With the recent 15
th Anniversary of September 11, 2001, Ocean City High School’s American Sign Language (ASL) students had the opportunity to connect with a Deaf survivor of the World Trade Center attacks. Carl Andreasen, one of several Deaf employees in the WTC at the time of the attacks, worked on the 71
st floor of the North Tower. On Monday, September 12
th, 2016, he was able to share his story with the ASL 3 Honors students through a classroom videophone.
While the students eagerly awaited their chance to interact with Carl, they watched in awe as he signed his experience of that tragic day. Deaf employees in the WTC had a slightly different experience, due to a lack of emergency preparedness procedures and that fact that they had more difficulty with access to communication. Carl was eating breakfast like any other day when the first plane hit the North Tower on the 93
rd floor. He ran into his friend Susan, who is also Deaf, and the two immediately headed for the stairwell, ignoring the comments from one man telling them to go back up and evacuate with proper protocol. It took them about 45 minutes to reach the bottom floor and leave the building.
They were then able to walk to a school for the Deaf, where they knew they would find Deaf friendly services such as a teletypewriter and interpreters to help them call their families and let them know they were alive because at the time all Carl had in his possession was a pager. He was not able to get home to his wife and children until 7pm that night in Jersey City, where his office was eventually moved. He was exceptionally grateful for the office move, especially since he had also been an employee at the WTC in 1993 when the truck bomb exploded in the basement of the North Tower and he had to evacuate.
“I think students took two things away from the experience. They gained more of an understanding of how significant this horrific event was and is in our history. They also gained new insight into how important it is to always level the playing field for everyone in our society.”- Amy Anderson, ASL Instructor
After Carl shared his story with the students, they were given the chance to ask him questions. It was a great opportunity for them to use their second language with a guest speaker. “There was no voice interpreting for this so they had to manage on their own with understanding him and asking questions. The students were great, “explains Amy Anderson.
It was surely an unforgettable experience for all involved. The empathy and understanding developed by the students for equality and accessibility for members of the Deaf Community is a lesson that does not often comes from typical classroom activity.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZMP1sM7yPV0
Students involved include: Brianna Snyder, Megan Montemuro, Victoria McHugh, Stellanie Yiannos, Maddie Hunt, Liam Bradley, Michael Beebe, Valerie Galderisi, Kiera Quade, Jenna Oliver, Emily Scherer, Nicholl Fenton, Delany Driscoll.
