“This is - ‘Follow me, follow me, follow me.’ Left, right, upstairs, basement, ‘Show me your basement.’ That’s a good question - ‘Where’s your bedroom?’ You would want to know ‘Is the baby in the bedroom?’’’
Cindy Hanzes, of Connellsville, demonstrated words in American Sign Language to firefighters attending a special class at the Morrell Volunteer Fire Company. Many of the words could apply to firefighters finding themselves in emergency situations involving people who are deaf or hard of hearing.
The firefighters paid close attention, carefully shaping their fingers in imitation as they learned.
Hanzes, a certified employment support professional for Blind and Vision Rehabilitation Services of Pittsburgh, became the teacher for this five-week class under arrangements made by Hear Fayette, a center for hearing loss assistance and community education, which operates under St. Vincent de Paul Society in Uniontown.