CAROLING : Sign Singing Unites the Worlds of Deaf, Hearing : By performing for local groups and events, choir youths ‘give back to their community’ and ‘get something, too.’

The intro to “Silent Night” plays quietly, the choir members take a deep breath, lift their heads and begin to . . . gesture.

Welcome to “Christmas Carols in Sign,” a translation of holiday favorites led by Judy Bascue, a Camarillo resident and sign language instructor devoted to eliminating the language barrier between the deaf and the hearing.

Bascue, who can hear, has been teaching sign language for 12 years, most recently through the Pleasant Valley Recreation and Parks District in Camarillo. After teaching her first conversational sign language course with the district three years ago, Bascue approached officials with the idea of a sign class specializing in Christmas carols. The response has been gratifying.

“Our first year, we were asked to perform for the deaf and hearing-impaired at the Tri-Counties GLAD (Greater Los Angeles Awareness on Deafness) Christmas party,” Bascue says, “and we’ve been asked back every year since.”

In addition to the GLAD performance, the “choir,” composed primarily of children who can hear, performs for local organizations and events.

Bascue, whose day job is as a data cartridge operator with 3M in Camarillo where she has worked for 21 years, said her enthusiasm for sign language began with a course she took at Oxnard College 12 years ago.

“I had an instructor, Peter Wechsberg, who literally turned my life around,” Bascue says. “I’ve never met anyone more extraordinary. He hears nothing, but is able to sing, imitate voices and speak.” Because of his example, Bascue began pursuing sign language in a serious way.

After refining her own sign skills, including advanced classes at Pierce College, Bascue began teaching in local elementary schools, through programs at Cal Lutheran University and now, through Pleasant Valley Recreation and Parks District, where she teaches adult and child conversational sign language as well as the Christmas carols class.

“The reason I teach is really for better understanding between people,” Bascue says. “People always fear the unknown. I found that so many deaf people are really amazed that we want to learn their language. But it’s a fascinating language to learn, and such a beautiful interpretation of songs.”

Her students and their parents share her enthusiasm and commitment. Anna McVerry, whose two daughters are enrolled in the class, is pleased with their involvement in the program. “I think it’s important for children to be involved in their community. I also want them to be exposed to all kinds of people and to be comfortable with that,” she says. “And they seem to love it.”

Daughter Margaret, 9, is in her third year with the group and thoroughly enjoys learning another language. “I like it because you can talk to people who are deaf and you learn to listen to hands,” she says.

Older sister Catherine, a sixth-grader, remembers her first performance for an audience of hearing-impaired at the GLAD party. “They clapped by waving their hands in the air, like they were really happy,” she says. Later that year, Catherine gave a speech and demonstration to her classmates at St. Mary’s Magdalen Elementary School in Camarillo. “When I finished my talk, the kids all waved their hands in the air,” she recalls.

Jane Robb, whose second-grade daughter, Sheena, joined the carol signing class this year, has used sign language with her children, starting in their first year.

Before her children were born, Robb was a special education teacher and knew some sign language from working with the multiply disabled.

“I used sign language with all my children before they developed verbal language,” she says. “By 9 months old, they knew numerous signs and were able to understand cause-and-effect, that they could use their hands and get a response, long before they could talk. It also saved me from a lot of whining and is great for saying ‘no’ when we’re in public!”

Robb has high praise for her daughter’s experience with Bascue. “This is a wonderful teacher,” she says. “She is very open, very warm and very interested in people not seeing sign language as a barrier.”

McVerry thinks Bascue’s example is a good one for her daughters to follow. “During the holidays, especially, it’s so easy to get caught up in everything,” she said. “I think it’s important for children to give back to their community--and they get something, too.”

Details

* WHERE & WHEN: Christmas Carols in Sign performances: Tri-Counties GLAD Christmas party for hearing-impaired children and their families, Saturday, Marina Park, Ventura. 648-4523. A concert for family, friends and the public will be held at Pleasant Valley Recreation and Parks District, Monday, 6:30 p.m. 482-1996.