Longtime Farmingdale resident Camille Picini, 19, recently taught children American sign language in a course at the Farmingdale Public Library. Children learned words, phrases and sentences that they can apply to their lives.
Jacques Germans, who brought his daughters to the four-week course, loved seeing them excited to learn.
“I think the sign language class is fantastic for my daughters,” he said. “It helped them build on the signs that they learned when they were little babies, and now they are practicing and using words and phrases even more. When they were babies, they used it to communicate with their parents. Now they can use it to communicate with others who know sign language.”
Picini has been signing since she was in 6th grade. She is now a sophomore at New York Institute of Technology and she is planning to become a physician’s assistant. She taught sign language before and was happy to teach it again in her home town.
“I taught American Sign Language when I was in high school through an internship program. I also tutored kids privately,” Picini said. “This is the first time that I did a program for the library, and the children were all great. They came back each week and built on what they learned.”
She is happy that all her students were able to grasp the concepts that she taught during their day off from school.
“I feel like they learned a lot and they can use those skills to communicate. It was on a Saturday afternoon, and they all were really motivated to learn,” Picini said.
Picini grew interested in American Sign Language during middle school and she has loved it ever since. She said: “My school district offered a program in sixth grade where each quarter I got to learn a different language. I took French, Italian, Spanish and American Sign Language, and at the end of sixth grade I got to choose which language I wanted to take throughout the rest of middle and high school. Of course I chose sign language.”
According to Picini, knowing sign language is a very useful talent.
“I think many parents are hesitant to have their children learn sign language because they worry it will limit them, but in reality it can open so many doors,” she said. “It’s definitely becoming more widely accepted because there is more exposure to it.
Picini uses sign language to communicate with others who sign and she hopes her ability helps people throughout her life.
“When I was working in a gardening store, a deaf individual needed help and I went around explaining items to her. I made a sale and she felt helped and happy. That may not have happened if there wasn’t someone there to help her who could sign,” she said. “I plan to work for a neurologist one day. Knowing how to sign will be very useful to me because I will encounter people who cannot hear or communicate verbally. It’s great to know that I can help others by communicating with them.”
American Sign Language can be used in many careers Picini explained.
“With sign language you can be a teacher or you can be an interpretor,” Picini said. “Having that talent can aid you in any career choice whether it is a doctor, a worker in retail or a cook. Knowing sign language benefits everyone because it is an important language to know and it can help others too.”
