Zelienople Library offers sign language instruction
ZELIENOPLE — As a nurse, “help,” “pain” and “doctor” are important words to Cranberry Township resident Jill Matter.
Communicating them in a different language is powerful.
“I'd like to be able to communicate and help speak with deaf people in the ER,” Matter said about her decision to learn sign language. “I think they'd appreciate it if they see us trying to speak their language when they are in a medical situation.”
Matter was among nearly 50 people learning sign language — a method of communication for people who are deaf or hard of hearing in which hand movements, gestures, and facial expressions convey grammatical structure and meaning — Monday at the Zelienople Area Public Library, 227 S. High St., during its first session of “Introduction to Sign Language.” The program is in collaboration with the Rose E. Schneider Family YMCA in Cranberry Township.
This is an excerpt from a story that appears in Wednesday's Butler Eagle.
