American Sign Language

[Jem]

I just read one of those heart warming articles about someone who visited a restaurant and their server was deaf...nice little story, all was well...
However that got me thinking.

My friend and I decided in grade 7 to teach ourselves the alphabet and numbers in ASL...sounds nice, but it was really so we could talk to each other in class without the teacher knowing... We weren't very good at it as we had to try and hide our hands while at the same time try to figure out which letter the other was displaying....It ended up failing miserably. To this day, I still know the signs, and every once in a while I practice...just in case I ever need to use them. I have come across a few deaf people over the years but have never actually had to use my little spelling skill as they were all lip readers and I tend to talk with my hands. I don't think my hand gestures are actual ASL signs but you get the gist of what I say as my hands tend to "act out" and emphasize my words. Overall, communication was (I think) pretty decent between us and we were able to pick up what the other was saying thru basic hand gestures and simply paying attention. But I JUST thought to myself today...after all these years....I am a lefty. I automatically use my left hand (although I just tried and I can spell with my right).
Does anyone here use or know ASL? Does it matter what hand is used to spell out words in ASL?

 

[Winchester]

I used to know some of it. When our grandson was young, he needed tubes in his ears. And the family learned a bit of sign language because he really couldn't hear that well. Well, the tubes came out and he was fine, so the hand signals went by the wayside. And now he's really into thunder-pounding classic rock. Which, of course, is more than fine with his classic rock loving grandmother!

 

[Lari]

I don't really know ASL, but I did research into British Sign Language for a character I played once in an RPG, and I found their alphabet just made much more sense than the American one. I still remember the BSL alphabet, and it's been years.

I know a little bit of baby sign language now, too.

 

[Willowy]

My brother knows ASL and does volunteer work with Deaf people. ASL is an entirely separate language and not just English in signs. It has its own grammar rules, slang, etc. A lot of it is contexual and facial expression is very important. There's also a whole different Deaf culture.

Finger spelling is really only used when there is no sign (or a "close enough" sign) for something. But he says that it's good enough for communicating with Deaf people you'll briefly meet and they appreciate any attempt to communicate so don't be shy .

I know finger spelling but, wow, my brain just does not work properly to learn full ASL. I'm kind of jealous of my brother but he has a natural knack for all languages, not just ASL.

Oops, I forgot the original question, lol. He says, yes, if you're left-handed you would sign with your left hand. But be consistent about it and don't switch hands. He says that different signing styles are equivalent to accents/speech patterns and it would be weird if you switched your accent in the middle of a conversation, once they had gotten used to your way of saying things.

 

[Jem]

Finger spelling is really only used when there is no sign (or a "close enough" sign) for something. But he says that it's good enough for communicating with Deaf people you'll briefly meet and they appreciate any attempt to communicate so don't be shy .

That was my thought on continuing to practice finger spelling. I know there are an abundance of signs but to learn them all so I can communicate efficiently...well I don't think I've got what it takes, or the time to learn a complete language. So finger spelling, to throw in a few words that I may have trouble signaling among my usual hand and body flailing, I thought, could make communication easier....

And yes, I'm seeing the mental picture of myself as you all read my "usual hand and body flailing" comment...and yes, what you are picturing is probably accurate. I'm quite expressive with my body language! LOL! Sometimes to my own embarrassment...
I've often said that I can't lie, no matter how hard I try. Even with a bag over my head you'll be able to read me...

 

[MoochNNoodles]

I'll ask my mother. She signs and was a teacher assistant for a school for the deaf for over a decade. I don't recall signing being on any one hand; but people don't use finger spelling that much. It's cumbersome for a whole conversation. I understand signing from being around it but I cannot sign back much. I only had two clients who signed and we used paper to communicate anything that we couldn't communicate another way. I think they both had the same counselor so she interpreted meetings. Occasionally my mother helped out if she was around since they were on her caseload too. (We worked for the same company.) Lip reading is actually kind of difficult but it helps. Especially because most people don't enunciate very well. But most deaf or Hard of Hearing people appreciate it when you do what you can to communicate. Masks have eliminated lip reading as an option and it's VERY frustrating when you rely on that to help because you are already struggling to communicate with the world.

 

[Jem]

Lip reading is actually kind of difficult but it helps. Especially because most people don't enunciate very well. But most deaf or Hard of Hearing people appreciate it when you do what you can to communicate.

While I'm not perfect at detecting...I work with the public, in health care, and have come to pick up on little cues that tell me when someone seems hard of hearing...it's pretty obvious if they are completely deaf as they tend to tell you in some way. When I see these cues I make sure to keep full face contact and speak clearly and project. And no, not in a condescending way and talk like they're children or yell...

 

[MoochNNoodles]

While I'm not perfect at detecting...I work with the public, in health care, and have come to pick up on little cues that tell me when someone seems hard of hearing...it's pretty obvious if they are completely deaf as they tend to tell you in some way. When I see these cues I make sure to keep full face contact and speak clearly and project. And no, not in a condescending way and talk like they're children or yell...

I'm sure people appreciate that because I've seen enough of the yelling and patronizing/condescending type behavior. It's so rude! Volume doesn't equal clarity either.

 

[MoochNNoodles]

Jem My mother said you need to use your right hand.

Letters are "backwards" otherwise. Like when you read writing in a mirror. So that makes sense. But I need to see which hand DS uses when he makes the few signs he knows. I did a lot more signing with DD. It helped her learn to talk and to communicate before she could. It didn't seem as necessary with DS I guess

Ok I just tried to teach him the alphabet and he definitely wants to use his left hand. I told him to stick it in his pocket. But he did use his right hand for I love you.

 

[Willowy]

My mother said you need to use your right hand.

I wonder if because she was at a school they did things more standardized? Idk if anyone saw my edit but I asked my brother and this is what he said:

He says, yes, if you're left-handed you would sign with your left hand. But be consistent about it and don't switch hands. He says that different signing styles are equivalent to accents/speech patterns and it would be weird if you switched your accent in the middle of a conversation, once they had gotten used to your way of saying things.

(And googling seems to back him up: Which left or right-handed should you sign?)

 

[susanm9006]

In one of my jobs I had a union group of typesetters that were mostly hearing impaired. During that time I learned a few basic gestures so say hello, goodbye etc and I did take a class on sign language but was way way to slow to be able to effectively communicate that way. Typing back and forth was just easier.

 

[MoochNNoodles]

The finger spelling with the alphabet would be different. You can read backwards writing. Its just not as easy. And finger spelling is cumbersome enough. My mother has basically her entire career with the deaf community and/or other disabilities. She’s also been an adjunct ASL instructor for a local continuing education school. She has friends from work and a few from outside. I’ve grown up with them, played with their children, etc.

Half of the challenge in signing is in understanding what order words go. I think that’s why I can often understand but not sign back. There are regional differences so moving around can cause some confusion too. Just like pop vs soda. Also ASL hasn’t always been standard across the country. A person who learned in one place might not have learned all the same signs as someone in another state. So it used to be that signing and ASL were actually considered similar but different languages. Some of our clients had a difficult time with things like writing cover letters because they are bilingual; though most wouldn’t think of it that way. I mean when the counselor or my mother would interpret in meetings she’d basically be talking to me in one language and signing in another; simultaneously. But thats part of knowing the language because in mixed company you are trying to communicate to both simultaneously. Its a complexity you don’t see in other languages to my knowledge. We were talking about it once and honestly it made more sense in ASL order. You got a mental picture of what she was saying quicker. I think the example she used was something about a certain color dog in a tree. If you were drawing a picture of a dog in the tree you would probably draw the tree first; but in writing we’d start with the dog.

 

[Willowy]

Hmm, I'd think fingerspelling as quickly as they go would be really hard with your non-dominant hand. My brain hurts just thinking of it, lol.

So it used to be that signing and ASL were actually considered similar but different languages.

They are, kind of. There's Signing Exact English (SEE), which is not a language unto itself, it's. . .signing exact English, lol. The guy who invented it was expressly trying to do away with Deaf culture so it's a little controversial, but also considered somewhat necessary, especially when dealing with hearing family members. So most Deaf people do know both, or at least can get by. But English is not their native language so SEE and writing in "proper" English can be difficult for some.

My mom's cousin has a Deaf son. They sent him to the School for the Deaf boarding school and they never learned to sign. . .well, his mom has a home sign she does with him but it's not anything anyone else would understand, and his dad just never bothered to try to communicate with him, which is sad. He works as a night custodian because he doesn't want to deal with people being stupid about his Deafness, is heavily involved with the Deaf community online, and does not have a high opinion of hearing people. He's extremely resentful of how his parents, in his view, just "disposed of him". I'm glad the culture has changed when it comes to having a Deaf kid---they even closed the boarding school that he went to and just have a day school now. But I guess back in the day, if you had a "defective" kid you just shipped them off to be institutionalized. He doesn't have anything bad to say about the school though, so that's an improvement over most boarding school situations. Better than getting locked in the attic or left to run feral, which is what happened to a lot of farm kids before resources were available.

My brother can talk and sign at the same time too---separate conversations, not translating. How do they do that?

 

[vince]

For a while, we had a guy at work who was deaf. I only learned a couple of signs from him. Wish he'd stayed longer; perhaps I could have learned more.

 

[neely]

As a special education teacher we used some of the more common sign language words and phrases with our special needs non-verbal students. They were not hearing impaired but ASL was very helpful for them and our team. We also taught it to our verbal students.

 

[Neko-chan's mama]

I know a little bit. I work with babies and toddlers and we do basic signs with them. Babies can sign before they can speak. I also make sure to use the proper sign, not the "baby sign" one. It bugs me that a lot of people use the sign for orange when they mean milk.