Did anything in the film reinforce cultural topics that you have learned so far at NCC?

Reaction Paper ASL 153
THE SILENT CHILD
The Silent Child is an award winning short film about Deafness and Sign Language.
On the next page there is a statement from both the director and the writer of this film.
Your reaction paper assignment is to write a “Student’s Statement”.
As an ASL student you have learned many cultural things from reading the book Deaf Again, your textbook and watching various instructional videos. How do the cultural components that you have learned so far, compare to the story in this film?
The following points should be covered in your statement:
•How does the film make you feel? What emotions does it evoke?
•Reflect for a moment on those feelings – do you think you would feel the same way if you were not learning ASL/Deaf Culture? What feelings or opinions might be different?
•Were you surprised by anything in the film? Parental response etc.?
•Did anything in the film reinforce cultural topics that you have learned so far at NCC? Give examples.
•Do you think this is a common experience for Deaf children born to hearing parents?
•Is this a topic that would interest you if you were not learning ASL? Did you know anything about it prior to your ASL classes at NCC? How?
•Have you seen any other films or TV shows on the topic of Deafness? Which ones? How did they compare to this film? Any similar themes?
•Do you think this is a worthwhile film for ASL students to see? Why? What insight has it provided?
•All other comments, opinions, feedback appreciated

The Writer’s Statement
My brilliant father lost his hearing very suddenly when I was 12 years old and lived the last 2 years of his life profoundly deaf. I witnessed first hand the huge effects deafness has on a family. Simple things we took for granted like phoning him to see what time he’s home, eating out, a knock on the door and shouting from the next room among other things suddenly became difficult, some even impossible. I also witnessed my super hero dad for the first time seem vulnerable and I noticed how easy it was for people to leave him out.

90% of deaf children are born to hearing parents with no experience of deafness often resulting in limited communication between the parent and child, meaning a child can start school with little to no communication skills. Since the closure of almost all deaf schools, deaf children now have to attend mainstream school and shockingly over 78% of deaf children attend mainstream school with no specialised support in place. This is heavily reflected in their grades as well as their mental health and well being.

Deafness is a silent disability, you can’t see it and it’s not life threatening so it’s easy for it to slip under your radar. We hope this movie helps to get sign language recognised in schools and give a voice to all the silent children around the world.
The Director’s Statement
Before embarking on the journey of making The Silent Child, my knowledge about deafness was similar to most people’s. I knew very little about the community and I would freeze if i was faced with having to communicate with a deaf person.

What I learnt about deafness has changed my life. Deaf people get a really rough ride, but deaf children get it even harder. Our 5 year old profoundly deaf, leading actress, Maisie Sly proves this point in abundance.

Deafness is not a learning difficulty. With the right support a deaf person can achieve a successful life just like anybody else can.

We learn French, German, Spanish and many other languages in schools today, but British Sign Language, (which is a beautiful language) is still nowhere to be seen.

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