I once wrote an essay for college back in the late 80’s when my paper came back with a failing grade so I went to the professor (appointment only) and asked for an explanation other than just the word “plagiarism” written in red as I put in serious work into it and never considered such practice. He explained that I couldn’t possibly know all of the complex words I’ve used in it because of my deafness.
Mind you, I can talk but I have an extremely difficult time pronouncing many of the ”bigger” so I keep my verbal dictation simpler in order to remain understood by anyone who doesn’t know sign language. I was born deaf but I made it my mission to know English FLUENTLY as this was the key to functioning well in the hearing world around me.
He wasn’t very pleasant and has already accused me of plagiarism on the spot so rather than protesting it up to the dean (and waste valuable time), I challenged him to choose however number of words he’d like me to see if I knew the definitions to. He slyly obliged and gave me about 20 words. When he saw that I can provide proper definitions quickly, I could slowly see that he was stoutly corrected. I asked him if he would like me to write a paragraph or two about any subject on the spot while I was visibly upset but trying to contain myself.
He declined the offer and silently gave me high passing marks. Before leaving, I calmly reminded him that there are thousands of deaf people who are like me and that he shouldn’t assume things falsely and politely left. He did respect me the rest of the quarter. At the end on the last day, he confessed to being enlightened that day in his office. That’s big coming from a professor at a university!
Now, I homeschool my 3 kids and they know full well about proper punctuation and good grammar. My oldest is already in her 2nd year of college while doing dual enrollment as a HS junior.
A trick for you parents with young kids...
If my child is with his friends is asking me “permission” to do something with them, I listen to the grammar that we’re familiar with.
“Dad, MAY I go biking with Tommy?” is a genuine request from him and I decide accordingly.
“Dan, CAN I go biking with Tommy” is code for “I don’t want to go but Tommy made me ask” to which I always reply that he cannot, sparing the guilt he’d get from his friend for not saying directly. ;-)
