SASL Newsletter - Fall 2018 Issue Issue 11 - Fall 2018 | Page 4

quite some time and really helped the coal miner get to work on time. One day, the coal miner
met another deaf friend. As they “caught up” with each other about family and work, his friend
asked how the coal miner had solved his morning alarm problem. As the miner explained this
“wake up” method, the miner’s deaf friend suggested another arrangement. He suggested the
deaf miner to attach an old-fashioned wind-up alarm clock to an old-fashioned, heavy iron. The
idea was that when the alarm went off, promptly at 4:30 a.m., he would have time to get ready
and arrive at work by 5:00 a.m. The iron would fall. The vibration would wake up the deaf miner
so he could get ready and go to work. The new system worked very well and he was able to
wake on his own. It is interesting to note that this new system impacted the whole village. When
the iron loudly struck the floor every morning, the sound went throughout the town, waking up all
of the surrounding neighbors. This ended up helping businesses as the villagers would wake up
and get to work on time. This helped businesses thrive. (Sorenson Communications, 2015,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CbSuUoFa8FY&t=111s)
ASL Video: The Coal Miner
Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CbSuUoFa8FY&t=111s
The videos and the English translations clearly indicate that, in both versions, the deaf mine
worker is capable, resourceful, and independent enough to take care of himself and go to work every
morning. The versions indicate “not only the Deaf person’s independence, capabilities and desire to be
a part of the hearing world, but also the hearing community’s dependence upon the capable Deaf
individual” (Rutherford, 1993, p. 138). Moreover, “the deaf assert to each other their own strength and
resourcefulness and achievements, laugh at situations in which the hearing turn out to be dependent,
misunderstanding bumblers…” (Radner & Carmel, 1981, p. 22).
The identification of The Deaf Miner and The Coal Miner as a tall tale is appropriate given their
hoax nature. Deaf people are too frequently viewed as having a serious form of disability and being a
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The Power of ASL
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Fall 2018 – Issue 11