Continue to practice describing and identifying people in a visual manner, telling a mini-story about those people
Discuss and respond to likes and dislikes - activities, objects, places, ideas
Read about famous Deaf Americans
Please read through the following websites/blogs/resources!
Helen Keller, DeafBlind Educator, Presenter, Author
Helen Keller Services for the Blind
Dummy Hoy, Deaf Baseball Player
Douglas Tilden, Deaf Sculptor
Laura Redden-Searing, Deaf Poet/Journalist
Beethoven, Late-Deafened Musician/Composer
Laurent Clerc, Deaf Educator
I. King Jordan, Deaf Educator
Andrew Foster, Black Deaf Educator
Marlee Matlin, Deaf Actor (Children of a Lesser God, Switched at Birth), Producer, Spokesperson
Nyle DiMarco, Deaf Actor, Model, Social Media Influencer
Nyle DiMarco Foundation (philanthropic non-profit)
Sean Forbes, Deaf Rapper
Sean Forbes (Deaf And Loud website)
Warren "Wawa" Snipe, Deaf Actor/Performer (Superbowl LV [55] Performance)
Linda Bove, Deaf Actor (Sesame Street), Certified Deaf Interpreter
CJ Jones, Deaf Actor/Comedian/Performer
Chuck Baird (PDF Bio), Deaf Painter/Artist
Chuck Baird (DeafArt - Interview and Samples)
QUESTION: Why haven't I learned about these "Movers and Shakers" in our world in school?
ANSWER: Deafness is an "invisible disability". Walking down the street, you wouldn't know someone is Deaf or uses sign language as their primary language UNLESS you yourself were signing and they noticed you, stopped, and held a conversation (tried! :-) with you. You typically just don't see Deaf people out in public in most places, nor in schools, churches, businesses, or other locations.
At least, you didn't in the past. Now that that you're learning more conversational phrases and you're watching videos, your eyes are becoming more attuned and used to seeing hand movements/gestures, facial expressions, and body language that might have communicative value!
Additionally, since you probably didn't have d/Deaf teachers growing up, your regular teachers didn't even consider Famous Deaf People as a lesson plan topic or a "Flavor of the Month" to celebrate in the classroom!
Finally, some didn't let their deafness define them (and were most likely not sign language users), so weren't remembered or documented as "Deaf", instead being known more as "hard of hearing" or having a "hearing impairment". Culturally, they didn't use ASL or join their local Deaf Communities, so they wouldn't have been members of such a minority group.