Midland Valley High School is debuting Aiken County's first sign language course

Midland Valley High School is piloting an American Sign Language (ASL) course this academic year, the first of its kind in Aiken County.

Leading the class is Dora Brooks, who has a nine-year background in deaf education, having taught students who are hard of hearing in grades K through 12. Now, she’s sharing her knowledge with students who want to learn the visual language.

The course counts as a one-credit foreign language class.

According to information from ASL Deafined, there has historically been some debate over whether ASL should be considered a true language. As of 2020, only 45 states in the nation recognize ASL as a world language.

Brooks said she spent the first three weeks of the new school year exploring deaf culture – the shared social beliefs, history and values of the hard of hearing – with her students.

“I feel like for someone to learn a language, they have to really know the background, where it came from, where it was established,” she said.

The new course is getting students thinking deeper about the significance of accessibility. “[Students] need to realize, like, this language is very precious to that group of people,” said Brooks. “That’s why I really hone in on the deaf culture.”

One of the students in the new class is Chloe Wade, who is interested in learning how to communicate with a family member. “I have a deaf grandpa, and my mom knows [ASL], so I wanted to learn too,” said the senior student.

Another student, senior Josalynn Crawford, is taking the class to bolster her skill set for a future career goal.

“I want to be an occupational therapist, and working with kids that are autistic, one of the things that you have to know is sign language,” she said.

Brooks noted that her classroom, much like the manual signing language, incorporates lots of movement to foster “kinesthetic learning.”

One of her students, Fernando Rosales, agrees: “She’s very interactive with [the class]. We get up and talk to each other a lot.”

These students said they plan to continue exploring the world of ASL long after they’ve finished the course.

Brooks said the most rewarding part of the class has been having students who are “motivated to learn and wanting to learn.”