By: Arezo Ahmadi
This past Saturday marks thirteen years since I attended my last DeafNation Expo, an annual convention held across the country for Deaf individuals, CODAs (Child of Deaf Adults), and hearing allies to convene. My Deaf father took me to my last expo in Las Vegas when I was 8 years old, which was my first time seeing so many Deaf people in one place outside of my hometown. Some of my most core memories from our Las Vegas trip revolve around the old acquaintances we reunited with and new CODAs I met, the delicious food we ate with old and new friends, my father’s encounter with famous celebrities (Oscar winner Marlee Matlin!), and of course, the free swag we earned (laptops, iPads, need I say more?). I’m glad to report that my most trip to Pasadena on Saturday met, and even exceeded, the standards set by my wonderful time in Vegas.
I attended the event with some members from UCLA’s HandsOn student organization, the American Sign Language (ASL) club on campus. Most of us have some experience with ASL, ranging from beginner to advanced/native fluency, which made it a really great experience to practice not only with the new friends we met at the Expo, but with each other.
Once we entered the convention, we were immediately greeted with friendly new faces–people rushed to greet us, say hi, and we immediately met an influencer who needed our help to record her livestream. Suddenly, I felt a warm feeling overcome me, fulfilling my desire to reunite with a large Deaf community akin to the one in my hometown.
Our group first did a tour of the different booths at the expo: we saw Deaf artists selling their handcrafts, Deaf-owned realtor businesses advertising their services, and even a Deaf make-up artist who brought photo samples of her work (gorgeous!). I began signing with Deaf business owners and found a sticker booth selling Iron Man-themed stickers that signed “love” in sign language. I immediately bought it and texted a picture of the other stickers to my mom. She wanted the love sign symbol that was Pepsi-can themed, so I bought that too!
Throughout the day, there were different speaker events in which various Deaf influencers, activists, and comedians came to speak. My mom, in particular, wanted me to get a picture with the VichFam, a family of Deaf parents and CODAs. I got to meet the parents of the family, Arthur and Amanda, and they were so sweet!
My friends from HandsOn and I also spent some time at different booths selling ASL-themed merch, where I picked up some number dice that had ASL number signs instead of written numbers, an ASL lanyard, and some keychains for my mom! My friend also bought one of the tote bags (as pictured). I even found a Warriors T-Shirt in ASL–as a Bay Area native, I almost bought it so quickly!
Many of the booths were also hosted by large companies that promote accessibility, such as Amazon and T-Mobile. These booths in particular had Deaf representatives and ASL interpreters. There were also many technology companies that my family is familiar with, such as Sorenson, which is a video relay company. Sorenson was also one of the booths doing a large giveaway of gift cards, but sadly none of my friends or myself won anything. T-Mobile even did an Apple Watch raffle, but we also lost that! Regardless, we did get some pretty cool pins and pens from the company, though!
At the event, I ran into so many familiar faces of Deaf people who I’ve met in Los Angeles previously. I even ran into some of my parents’ friends! I also got to make a new friendship with a lovely woman who has CODAs, and we bonded over our family experiences. After the event, my HandsOn friends and I went for pizza in Old Town Pasadena, and it was such a lovely time to reflect on the day’s events over some delicious food. One of the members of our group bought an ASL dictionary from the Expo, so it was fun getting to learn some new signs from the book!
From the moment we got to the Expo to the conversations at the pizza shop, I can truly say that it was an amazing day that brought back so many memories of my time in Las Vegas. Despite losing so many raffles, we won so much more in friendship, community, and love. Just by meeting so many Deaf business owners and seeing how much talent exists, I feel so inspired, privileged, and honored to have been raised by and in the Deaf community. While Deaf representation is slowly making its way to mainstream media, we still have so, so much work to do to show the vast talent, passion, and beauty within the Deaf community.
I can’t wait to attend next year’s Deaf Expo!
Here is a picture of a flyer I found at the DeafNation expo with the signs for the alphabet. I encourage you to learn how to spell your name, and even try spelling your friends’ names, too!
Originally Posted: 13 May 2024