LOG IN

A Small Gesture?

Share This Post

\"black
Photo Credit: Emily LaFleur-Brewster at Juniper Cafe

Couple days ago I posted about my experience at Metro, and it was shared widely. It reached out to this young woman\’s mom to which she privately messaged me. Her daughter was happily surprised to see the impact of my experience. She told her mom…

\”It was just a small gesture.\”

But it wasn\’t.

I want many of you to know.

It was grand in every way because for many like me, we always accommodate people. It is grounded in us, we courageously adapt throughout our lives. Or for some, have a triggered distaste for it.

We have learned to wear hearing devices even have invasion surgery to hear people, but could we all? We have taken hours and hours of speech training to speak at their level, but spoke perfectly? We have learned to lipread and that is no easy task, but when you lose more of your hearing or face someone with a mask, is that not more challenging? We have a natural visual language that should be parallel to our spoken official languages, but hasn\’t yet?

No two Deaf people are the same, we have different hearing levels and abilities. But society looks at us to be fixed, when honestly should look within themselves and decide “why fixating on the norm”?

So when this young woman accommodated me by signing for me, it was a weight off my shoulders and I\’m sure for many others who face her. In this case, it is not just about sign language or being deaf, it was more about her being inclusive.

Inclusive action shows kindness. It\’s excerliating when one seeks positive connection rather than focusing on our differences.

One small difference between any of us is communication, not everything in life is based on our listening and speaking. There\’s more to life than just that. Trust me, you\’d be surprised.

We can strive for inclusion, myself included.

If you\’re curious to learn more, reach out.

More To Explore

Both hands form an F-handshape (thumb and index finger in a circle) at chest level, with closed fingers touching. Then the dominant hand moves outward from the stationary one.

Tiny Captions, Big Impact

The digital scene in North America has taken a quirky turn, and it’s time we talk about it, with a splash of fun and a dose of charm! Across Canada and the United States, an interesting trend is popping up: captions that are so tiny, they could probably hide from a Canadian goose. While minimalism is cool and all, it seems some creators have taken “less is more”

Read More »
Image of person signing Rights Hold your non-dominant hand flat, palm up. Place your dominant hand (also flat) upright on top of it. Then slide your dominant hand forward along the palm. dominant hand moves in an up-and-down motion.

Economic Rights ARE Human Rights

You can’t have one without the other.A strong economy means nothing if people are struggling just to survive.And human rights ring hollow when economic barriers block access to education, meaningful work, or basic services. We often talk about economic growth as a sign of national success; rising GDP, more jobs, increased productivity. But numbers alone don’t tell the whole story. Growth is only meaningful when it’s inclusive. When

Read More »