ASL café in Portland gives Deaf and hard-of-hearing people a hub

An Oregon café uses ASL for ordering and as a community hub

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — An Oregon café where American Sign Language is the primary language for ordering has become a cherished space for the Deaf community, the Associated Press reported.

At Woodstock Cafe in Portland, non-ASL speakers can use a microphone that transcribes their order onto a screen. The cafe also provides employment for people who are deaf or hard of hearing, and it has drawn people from across the country who want to work at a place where communication is built in.

Andre Gray, who helped open the cafe, said in sign language that it gives people a stable place. “So the cafe becomes their stable place. It’s their rock,” Gray said.

The cafe is owned by CymaSpace, a nonprofit that makes art accessible to the Deaf community. CymaSpace also hosts weekly ASL meetups and game nights at the café, including an event called Sign Squad on Tuesdays.

The AP story described a range of attendees with different hearing experiences, including deaf people who sign and people taking introductory sign language classes, along with hard of hearing attendees who read lips and communicate with spoken word and hand signals. It said the group is diverse, but that people share the experience of signing.

Amy Wachspress, who classifies herself as hard of hearing and primarily reads lips to communicate, said she loves that “there’s so many different people that come.” Wachspress said the event is “so eclectic” and that “the one thing we have in common is that we sign,” according to the AP report.

The AP story also included background from Zach Salisbury, who was born with a rare genetic disorder that causes gradual loss of hearing and sight and uses a cochlear implant. It said Salisbury and Wachspress are among the people who come to Sign Squad.

The AP report said Wachspress tells a story about a deaf toddler born to hearing parents who wanted him to be immersed in Deaf culture. Wachspress said the toddler was “beside himself excited” when he realized he could communicate with people using sign, and she said, “We were all so touched. … That’s the kind of thing that happens here at the cafe.”

Gray said there were plans to acquire adjacent vacant buildings for a Deaf Equity Center, but that much of the funding was cut following the change of presidential administration. He said CymaSpace hopes to find funding from private organizations and a future crowdsourcing campaign for the project.

Gray said the cafe “gives power to the community as opposed to a fear of signing.” He added, “We, as a community, are so proud of who we are,” according to the AP report.