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I saw this article when I was surfing last night. 
San Antonio College is my alma mater and I've known Lauri Metcalf for several years. It's great to see this in a major mainstream newspaper.
http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/metro/stories/MYSA052406.01B.Deaf_Chat.1797ceb4.html
Socializing without sound
Web Posted: 05/24/2006 12:00 AM CDT
Vincent T. Davis
Express-News Staff Writer
Elizabeth Griego goes to a Starbucks faithfully every third Tuesday of the month — and it's not just for the coffee, but also for conversation.
When she chats, she doesn't use her voice, but her fingers and hands, bridging barriers to communication. Griego, 19, always arrives early, eager to talk with friends who made an impact on her life.
Three years ago, she met a group of deaf people and was frustrated because she couldn't communicate with them. She learned American Sign Language, and she's been enthralled ever since.
"I use it everywhere," Griego said. "I've done a lot with it; the people are more sharing about their lives."
She uses her skills in an internship program at Judson High School, working toward a certificate as an interpreter.
Griego is one of a number of high school and college students fulfilling class requirements by practicing at the Starbucks. Some nights, as many as 20 to 30 students from San Antonio College, the University of Texas at San Antonio and St. Philip's College are there.
But the thing that keeps many deaf people coming back each month to Starbucks is that they don't have the luxury or ease of communication in their neighborhoods or mainstream society, said Lauri Metcalf, chairwoman of the American Sign Language and Interpreter department at SAC.
Metcalf, the daughter of deaf parents, has taught ASL to children for more than 30 years.
Signing has the same function as any language, and having a place to speak in a native language is a big deal, she said.
"Deaf people don't consider themselves disabled, but a cultural and linguistic minority," Metcalf said. "Deaf events are where we come and celebrate our culture and language."
That's the case at Deaf Chat Coffee Tuesdays at the Starbucks café at 5321 Broadway. It's a place where regulars take new visitors through basics such as spelling their name and how to greet each other.
Decades ago, deaf clubs were the hubs where the deaf gathered in the hundreds to share potluck dinners and ease of conversation. Over the years, the clubs waned and events such as the coffee chats sprang up in their place.
The event has been going for 21/2 years. San Antonio is one of 10 cities in Texas sponsoring coffee socials.
According to the Web site www.**********.com, the chats started with three places in 2003 and a year later had grown to 23 states, 72 coffee chats and several locations in Canada.
On this night, 15 people, ranging in age from 19 to 68, stood, sat and signed in the front of the San Antonio café.
The host, Zydrunas Ilgauskas, originally from Lithuania, is deaf. The 29-year-old said the coffee chat is one more place where members of the deaf community can get out of the house and make new friends. The event, from 7 to 10 p.m., is free and open to the public.
"It's a fun place for people to get together," Ilgauskas signed to Dawn Fowler, who interpreted for him. "Also (a good place) to learn how to sign. It's like a baby learning ABCs."
His girlfriend, Jacqueline Wright, hosts a coffee chat the first week of the month in Corpus Christi, where a large part of the crowd is high school students.
Other events, such as ASL storytelling at Borders at the Quarry, take place monthly around the city. On June 3, Fiesta Texas will host "Deaf and Hard of Hearing Awareness Day," charging a reduced price for the deaf and hard of hearing.
Mark Peña, born deaf but now able to hear with the help of a cochlear implant, learned about the meeting on the Internet three months ago. Peña, 36, brought his childhood friend, Andrew Felter.
Felter and Peña sat against a wall next to Shannon Roeder, 26, at the front of the coffee shop busy with streaming customers. Roeder was inspired to learn to sign after watching actress Marlee Matlin on the television show "The Outer Limits."
"I saw that it was so beautiful," she said. "I had to be part of it."
Roeder studies sign language at SAC and is considering taking more classes at a higher level.
Ilgauskas, whose sign name — a special sign used to uniquely identify someone — is "Z," said he'd like to see more events expand in San Antonio. He said he hopes the San Antonio deaf community will establish a deaf club like ones in Austin and other cities.
Daniel Barrientes, 21, learned to sign after meeting a deaf person he wanted to get to know. He stood next to Ilgauskas, showing a visitor finger spelling, a technique not considered sign language but used to spell names of people and places.
"In 15 minutes, they can tell me their life story," said Barrientes, a one-year chat veteran. "You feel like you're part of the culture."
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vtdavis@express-news.net
San Antonio College is my alma mater and I've known Lauri Metcalf for several years. It's great to see this in a major mainstream newspaper.http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/metro/stories/MYSA052406.01B.Deaf_Chat.1797ceb4.html
Socializing without sound
Web Posted: 05/24/2006 12:00 AM CDT
Vincent T. Davis
Express-News Staff Writer
Elizabeth Griego goes to a Starbucks faithfully every third Tuesday of the month — and it's not just for the coffee, but also for conversation.
When she chats, she doesn't use her voice, but her fingers and hands, bridging barriers to communication. Griego, 19, always arrives early, eager to talk with friends who made an impact on her life.
Three years ago, she met a group of deaf people and was frustrated because she couldn't communicate with them. She learned American Sign Language, and she's been enthralled ever since.
"I use it everywhere," Griego said. "I've done a lot with it; the people are more sharing about their lives."
She uses her skills in an internship program at Judson High School, working toward a certificate as an interpreter.
Griego is one of a number of high school and college students fulfilling class requirements by practicing at the Starbucks. Some nights, as many as 20 to 30 students from San Antonio College, the University of Texas at San Antonio and St. Philip's College are there.
But the thing that keeps many deaf people coming back each month to Starbucks is that they don't have the luxury or ease of communication in their neighborhoods or mainstream society, said Lauri Metcalf, chairwoman of the American Sign Language and Interpreter department at SAC.
Metcalf, the daughter of deaf parents, has taught ASL to children for more than 30 years.
Signing has the same function as any language, and having a place to speak in a native language is a big deal, she said.
"Deaf people don't consider themselves disabled, but a cultural and linguistic minority," Metcalf said. "Deaf events are where we come and celebrate our culture and language."
That's the case at Deaf Chat Coffee Tuesdays at the Starbucks café at 5321 Broadway. It's a place where regulars take new visitors through basics such as spelling their name and how to greet each other.
Decades ago, deaf clubs were the hubs where the deaf gathered in the hundreds to share potluck dinners and ease of conversation. Over the years, the clubs waned and events such as the coffee chats sprang up in their place.
The event has been going for 21/2 years. San Antonio is one of 10 cities in Texas sponsoring coffee socials.
According to the Web site www.**********.com, the chats started with three places in 2003 and a year later had grown to 23 states, 72 coffee chats and several locations in Canada.
On this night, 15 people, ranging in age from 19 to 68, stood, sat and signed in the front of the San Antonio café.
The host, Zydrunas Ilgauskas, originally from Lithuania, is deaf. The 29-year-old said the coffee chat is one more place where members of the deaf community can get out of the house and make new friends. The event, from 7 to 10 p.m., is free and open to the public.
"It's a fun place for people to get together," Ilgauskas signed to Dawn Fowler, who interpreted for him. "Also (a good place) to learn how to sign. It's like a baby learning ABCs."
His girlfriend, Jacqueline Wright, hosts a coffee chat the first week of the month in Corpus Christi, where a large part of the crowd is high school students.
Other events, such as ASL storytelling at Borders at the Quarry, take place monthly around the city. On June 3, Fiesta Texas will host "Deaf and Hard of Hearing Awareness Day," charging a reduced price for the deaf and hard of hearing.
Mark Peña, born deaf but now able to hear with the help of a cochlear implant, learned about the meeting on the Internet three months ago. Peña, 36, brought his childhood friend, Andrew Felter.
Felter and Peña sat against a wall next to Shannon Roeder, 26, at the front of the coffee shop busy with streaming customers. Roeder was inspired to learn to sign after watching actress Marlee Matlin on the television show "The Outer Limits."
"I saw that it was so beautiful," she said. "I had to be part of it."
Roeder studies sign language at SAC and is considering taking more classes at a higher level.
Ilgauskas, whose sign name — a special sign used to uniquely identify someone — is "Z," said he'd like to see more events expand in San Antonio. He said he hopes the San Antonio deaf community will establish a deaf club like ones in Austin and other cities.
Daniel Barrientes, 21, learned to sign after meeting a deaf person he wanted to get to know. He stood next to Ilgauskas, showing a visitor finger spelling, a technique not considered sign language but used to spell names of people and places.
"In 15 minutes, they can tell me their life story," said Barrientes, a one-year chat veteran. "You feel like you're part of the culture."
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
vtdavis@express-news.net