the national common sign language specification began to be implemented, that China had a national unified standard for sign language. "Still, sign language is constantly evolving." Wang Jian said that for example, in some specific fields with high professionalism, sign language expressions cannot be fully covered, such as "cephalosporin" and "penicillin" in medical terms; "legitimate defense" and "emergency avoidance" in legal terms; "melamine" and "lead-acid batteries" in the chemical industry. "I hope that one day, sign language can cover all aspects of life, people will no longer look at it with a curious eye, and deaf people can truly integrate into society without discrimination." Wang Yilan said.
She once thought about her son's future, whether he will be discriminated against because of deaf parents, "we will consciously instill some ideas in him, tell him that his parents' ears are sick, cochlea is our 'little ears', sign language can also become a tool for daily communication." 」 In Tengteng's view, Wang Jian and Wang Yilan are no different from other parents.
On Tengteng's birthday, Wang Yilan also cried "without showing up" - the grandmother gave the grandson a red envelope of 1,000 yuan, and Tengteng took it and said thank you and went outside the door, asking him what he was going to do, and the childish child's voice amplified a few points: "I want to change the cochlea for my parents." ”
Source 丨China Magazine for Persons with Disabilities(ID:zgcjrzzs)
Text/Photography 丨 Zhang Simon
Editor 丨 Zhang Shuai