Pima Participates in Deaf Awareness Month
By RUTH BEHRPima Post
September is Deaf Awareness Month, a time to recognize the unique culture and languages of the Deaf community.
The North American Deaf community includes those who are deaf, deafblind, and hard-of-hearing as well as Children of Deaf Adults (CODAs).
According to Gallaudet University, approximately 0.9-2.2% of the US population has what the University refers to as “a severe hearing impairment or is functionally deaf.”
While not all those people are part of the Deaf community, Ernest Willman, one of Pima’s American Sign Language professors, is among them.
Willman, speaking through an interpreter, says, "I am from a generationally Deaf family. My parents are Deaf and my siblings are also Deaf."
While the Deaf community is vast and diverse, they ar...