The Deaf and Scrapbooking

The title may make this seem to be a bit more than this article really ends up being, but, let me explain from the very beginning of my thoughts.  As a mother of two hard of hearing children, and the daughter-in-law of a deaf father and mother-in-law and a sister-in-law, I have found sign language and the deaf community a part of my life.  My mother-in-law was not alive when I met and married my husband, but, my father-in-law was for a short time.  I loved Don, my father-in-law.  Don was a very caring man and it was apparent that he loved his son.  Don got to see his first grandchild right before he passed away.  Don was the first deaf person that I ever really knew.  I was not acquainted with nor did I know much of anything about the deaf community until my father-in-law's funeral.  I have never seen a so many people who were not family members (the deaf are a family, but here I am speaking literally) come and support the family and each other.  I was so moved by all of his friends, many of whom were life long friends whom he attended school with, and their love for one another. 

That day I saw the type of family and togetherness that I had never seen before, but that I wanted for my own family.  Soon after my father-in-laws passing we had two more children who were both born with different hearing abilities.  Our second child was born with one ear having normal hearing  and the other a severe to profound loss.  Our third child was born with no known hearing in one ear and a severe to profound loss in the other ear.  This is a lot to take in when you have little or no knowledge of how or what you should be doing, at least it was for me. 

The deaf community has a special place in my heart, and I know as my children get older I will have more interaction with the deaf community.  For now, we live in a small town where there aren't any children that I know of who are deaf or hard of hearing.  At our home we use very basic signs and are trying to learn more every day.  Because this is such a big part of our lives, it makes small things much more meaningful. 

One day as I was doing research for one of my online business's I came across the Zsiage Line of paper products.  I found that Zsiage had a double sided paper that on one side was the deaf alphabet and the other was the number signs.  This was the first and only scrapbooking product that I had ever seen that had been manufactured with the deaf community in mind.  I thought about this simple piece of paper for a long time, nearly a year. 

And, just recently after having so many projects in mind for this paper and not having the time to do or complete all those ideas, I decided to write about my experiences and write to Zsiage and ask their permission to include their paper in an article.  I was very excited to hear back from Dina Quondamatteo, co-owner of Zsiage.  When Dina wrote back she not only allowed me to use the image of the ABC123 paper, but share a little insight into her and her partners company and insight into how this particular paper came about.  Here is what Dina had to say: "Zsiage prides itself on being a niche company and not a cookie-cutter. That is why we create products that aren't really out there. One of our galleries', "Do You Believe"? is our awareness line. It has Autism paper, Juvenile Diabetes, Breast Cancer and Support Our Troops.

Sign Language, we felt, was another area that no one recognized. My friend, Kathy, is a sign-language interpreter and I discussed the topic with her. She helped us by making sure each of the signs were correct. I had a lot of fun making this paper, especially painting the nails!!"  I know there are many deaf groups that get together and scrapbook, what I wonder is if there is  potential for more products that would help or give more insight into the deaf community. 

I think that there are other products or lines of paper and stickers that can and should be made to give the rest of us more insight into the lives and the heart of this remarkable community of people.  I want to personally thank Dina and Zsiage for their awareness and desire to share their products with the rest of us.

Tags: deaf, hearing impaired, scrapbooking, scrapbooking ideas, scrapbooking for the deaf

[tag-ice]deaf[/tag-ice], [tag-ice]hearing impaired[/tag-ice], [tag-ice]scrapbooking[/tag-ice], [tag-ice]scrapbooking ideas[/tag-ice], [tag-ice]scrapbooking for the deaf[/tag-ice],[tag-self]deaf[/tag-self], [tag-self]hearing impaired[/tag-self], [tag-self]scrapbooking[/tag-self], [tag-self]scrapbooking ideas[/tag-self], [tag-self]scrapbooking for the deaf[/tag-self]

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Scrapbook Basics, Scrapbook Journaling, Scrapbook Layouts, Scrapbooking