<body><div><figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=2ZEz3d_1FMupKcm00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=2ZEz3d_1FMupKcm00" width="1003" height="1200" ><figcaption>Beth Hutchison</figcaption></figure>Phones are usually hard to escape in a college classroom. In Instructor of American Sign Language (ASL) Bret Cummens’ new ASL class, not a single student was looking at one. Cummens was hired following student demand for additional ASL sections last year, with eight sections now available taught by either Cummens or Instructor of ASL Lisa Aiken-Allen.When the Criterion observed Cummens’ class, students watched him closely, following his hands, facial expressions and movements as he taught them how to communicate in ASL. No words spoken; the room filled with laughter, participation and concentration.With more than 25 years of college teaching experience and a five-out-of-five score on Rate My Professor, Cummens joined CMU’s faculty this semester. He previously taught in Utah, Washington and Missouri. CMU has quickly become Cummens’ favorite place to teach.“There is something about CMU and Grand Junction that clicked with me very quickly,” he wrote in an email to the Criterion.His connection to ASL is personal, as Cummens is a deaf person and relied heavily on lipreading throughout his K-12 education. At 19, he began learning ASL, which changed the way he experienced communication.College introduced him to more Deaf culture and the Deaf community, which partially motivated him to become a professor.“For the first time, I began experiencing communication through a language built around visual access,” he wrote.He now shares his personal experiences on his Facebook page, “ABCs by ABC: Deaf Culture,” which has grown to thousands of readers.Cummens knows how to connect with a room full of students and they believe his approach to teaching ASL is unique. He wants students to understand that ASL is not simply English translated into hand movements. It has its own language complete with grammar, culture, history and social norms.“Knowing individual signs is not the same as knowing a language,” he wrote.For many students, that realization changes how they see ASL. Students may enter the class expecting to memorize signs, only to discover that facial expressions, body movements and visual cues are equally important.“Their hands have not merely learned vocabulary,” he wrote. “Their confidence has found another language.”One of Cummens’ favorite things to watch is the transformation that happens throughout the semester. Students who are initially nervous about signing eventually progress to full conversations, making jokes and laughing with their classmates.“ASL is one of my absolute favorite classes I have taken in my college career,” junior English major Jeyda Horn said. “I look forward to every new class. I implore not only friends, but everyone to take ASL.”Cummens wrote that students can sometimes become so focused on making the perfect sign that they become afraid to communicate at all. He encourages them to ask questions, experiment and laugh at their mistakes. His advice is to “be willing to look ridiculous.”He joked that students also assume he does not know what is happening in the classroom because he cannot hear them.“I have developed a heightened visual awareness,” he wrote. “Superman might be able to spot a rat from across the room. I can spot the gnat sitting on the rat.”According to Cummens, one common misconception from students is that communication with a deaf instructor must automatically be difficult. He believes communication does not need to rely on sound. Depending on the situation, he uses ASL, writing, email, ASL interpreters, gestures, facial expressions and technology.Cummens hopes students who hear learn that being deaf is not an incomplete version of being hearing. Many challenges that deaf and hard-of-hearing people face come from environments that assume everyone can hear.The Criterion asked Cummens about changes CMU could make to become more accessible for deaf and hard-of-hearing people.“Accessibility is not about giving Deaf people something extra, it is about walking into the same room, receiving the same information, participating in the same conversation, and leaving with the same opportunity,” he wrote.Cummens believes CMU can become more accessible by providing reliable interpreting, accurate captions and visual emergency guidelines. He wants accessibility to be anticipated instead of a necessary request.</div></body>

Block Source: thecrite.com

Misinformation

Clickbait

Old or repetitive news

Explicit content

Location not relevant

Phones are usually hard to escape in a college classroom. In Instructor of American Sign Language (ASL) Bret Cummens’ new ASL class, not a single student was looking at one. Cummens was hired following student demand for additional ASL sections last year, with eight sections now available taught by either Cummens or Instructor of ASL Lisa Aiken-Allen.

Second ASL instructor supports student signers

NewsBreak

Phones are usually hard to escape in a college classroom. In Instructor of American Sign Language (ASL) Bret Cummens’ new ASL class, not a single student w

Second ASL instructor supports student signers

Comments