Many of us have experienced some type of bias,
prejudice, or oppression at some point in our lives. Whether it was direct or
indirect these experiences can have a damaging effect on an individual. Sometimes
they are unintentional but are still harmful to the person who is being
targeted. One particular incident that I can remember was when my daughter who
is deaf begin her high school career. Many people assume that deaf people are not
capable of achieving academically. Although being deaf does present challenges,
some deaf people are still able to function like normal people. All throughout elementary
and middle school she performed well and did well academically. When we had her
IEP meeting to prepare her for high school they had already spelled out what
they thought would be best for her and not taking into consideration her goals
for herself. She knew that she wanted to be a dancer and that she wanted to go
to college, therefore with much hesitation they had to redo her IEP plan.
As a parent I was angry because they just assumed because
she was deaf that she would automatically graduate with a certificate of
attendance and not be given the choice to fulfil her dreams. In order for this
to be a greater opportunity for equity the administration would have to change.
Instead of assuming what they think is best for a child, you should know and
understand what their needs and wants are. Today my daughter is a senior in
college and was featured in the Valdosta daily newspaper on 4/09/14 as the
first deaf student to graduate from Valdosta State University’s Dance program. The article is below.
April 9, 2014
Silent Dancer The Valdosta Daily TimesThe Valdosta Daily TimesWed Apr 09,
2014, 05:50 AM EDT
VALDOSTA — Having watched Sharia Stripling dance
and perform for the past few years in Valdosta State University Theatre &
Dance productions and musicals, audiences would never know she's deaf.
That's the idea. Audiences are not supposed to know.
Stripling, her instructors and fellow dancers cannot ignore her hearing impairment
during preparation, training and rehearsal, but she's not working to become a
deaf dancer. She's been training to be a dancer.
In a few weeks, Stripling is on track to becoming VSU Theatre & Dance's
first deaf student to graduate with a bachelor of fine arts in dance.
Eric Brandt Nielsen, a VSU dance professor, recalls Stripling applying for the
program a few years ago.
"As her advisor, we discussed the challenges of the curriculum after she
auditioned for the program," Nielsen says. "We knew she had the
talent to get through the performance/technique classes but we needed to define
what academic courses we would focus on in the curriculum that would be
difficult challenges for her."
Dance faculty also wanted to know the protocol for handling Stripling's
studies, as well as the VSU Access Office sign-language personnel accompanying
her. Teaching a deaf student challenged the dance faculty, Nielsen says, but he
knew from experience it could be done.
"I first saw how music is used for deaf dancers during Peter Wisher’s
residency at Glassboro State College in the late 1970s," Nielsen says.
"He brought his company of student deaf dancers from Gallaudet University,
which is a federally chartered, private university for the education of the
deaf and hard of hearing. It is located in Washington, D.C. Peter was the first
to show me how speakers on the floor would help deaf dancers feel the
vibrations. He also explained that he had those with partial hearing dance in
front so that others, who had no hearing, could follow more easily."
Nielsen incorporated these techniques in Stripling's classes. He would speak
with signers to communicate with Stripling, or stand in front of her so she
could read his lips, or he would assign a student to work closely with her, guiding
Stripling by touch to changes in movement.
Stripling has proved an eager student. To become a dancer, Stripling says she
knew she must work hard and be prepared prior to classes and rehearsals.
There is the story of her participation in the VSU Theatre & Dance musical
"State Fair" a few years ago. Stripling speaks few words, preferring
to sign and read lips, but to dance in the show, she had to appear to sing the
songs with the rest of the ensemble cast. Though she only mouthed the words,
she learned the lines to all of her songs. She knew the words better, earlier
than most of the other singing cast members.
There's the personal way she prepares for rehearsals of new choreography.
Through a signer/interpreter, Stripling explains. Though she cannot hear the
music, she can feel the music's vibrations. With new songs, she sits in her
room, increases the full volume on her iPad, then hugs the digital tablet
against her chest so she can feel the vibration of the music. So she can
understand the seismic rhythms inspiring the dance moves.
Sharia Stripling has been learning to make adjustments since losing her hearing
at the age of 4 years old.
"I could hear," Stripling says through the sign-language interpreter.
"Mom tells stories of how I sang and baby-talked. One day I remember
watching TV and my hearing just left."
Her mother, Teresa Goodman, took young Sharia to doctors but they provided no
real answers to why the youngster had lost her hearing.
Goodman has always encouraged her daughter to live life to its fullest while
realizing that it will take hard work to achieve her goals. She encouraged her
daughter to dance.
"Deaf people can dance," Stripling says. "Maybe I can't hear the
words but I can feel the vibrations."
As a child, Stripling found inspiration through Heather Whitestone, the deaf
ballet dancer who became Miss America in 1995. Stripling realized all things
are possible. Stripling took dance classes in a Macon high school.
Following her VSU graduation, Stripling plans to earn a master's degree in
business and physical therapy. The oldest of five siblings, she would one day
like to open and operate a business with her family that incorporates dance,
physical therapy and cosmetology.
Still, Stripling often runs into the incredulous, those who wonder how or why
she dances. Yet, if one stops to consider it, dance makes tremendous sense. She
cannot hear the music, but she does not need to hear or speak words to
communicate.
Dance is a language that needs no words.
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