SWITCHED AT BIRTH panel

So last night I headed over to the Writers Guild for the panel on the ABC Family show SWITCHED AT BIRTH. If you haven't seen the show, here's the low-down: two girls were....switched at birth! Yep! You guessed it! But that's not what the panel was about. It was put on by the Writers with Disabilities Committee and focused on the fact that the show features several main characters who are deaf and speak in American Sign Language. That's kind of the fascinating thing about the show for me -- it's a family drama but I love watching them sign. And I love how I am forced to watch the show. To pay attention because I might miss what is said (all the ASL on the show is given subtitles for those of us who aren't fluent).

During the panel the writers talked about what it's like to write for deaf characters, for teens, for families. They discussed what it's like to work with deaf cast members and how their lives have changed because of it (many of them learned or are learning ASL, same goes for many of their crew members which I think is very cool). They also talked about how, yes, even though the show features deaf characters, it's not just a show about deafness or even just about being switched at birth. I love that. How one idea can spawn so many others and become this universe that affects so many people, whether they work on it or watch it in their living rooms like me.

Do I know any ASL? Not really. I took a finger spelling class in Yuma a while back and still can stumble through the alphabet. I know a few phrases and a few more I've picked up from the show (shrimp? got it down). But I love the idea that you can talk with your hands. With more than just your voice. Last night as I got in the elevator to go to the panel I was surrounded by four men who proceeded to have a very animated conversation -- all in silence. It was fascinating. (And yes, I felt like I was eavesdropping even if I couldn't understand any of it.)

So here's to more diversity on TV and not just in terms of female male or black white. Here's to raising my awareness of making the characters in the worlds I create look more like the people that populate the world.