In the athletics field of the 11th National Paralympic Games and the 8th Special Olympics, there is such a group of special volunteers who are constantly gesturing to the check-in office, the post-game control center and the field, where there are athletes, there are their busy figures. They build a "bridge" of communication for the hearing impaired athletes, are the unspoken guides of the athletes, are the staff, are teachers, are selfless sign language volunteers, most of them have been teaching in the field of special education for more than 20 years.
On October 26, the Athletics Competition of the 11th National Paralympic Games and the 8th Special Olympics is in full swing. On the field, the contestants are tenaciously fighting and surpassing themselves, and outside the arena, sign language teachers from Xi'an School for the Deaf and Dumb are also nervously busy.
"My duty is to facilitate the communication between the contestants and the staff, guide and assist the athletes to change their clothes, submit prohibited items, post number cloths, queue up for check-in, etc., help the athletes successfully complete the pre-game check-in work, and help other volunteers complete some of the work of the check-in office after work.
Ms. Jiang Ting has been engaged in special education work for 8 years, and she has taken the initiative to sign language volunteers, specifically responsible for the special Olympics hearing impaired group javelin, discus, shot put sign language translation work and other event management work. "The training and participation of disabled athletes, the effort and sweat behind them are unimaginable to ordinary people, so they are stronger and more self-reliant in their mentality." Therefore, Teacher Jiang Ting will pay special attention to the actions and achievements of the service recipients in the competition, and cheer them up and encourage them. This period of experience gave her a new understanding of her future special education work. "Paralympic sports not only allow people with disabilities to realize their self-worth on the field, but also make them cheerful and open-minded, and some athletes will take the initiative to come to us and chat."
In this Special Olympics athletics event, like Chen Jin and Jiang Ting, there are a total of 18 sign language teachers who help the participants and staff communicate with each other, and every day after the start of the event, they serve every disabled athlete who needs help with heart, love and affection.
In order to ensure that every message is accurately passed on to the contestants, the sign language teachers must always keep their minds focused on the sidelines, "If there is a message that is not delivered in place or is delivered incorrectly, it will have a huge impact on the contestants' competition, and we must be responsible for our own work, and we must be responsible for the contestants!" Teacher Zhang Qi said. "Sign language teachers will teach us some common sign language and will help us get the job done outside of work, and now I can express a lot of simple sign language." Wang Xinyu, a young volunteer, said excitedly.
Words fly at your fingertips, and truth is transmitted on the field. It is precisely because of such a group of warm, loving, silently dedicated sign language teachers who have built a smooth communication bridge between the disabled athletes and the referees and staff through their professional expressions on the field, helped the athletes successfully complete the competition, achieved good results, showed the spirit of self-improvement and hard work, and expressed their wonderfulness.
Hand shape to heart, silent words of truth!
Editor: Yang Jingzi