On Wed. May 18, American Sign Language students went silent for a day to put themselves in the shoes of those who are unable to hear. They were unable to speak, listen to music, or watch shows with sound. This experience continued even when students got home. 

Gwen Pasowicz, a level 4 ASL student, shares some insight on how the day went. 

“It was definitely interesting. In some aspects it was easier than I expected and in others it was harder. I enjoyed my experience overall though,” said Pasowicz.

One of the many challenges Pasowicz faced was not being able to listen to music. 

 “I think my biggest challenge is that I couldn’t listen to any music today which made car rides feel long and boring. Same thing for doing homework, I typically listen to music and I couldn’t today because along with not talking we were limiting the amount of audio input we received,” Pasowicz stated. 

The overall day was a learning experience for all ASL students. 

“ I learned what others thought about people who may not talk or those who cannot hear. There were many people who were kind of rude or didn’t understand the project so they chose to make fun of it and indirectly made fun of those whose life is actually like that,” said Pasowicz. 

When communicating with others got difficult, Pasowicz mentioned that she was able to problem solve by writing a text on her phone or writing on a piece of paper to show others. 

Pasowicz recommends that others should try going silent for a day to have empathy for those who are hard of hearing, but she mentions that it won’t be easy. 

“This is not an experience for the faint of heart. You have to have a lot of will power and believe that you can go a day without speaking. It is no simple task because we have been talking our whole lives and that is how many of us were taught to communicate,” said Pasowicz. 

Though ASL students are able to return to communicating as before after 24 hours are up, it isn’t a choice for others-it’s an everyday experience.