Chick-fil-A Staff Sign 'Happy Birthday' to Hearing-Impaired Employee
"There's some challenges in communication, but it's a good challenge," the franchise owner said.
A hearing-impaired Chick-fil-A employee may not have been able to hear his co-workers sing the “Happy Birthday" song, but he was able to enjoy it all the same
Employees at the Cache Road location of the fast food franchise in Lawton, Okla., learned sign language to surprise James Knottek, 24, with the birthday greeting.
“We treat James just like any other member of our team,” said Jonathan Pickett, the owner of the franchise location. “They took it upon themselves to learn how to sign ‘happy birthday’ throughout the day.”
They could even be seen in video posted to the location’s Facebook bursting into giggles as they stumbled on spelling out his name in ASL.
He told InsideEdition.com Knottek has been hearing impaired his entire life and other employees have been able to adjust to communicating with him around the restaurant in the last two years he has been working in the kitchen.
Read: Would You Do the Chick-Fil-A Diet? Chain Suggests Eating Their Nuggets Every 3 Hours
“We’ve learned a little bit of sign language. Sometimes, we pull out a phone and write messages back and forth to communicate. A lot of it’s through lip reading,” Pickett said. “There’s some challenges in communication, but it’s a good challenge.”
Watch: Grandmother Teaches Her Deaf Baby Granddaughter Sign Language: 'Can You Sign Grandma?'
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