The Language and Voices of Juan and Alexi

By Lohren Caseres

Juan is a lively, energetic six-year-old who enjoys hugging people and primarily speaks Spanish. He is nevertheless learning English. As he learns to use a cane, he learns more and more about his environment...in Spanish and English. Juan mimics many things people say, sometimes applying what he learns, sometimes creating new phrases.

He is processing and generating language. He loves jumping into the boys bathroom and listening to echoes, even when he doesn't need to relieve himself. One day, he learned some vulgarities from a classmate and once called a secretary a name that left her quite impressed with his vocabulary. Her eyes were wide open for a few minutes, as if she had glimpsed at the Devil himself.

Juan is forgiven for his rough vocabulary since he occasionally serenades the secretaries and teachers at his school. He memorizes songs from commercials on a Spanish TV station, "Univision."

Juan rarely uses verbs purposefully, and when he does, he uses a first person verb to describe what a third person is doing. I sometimes enter his class and say "Hola Juan," and he says, "Soy Lorenzo!" ("I'm Lorenzo") What he means is "Es Lorenzo!" (It's Lorenzo!)

Sometimes what he says makes sense, sometimes it doesn't. It's a constant experiment of trial and error. Fairly scientific. Juan gets some language training from me, but it's usually during O&M lessons. It's a fringe benefit of having a bilingual instructor who has taught Spanish for a living. Yes, many Orientation and Mobility Specialists do teach some language skills, and listening skills, including eavesdropping on conversations and multilingual vocabulary. Juan's favorite English phrase is "See you later, alligator."

Alexi is also six yearsold. She doesn't converse very much with me, but she loves to mimic me when I try to speak with her. She mimics in English and in Spanish. Her English pronunciation and intonation is nearly perfect. Her parents speak Spanish to her, not with her. She gets English at school. I sometimes wonder if she is a bit confused, if not frustrated.

She likes the Motown music from Burger King commercials, and sings quite well. Alexi spends long periods of time frustrated by her low vision, but she loves to jump up and down, she loves to swing and she enjoys playing the piano. She learned how to make her way to the swings, independently.

However, when she wants to swing, she commands me to push her swing by saying "pa'delante" in her normal Spanish accent from Mexico. This phrase is normally stated "para adelante" and literally means "forward!" I've adjusted to some of her culturally bound behavior and then tried to teach her the verb for "push" without any luck. I was able to teach her to end the phrase with "por favor."

Alexi's piano teacher looks like Ray Charles, but his clairvoyance envisions the talent of presently unfulfilled potential. Alexi already plays some simple tunes.

Alexi says very little, but her heart is enormous and speaks for itself. I deliberately put obstacles in front of her as she walks and holds her cane diagonally in front of her. She bumps into them and she still likes me afterwards. I ask her to walk in front of me and she hates when I'm too far behind. She yells in frustration as her low vision adjusts to the darkness of hallways and later the glare of the sun. The presence of someone she knows consoles or assuages some of her fears, but not all of them.

At the end of a lesson, when we're already inside her classroom, Alexi harmlessly asks me for "un besito" (a little kiss). For her, this means a peck on the cheek. She uses no verb in her request. This is typical of her language skills. I say, "Okay, te voy a dar un besito, pero portate bien." (Okay, I'll give you a good-bye kiss, but behave well.) She smiles.

I don't know if it is a politically correct action, and since the classroom teacher approves, I don't particularly care. I'm sure it isn't proper behavior for some readers, but it is culturally appropriate for her at this particular time and place. Is Alexi hungry for some liberating type of affection? Does O&M training liberate her in ways she previously hasn't experienced or doesn't understand? Is Alexi scared? If so, of what? Why? I don't have precise answers, and what others have is pure conjecture.

Apart from their similar age and language skills, Juan and Alexi have something else in common, both of their sets of parents are originally legal immigrants whose voices consistently emit phonemes in Spanish. It is evident that the respective families have a notion of blindness that was formed elsewhere, that is, not within the normative educational structures of the United States. "Independence" is a modern concept and a reality that is not easy for the parents of either child to digest.

The livelihood of the parents relies on some notion of interdependence, perhaps even co-dependence, characterized by an emotional factor that demonstrates care and protection for others who are faced with adversity...even more adversity than the sighted Spanish speakers who immigrate northward to a relatively wealthy modern society.

Juan and Alexi live in world of constant limbo...moving between the fine lines of a culture they do not completely understand (traditional yet modern), and the lines of a culture that their family incarnates, and habitually obeys... the culture of origin that molded the parents. For Juan and Alexi to truly thrive (rather than merely survive) and develop the language skills and a voice of their own, they will have to dance the limbo of the special services they are provided.

To attain their own respective freedom from the constraints of both cultural dances, they must be well educated, comprehend different cultures, and make knowledgeable choices regarding the options available for their respective futures. This means discerning two languages, which they will occasionally mix, and often necessarily "match" in ways that may inspire them to feel free, politically, culturally and spiritually. They will do so in ways that hopefully allow them too explore and find their very own interests and develop their own comprehendible "voice" at some point in time.

Orientation and Mobility tasks are pivotal since they are often culturally bound. At this juncture, for Juan and Alexi, in their world of language limbo, there is no option for which language will serve as the primary language of instruction in O&M. Conscience dictates that the world that is relevant to O&M tasks be taught in two languages, English and Spanish.

For me, as their O&M instructor, to stay solely within the framework of one language would be a crime, a betrayal of conscience and knowledge acquisition. These two students are now and possibly forever "dual language" learners. The marriage and understanding of two languages, even for visually impaired students, is much like Ken Wilber's idea of "The Marriage of Sense and Soul." It is the road to greater freedom and opportunity.

So, imagine the task at hand in teaching Juan and Alexi, and in learning from them. I believe they are students who are innocent and unspoiled enough to understand the word "freedom" and aspire towards it, without propaganda, believing that it is Good. In the labyrinth of subcultures that surround them and even amidst uncertainty about the future, Juan and Alexi need to develop a "voice." And, ultimately, as I view their progress, there are few words to capture the complete and unique experience of working with Juan and Alexi.

I shall nevertheless borrow some thoughts to describe what is felt (in a somewhat mature way) regarding the long term objectives at hand after working with these two students for a year, after partially understanding their "voices." It is not unlike what others often feel when working with their "kids," visually impaired, totally blind or sighted.

"...perhaps, political freedom joined with spiritual freedom, time joined with the timeless, space joined with infinity, we will come finally to rest, finally to peace, finally to a home that structures care into the Cosmos and compassion into the world, that touches each and every soul with grace and goodness and goodwill, and lights each being with a glory that never fades or falters. And we are called, you and I, by the voice of the Good, and the voice of the True, and the voice of the Beautiful, called exactly in those terms, to witness the liberation of all sentient beings without exception.

"And on the distant, silent, lost horizon, gentle as fog, quiet as tears, the voice continues to call." --Ken Wilber

Lohren Cáceres M.S., COMS
Foundation for Blind Children
1235 E. Harmont Dr.
Phoenix, Arizona 8502

Lohren Cáceres, a dual citizen from Chile and the U.S., co-taught the class Christian Tradition and World Religions as a graduate teaching assistant at Florida State University before becoming a university-level Spanish Instructor for five years. He has been teaching Orientation and Mobility for three years, first as a private consultant with adults in deep South Texas, later at the Foundation for Blind Children in Phoenix, Arizona.

PERSONAL NOTE: He is a "soon to be papa" who will gladly take any suggestions concerning fatherhood!