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DeafTown: Passport into the deaf world

“When I speak, it’s her voice,” said Jodi Pierstorff, sign language interpreter for Terri Quellhorst, interpreting for Quellhorst.

Grocery shopping, ABCs & jail

At Wright State’s Lake Campus on Nov. 20, Deaf Town was held for the fifth time in Dicke Hall. The event was created by Pierstorff, American sign language (ASL) professor and 28-year-long interpreter.

There are a few rules to the event: first, get a passport, then visit the stations, follow the station directions and have fun. But most importantly: no talking.

The event has undercover cops who patrol the room and send individuals to ‘jail’ if they are heard talking. The individuals then wear the sign of shame and sit out for 10 minutes.

At Deaf Town, there were three deaf individuals who were working stations. These stations were created to simulate everyday situations that the deaf must tackle.

Stations to learn from

The first station for newcomers was the ABCs and 123s. The ASL alphabet and numbers 1-10 were taught as a base for the other stations.

Stations like DiMarco’s Clothing and Gallaudet Grocery tasked individuals with signing items to the worker and collecting the clothes or foods on their list.

Quellhorst ran the DiMarco’s Clothing station. Quellhorst was born hearing but later became deaf around two years old. She is the president for the Northern Star Deaf Club and vice president of the Deaf Senior Citizen’s Club.

The Hands-On Travel station provided a slip of paper that held a sentence of where you wanted to travel to. Once you signed the sentence, the worker finger-spelled a location that had to be pointed to on the map.

Another station was Dr. Noah Voice. This station did not incorporate sign language but instead had individuals perform an ailment for the doctor to diagnose.

Each station provided a unique experience for the ‘travelers’ to complete in order to receive a stamp on their passport.

DeafTown event now open to all

For those who do not know any ASL, next fall, Deaf Town will be open to the public to experience and learn more about the language and culture of the community.

This event is hosted in hopes that people understand what it is like to communicate every day when one does not understand the language.

“It’d be nice to have more students to come and for more people to learn. It’s important,” said Quellhorst.

Pierstorff took sign language classes and went to workshops in order to learn the language. She met a deaf man at one of the workshops and then helped interpret for him during church.

“I wasn’t the best at first, but I got better,” said Pierstorff. “Even learning a little bit can make a deaf person’s day.”

Pierstorff hosts Deaf Town every fall along with a sign concert in the spring. She first started Deaf Town because she was influenced by a friend in Indiana who hosted a similar event.

Roxanne Roessner

Wright Life and Laker Life Editor

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