My journey as a teacher of deaf persons

As part of the World Day of the Deaf, September 27, we invited Sister Yvette Renaud, S.P., to tell us about her experience as a teacher of deaf people.

While hesitant to describe my personal journey, I asked Sister Jacqueline St-Amant, SP, a former teacher of deaf people herself for some help. Her first reaction was to tell me: “He makes the deaf hear and the mute talk.” And so, I thought: What a great idea!

Following in the footsteps of the Lord who has given me many talents, during 30 years of teaching deaf children, or as an instructor at the deaf camp in Vaudreuil when I turned 18, as well as the many times I served as interpreter for deaf people, I can say that I too have made the deaf hear and the mute talk, and even, I made the blind see. Let me explain. First of all, I really love children and I think that you need love to be an authority figure and not hurt young people. It was by having fun with the camp goers, teasing them and being teased by them, that I learned to communicate better with them. During my first two years of teaching, I was not allowed to use sign language (it was strictly forbidden), but fortunately, Father Paul Leboeuf insisted that we should take courses in Total Communication: formal signs, lip reading, body language, natural gestures … Whatever was needed to make yourself understood. After taking these courses, I taught what I knew to the parents of deaf children. What a wonderful means of communication! After that, I could easily explain almost any worldwide event to the deaf persons. Thank you, Lord, for my good memory and my nimble fingers apt to interpret their language.

In 1997, following a government program, I retired. However, I did not stop communicating with the deaf or the blind. Quite the contrary! The Sisters of Our Lady of Sorrows, who live at the Mother House of the Sisters of Providence in Montreal, also need to understand religious services, phone calls, world events, community meetings, and so forth. Here too, I make the deaf hear and the blind see. In addition, for more than 20 years, I have been serving as interpreter for deaf people in Joliette, where I travel once a month, for interpretation during the Eucharist and for the preparation for the sacrament of forgiveness. These friendly encounters bring so much joy.

Sister Yvette Renaud, SP.