When he auditioned there were no roles for a deaf character. Once he was cast they role changed to allow him the freedom of acting without the label of Deaf.
So I mentioned how the audience doesn't know my son is deaf in his play. I thought about what happened last night after the play. They were so shocked to learn he is deaf.
Well I think his intent was to see what the response to his acting would be if he was just Haddy and not the deaf kid. He sometimes thinks he gets attention only because he is deaf. All of his life his accomplishments seem to be framed by his deafness. When he preforms Deaf people are proud of this young Deaf child who is so Deaf. Hearing people are impressed a deaf child can do what he does. He reads at such a high level for any child but it is always discussed in terms of deaf. So what happens when we take deaf out of the equation.
This play is perhaps the most fantastic thing that has ever happened to him. It is showing him he is talented even without the deafness. This may sound strange. This came to me after reading another blog about being a role model. At age twelve it is kinda nice to just be yourself with no strings attached.
Another thing I thought about was this huge shift that is happening for us. This moment last night helps to illustrate it. The cast was getting ready to leave after a really long day. My son was talking with two friends . The director walks out and tells the kids no rehearsal Monday they can take the day off! They are all excited and joking around. Without skipping a beat his friend starts to sign the information to my son. I happened to be passing by and stepped in out of habit to interpret. Funny thing is I didn't need to. That is going to take awhile to get used to.
One last thing. The school usually sells videos of the productions. He tells me this show will be captioned. I am crossing my fingers.
Oooooh! I will DEFINITELY buy it! Keep us posted! =D
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