Learning To Sign

By Eliza Hallabeck

On Monday nights for the last five weeks, Maggie Cortez has been traveling to Newtown High School to teach what she believes to be the first sign language course to be taught through Newtown Adult & Continuing Education.

“You can communicate with a deaf person after just five weeks, and that is exciting,” said Ms Cortez, who said her students in this course ranged in age from a grandmother who took the course to better communication with her autistic granddaughter to a NHS senior.

“It’s great,” said Ms Cortez. “It’s a lot of fun and people are there for all kinds of reasons.”

Ms Cortez said she has been teaching sign language for 25 years, and added that she also taught her three children to sign before they could talk.

“My kids were able to tell me when they wanted a drink,” she said, “a drink of water.”

Ms Cortez, who lives in Woodbury and works as an office assistant at Primary Care in Southbury, said the ability to sign is something that is useful for everybody.

At her job, she said, patients tell her that they travel to the Primary Care office because they know she is there and able to help them at the office desk.

Every community group, she said, should learn the ability to use sign language. Ms Cortez said emergency signs and necessity signs were the object of instruction for one of the five classes she taught for this session of the Continuing Education course.

“It’s much better to take this course with a partner,” she said, “because then you have someone there to practice with.”

There are 15 people in the sign language course through Continuing Education. She said she teaches mostly beginners, because “seeing the light bulb go on over their heads, like that they get it,” is the most exciting aspect of teaching.

“I love to inspire people to love to learn,” said Ms Cortez, and added that she also loves to continually learn.

Although Ms Cortez said she does not know yet if the sign language course will be offered again through the Adult & Continuing Education program, she said she would “love to fill my summer if anyone is interested.”

Anyone who is interested in learning sign language over the summer can contact Ms Cortez by leaving a message at 203-263-0300.