Excerpt from the Evening Leader
Wright State University Lake Campus Professor Jodi Pierstorff is looking forward to a concert that she hasn’t been able to put on since COVID put a stop to it. 2019 was the last year that Pierstorff put on the American Sign Language (ASL) Concert at the Lake Campus, and she said she’s excited for its return this year.
“My students pick a song they want to do. They put it into ASL, the music is playing and they’re signing it,” explained Pierstorff.
“A lot of people ask ‘Why do a concert for the deaf?’ The answer is because the deaf love it,” said Pierstorff. She said that being deaf means that some concertgoers may hear some of the music, or may be able to feel it if they turn the volume up, but the key is that they’re seeing a story through the signer’s hands.
“They love coming to those things. They don’t get to go to things often, so anytime they’re able to go and see something in their language, they absolutely love going,” said Pierstorff. She said that the deaf community has always been very supportive of the concert and that she has received questions about its return.
“They’ve missed the concerts and being able to come to them. They’re excited that we started them back up,” said Pierstorff.
Pierstorff said that she became aware of sign language as a little girl when a man came to her grandparent’s home who was deaf and handed out cards with the manual alphabet on them.
