Donalda Ammons, Ed.D.

Professor
Foreign Languages, Literatures, and Cultures

My name is Donalda Ammons. I've been teaching at Gallaudet for 30 years after having arrived in 1977. I teach a wide range of Spanish-level courses. Currently, my focus is on teaching Spanish courses 211, 212, and Advanced Spanish 311, 312 ---with a learning emphasis on reading and writing Spanish.

This semester I'm teaching Spanish 212 -- Readings in Spanish. Students have to read entirely in Spanish. Absolutely no English is allowed, only 100% Spanish. It's what we call "total immersion." I also teach Contemporary Latin America Society, which generally includes the hearing people of that society, but in my course, I include the deaf community in Latin America as well --- what's happening with them, for instance, in terms of their education, women's rights, home life, marriage, religion, divorce, birth control and other issues within the deaf community. What are the people of Latin America fighting for? Is it for communication access or sign language? Has a bill been passed officially recognizing sign language? These are the topics that I incorporate in the course.

Why did I pick Spanish? Many people have asked me the same question. I was raised in a bilingual environment with exposure to both ASL and English. My parents are deaf, by the way - the whole family, too. I was always comfortable with languages. I never felt limited whatsoever. When I enrolled at Gallaudet and found out foreign language was required -- two years of it, I was totally fine with it. In fact, I insisted on becoming more literate. Knowing just two languages wasn't sufficient. Because I wanted to become worldly, I learned additional languages. Since then, I have learned and now know seven different languages.

What do I want my students to remember about me? I hope they see my love for teaching --- the passing on of my experience, knowledge, and appreciation for diversity of cultures, languages, and people to the students. Many college students don’t have the money to go out and see the world. So, my greatest contribution has been my experience and knowledge of the deaf communities throughout the world. I’ve traveled extensively and, therefore, made connections. My network is vast. Thus, with that, I bring the world to Gallaudet students. That’s been my greatest contribution, I believe.

Outside of Gallaudet, I am involved with CISS, which is a French acronym for Comité International des Sports des Sourds. The English acronym is the ICSD or the International Committee of Sports for the Deaf. It’s an international governing body for the Deaflympics, both summer and winter games. How did I get involved? It's been 32 years since my start in 1975. What's the connection and how did it all start? I attribute it to my knowledge of Spanish, that being the key and the connection.

Thanks to Gallaudet I’ve been given the opportunity to learn and become proficient in Spanish. Without foreign language, my life would have been narrow. Now, I see life in color, not black and white. If it weren't for the knowledge of foreign languages and cultures, I would have seen everything in black and white. I just can’t imagine being limited by that view.

Students should learn a language. It doesn't necessarily have to be Spanish per se, but any foreign language. That's going to bring color to your life. You’ll see the beauty of life. You want to have a beautiful life? Know different languages.

I’ll be retiring next year. Some people have asked what I’ll be doing. I am not committing myself to any projects now as I ready for a break. I've been able to accomplish much in the short span of my life. However, I am very interested in working with the Red Cross - not the American Red Cross, but with the International Red Cross. Specifically, I am interested in the disaster relief branch and possibly setting up a deaf sector under that branch. Currently, there are no services for deaf people. There are services for the general population but nothing is set up for deaf people. As an example, with the recent tsunami that occurred, deaf people there were the last to find out the information. There have been other disaster instances such as with the volcano eruptions and Turkey’s earthquakes, where deaf people were unaware of what was happening. No captions were provided or any interpreters for that matter. My gift is communication and in the facilitation of communication with deaf people from different parts of the world. I am fluent in Gestuno and others tell me that my signs and gestures are easily understood. I believe that is my forte. There is a special place in my heart for these people. It definitely won’t be a job. Rather, it will be volunteer service from the heart.

Students who come to Gallaudet should capitalize on sightseeing in the D.C. area. Washington, D.C. has a lot to offer and most of the sites are free. The museums --Smithsonian museums, for one -- are free. They will offer you links to life.