We were pleasantly surprised at the cafe when a young girl and her grandmother came over to our table. I was curious about why she approached us and how she knew. There were a few hints: my hooded jumper had a message about sign language and being deaf from the US, and Jacek and I were communicating in our own way.
The girl’s name was Amanda. Her parents are from Australia and came to New Zealand to visit her grandparents. Amanda is hard of hearing without her hearing aids, and she signed to Jacek and me at the table. She asked if I was deaf or if I used sign language to talk with Jacek. I answered her and her grandmother, and when her mother arrived with two other daughters, I explained that yes, we are deaf. I also shared that Jacek has cerebral palsy and is speech-impaired.
Amanda shared her experiences at two different schools. One was a Deaf school, and the other was a regular school in rural Australia. She said that learning in the classroom made her tired all day and night, but she loves using Auslan sign language to communicate. She was not embarrassed at all. Instead, she proudly showed who she is and spoke openly about her disability while talking with us. Amanda was not embarrassed to look at Jacek and his sign language, although she understood he is different from us. When Jacek asked her questions, she understood most of them; she double-checked with me, who spoke in voice and signed to Amanda over his questions.
Six days before yesterday, on Sunday 4 October, I took Jacek to another cafe called Zenders in Ruakura. A couple sat in front of us and watched as I communicated with Jacek in NZSL and his own sign language. They were not being rude; they were just interested because they noticed the message on my hooded jumper. The woman asked me several questions for herself and her husband. I asked if they had visited Zenders Cafe before, and they said it was their first time. I introduced them to one of the waitresses, and they chatted about the cafe. https://zenders.nz/
I got the hooded jumper from the US while I was on holiday, though I have travelled to many other countries as well many years ago. I found this jumper thanks to an elderly couple I met on an Italy tour group who had lived in California for many years. They showed me one of the Deaf schools, the John Tracy Center. John’s parents were Spencer Tracy, the famous film star, and Louise Treadwell Tracy, an actress. John passed away around 2003 and left a message for all D/deaf children and youth: “I want to let the kids know they can live a full life. Sports, schools, hobbies, interests, dating, marriage, have a family, drive a car — all of it.”-John Tracy https://jtc.org/Tracy https://jtc.org/
I also went to Canada and stayed with another couple who lived in Edmonton. One of them was a doctor, and they took me to the Alberta School for the Deaf. https://asd.epsb.ca/
This is my preferred choice of hoodie compared to those in New Zealand. It is made of good-quality material and is an excellent example of sharing a positive message with everyone.
