Davila Shares His Personal Story
“When I was 6, my father died of a heart attack. Soon after, I got sick,” Mr. Davila said.
He was stricken with spinal meningitis. He survived, but lost his hearing. A social worker told his mother about a school for the deaf in Berkeley, Calif.
His mom made the difficult decision to send her small son 500 miles away to ensure he had a chance to learn, Mr. Davila said.
He spent two months each summer with his family but he never lived with them full-time again.
“I grew up alone,” he said.
Mr. Davila said he understood his mother’s decision and was a happy child.
“I never felt rejected by my family. … I didn’t go through a grieving. I was a happy little boy.”
When he arrived at the California School for the Deaf, he saw people signing for the first time. Within a few months, he was fluent in American Sign Language. At that time, deaf children were not taught sign language in formal classes.
“We learned from each other, like a hearing child learns language,” Mr. Davila said.
Soon he learned a third language — English. For the first several years, he continued to think in Spanish. Over time, his Spanish skills diminished and English became dominant, he said.
“I forgot Spanish because I was away from my family,” he said. “I was the only one who spoke Spanish in my school.”
By age 13, he had completely lost his ability to speak Spanish. He relearned the language after graduating from college.
“As an adult, I realized I had no roots, so I met people and decided to relearn,” Mr. Davila said. “It all came back.”
Mr. Davila said one of the misconceptions some hearing people have about deafness is that sign language is an international language.
Every country has its own sign language, he said.
As interaction has increased between deaf people of different countries, some selective signs are emerging but communication remains a problem, he said.
However, deaf people who sign different languages do have an easier time communicating than hearing people who speak different languages, he said.
“People who sign know how to improvise, and modify their signs to get their message across,” he said.
Mr. Davila said he hopes his selection as interim Gallaudet University president is helping expose more hearing people to deaf issues.
“I want people to understand deafness,” he said. “Deaf people are like anyone else. They have abilities, knowledge, they are consumers as well. They own homes, drive cars. The problem is communication. There needs to be equal effort between deaf and hearing people to communicate with one another.”
Improving communication at Gallaudet University is something he hopes to accomplish as president.
“It is important to be open, to hear issues and concerns, to work with the community to solve these issues,” he said. “Anything that inhibits learning, I need to address. I am not working alone. I am providing leadership.”
He is pleased the university’s board of trustees selected a minority as the interim president.
“If you are running a program, you need to be able to reflect the diversity within your community. It’s not easy to do. Minorities generally have fewer opportunities for professional training, so we have a big responsibility … We must encourage students to get the best education they can.
“I went from elementary to graduate school and never saw a minority teacher. I don’t think that is true now.” http://www.fredericknewspost.com/sections/news/display.htm?StoryID=54795
Commentary: Davila sure came a long way from his humble beginnings. Just like every protester stated, Gallaudet had always attracted a wide diversity of students from different backgrounds, from the very beginning of its establishment.Â
Davila is another proof why “Not Deaf Enough” isn’t true. Davila was hearing until the age of 8 and he didn’t even know ASL nor English when he went to CSD.
Another holiday message:Â holidays06_blast
email contact: mishkazena@aol.com
“When I was 6, my father died of a heart attack. Soon after, I got sick,” Mr. Davila said.
He was stricken with spinal meningitis. He survived, but lost his hearing. A social worker told his mother about a school for the deaf in Berkeley, Calif.
His mom made the difficult decision to send her small son 500 miles away to ensure he had a chance to learn, Mr. Davila said.
He spent two months each summer with his family but he never lived with them full-time again.
“I grew up alone,” he said.
Mr. Davila said he understood his mother’s decision and was a happy child.
“I never felt rejected by my family. … I didn’t go through a grieving. I was a happy little boy.”
When he arrived at the California School for the Deaf, he saw people signing for the first time. Within a few months, he was fluent in American Sign Language. At that time, deaf children were not taught sign language in formal classes.
“We learned from each other, like a hearing child learns language,” Mr. Davila said.
Soon he learned a third language — English. For the first several years, he continued to think in Spanish. Over time, his Spanish skills diminished and English became dominant, he said.
“I forgot Spanish because I was away from my family,” he said. “I was the only one who spoke Spanish in my school.”
By age 13, he had completely lost his ability to speak Spanish. He relearned the language after graduating from college.
“As an adult, I realized I had no roots, so I met people and decided to relearn,” Mr. Davila said. “It all came back.”
Mr. Davila said one of the misconceptions some hearing people have about deafness is that sign language is an international language.
Every country has its own sign language, he said.
As interaction has increased between deaf people of different countries, some selective signs are emerging but communication remains a problem, he said.
However, deaf people who sign different languages do have an easier time communicating than hearing people who speak different languages, he said.
“People who sign know how to improvise, and modify their signs to get their message across,” he said.
Mr. Davila said he hopes his selection as interim Gallaudet University president is helping expose more hearing people to deaf issues.
“I want people to understand deafness,” he said. “Deaf people are like anyone else. They have abilities, knowledge, they are consumers as well. They own homes, drive cars. The problem is communication. There needs to be equal effort between deaf and hearing people to communicate with one another.”
Improving communication at Gallaudet University is something he hopes to accomplish as president.
“It is important to be open, to hear issues and concerns, to work with the community to solve these issues,” he said. “Anything that inhibits learning, I need to address. I am not working alone. I am providing leadership.”
He is pleased the university’s board of trustees selected a minority as the interim president.
“If you are running a program, you need to be able to reflect the diversity within your community. It’s not easy to do. Minorities generally have fewer opportunities for professional training, so we have a big responsibility … We must encourage students to get the best education they can.
“I went from elementary to graduate school and never saw a minority teacher. I don’t think that is true now.” http://www.fredericknewspost.com/sections/news/display.htm?StoryID=54795
Commentary: Davila sure came a long way from his humble beginnings. Just like every protester stated, Gallaudet had always attracted a wide diversity of students from different backgrounds, from the very beginning of its establishment.Â
Davila is another proof why “Not Deaf Enough” isn’t true. Davila was hearing until the age of 8 and he didn’t even know ASL nor English when he went to CSD.
Another holiday message:Â holidays06_blast
email contact: mishkazena@aol.com
December 14th, 2006 at 11:51 am
Ha!!
Now people will say, “Well, it’s because she’s a woman!”
But you are right though – this is a proof with everyone cheering and embracing Dr. Davila that JKF’s “Deaf Not Enough” card was not the issue for the protest and its supporters from all over the world!
Thank you, Dr. Davila, for sharing your background and answering our questions!
December 14th, 2006 at 12:21 pm
“Gallaudet has always attracted a wide diversity…the very beginning?” That is not true, Elizabeth. We know very well that women were not allowed to be students until much later, and the first black entered in 1950s. Let’s us be happy that diversity is being recognized as important but let’s also be honest.
December 14th, 2006 at 12:35 pm
Iam, it isn’t sometimes easy to get the message across if one is upset. The gifts sure ticked off many people and I don’t blame them. It rubbed me off the wrong way, too, to be honest with you because I see it a big disrepect to the deaf community.
KM, I stand corrected. I was thinking more in communication diversity, more than racial or sexual diversity. Thank you for pointing that.
December 14th, 2006 at 1:31 pm
Hey,
Actually Edward Miner Gallaudet was being very progressive in his day when the issue about admitting female students came up.
We should be praising the school for being open to the idea and acting on it before other universities did.
December 15th, 2006 at 1:24 am
I think it’s interesting how some deaf people like Davila (I know of others) have done very well with their lives, and in fact probably much better than if they had stayed hearing or been born hearing. Higher education in this country was rather limited until the post-WWII years when many benefited from the GI Bill and the American middle class we take for granted today grew and strengthened.
I think Davila’s story is a classic American success story. Here’s hoping he adds further to his impressive resume with a successful tenure as interim president!