POPDB is pleased to host Scott Mallinson, a deafblind writer, as a guest blogger on various topics related to literacy, once a month until June 2025. Feel free to go back and read Scott's March and April posts. If you would like to read more of Scott’s writing, check out his blog, Happiness is for Everyone.
When I started to write my vocabulary was very simple. Prior to typing, I did not always demonstrate what I understood. Therefore, people who communicated with me used simple spoken words and signs.This was understandable, but it did not allow me to advance my vocabulary. I wish that people had spoken to me at an age appropriate level and perhaps they could have clarified words they thought I did not understand. I wrote the actual names of flowers in my children's book, "A Bee's Journey" because I would have liked to have been taught that flowers had actual names, not just red flower or small flower. If it is not taught it will not be learned.
I have been asked how I am able to use so many different types of words in my writing. Some people assume that my vocabulary should be limited because of my deafness and not being taught English earlier. As I am writing this I am reminded of my friends in school who, like myself had limited communication skills. They were treated as toddlers rather than their actual age. Instead of adapting appropriate material, music and language, they were subjected to the same boring activities. I understand the cognitive differences some people have, but remember that connection to new material, language and maturing classmates cannot happen if the same stagnant lessons are being taught year after year.
My world began to open up when a new school intervenor started working with me. I am lucky that I had many nice intervenors, but I never before had an intervenor who fought for me, my right for an education, inclusion and dignity as much as she did. Perhaps the others tried, but this time it worked. This intervenor arrived when my teacher wanted to include me. I started to love learning because of these two wonderful people. I was still not typing, but I was learning. I was starting to understand the confusing pieces of information in my head. When I moved to high school, my elementary teacher and learning support teacher requested that I attend regular academic classes as they could see I loved being taught even if I did not communicate my understanding. This is how I was in a position to shock my intervenor and social studies 8 teacher by answering a question correctly. I wrote my first ever test shortly after. I still hadn’t started typing, however I understood all the material. I was ready to do it. I was ready because of the intervenor who refused to believe that I couldn’t.
That summer I started typing. Grade 9 started in the same way as grade 8, but by the second semester I was doing the assignments and getting marks. At the start of grade 10 I was officially moved into the academic program and was so lucky to get awesome teachers who supported me. My English 10 teacher, in particular, was an awesome influence.When we started poetry, he gave us lessons on using more interesting words. For example, jubilant instead of happy or enraged instead of angered. He basically taught me about the thesaurus, my favourite writing tool. So that was the long answer to the question, “How do I have such a big vocabulary?” The short answer is, “a thesaurus”; the same way anyone can look up new words.