Re: Re: Which Type of Sign???

September 7, 1999

>Hello Barb,

>

>You asked about how to pick up ASL vocabulary. The easiest way is through

Terri,

I think it was that asked, not me. Great post though. I would like

to know if your cable tv lessons are a local thing or not.

>just use all of them. When I find out a sign I have been using is not

>used any more or done differently now, I just start changing it. I don't

>wait to get it 100% ASL before I use it.

Same here. I will also sign differently depending on whom I am with. With

Petya I will sign the sign she learned at school. Sometimes this is not the

same sign the deaf community prefers so I will change it if I am with a deaf

person.

>substituting, skipping words, and also picking out which words I really

>should know signs for. I try to remember these signs and hit the

>dictionary when I get home.

Yes, I do the same thing! Then I may make a list I need help with the next

time I see my sign instructor or another deaf person.

>I have had some difficulty with ASL seeming to be mostly adult

>oriented. For example I have asked deaf friends and interpreters

>for the following signs: pretend, show-off, yogurt, ginea pig,

>costume, and others I forget - and noone has been able to help me.

>A three year old can't fingerspell yogurt, so I made up a sign.

>Of course, now she says yogurt, but sometimes I still use that sign

>when her aids are out.

I have signs for pretend and show-off, both ASL signs. For pretend I have

an english sign and an ASL sign. As for being adult oriented it depends on

the child. For a deaf child of deaf parents their first language is likely

to be ASL. Saturday when I was interperting for this little girl at the

soccer game it was funny. First the coach told her what he wanted, I signed

it in English, then the parents signed it to the girl again in ASL.

>letters as I say them for a given word, so I fingerspell them as well

>to remove any ambiguity (her low frequency loss means a " b " sounds

>just like a " m " to her and they both look the same on the lips.

>so this helps.)

I have found that learning to fingerspell her spelling words helps Petya

remember the words when it comes time to take the spelling test.

>Good luck. I know my daughter's teachers are strongly anti-signing,

>but I haven't seen her delayed because of it. Instead it has

>served as an excellent transition and a good support for oral language.

>It also was a life saver during the terrible 2-3's. Her temper

>tantrums were AWFUL!!!! Then we learned a few signs and I could

>tell her where we were going and she could tell me what she wanted

>and everything got much better (not perfect). I also started using

>pictures to communicate and let her know what was going to happen

>I took pictures of everywhere!!! and lined them up each day and

>went through them with her so she knew ahead of time what was planned.

>I believe you should use anything that works for you and your child.

>Don't be limited by what some expert says (especially if they are not

>HoH and don't have an HoH child themselves to speak from some

>experience!). Use your imagination. If something is a problem,

>think about other ways you could communicate it (I act out things,

>draw series of pictures, do puppet shows, take her to places a day

>early so she knows where she will be going for tests or school,...)

How was the last off topic?

Barb

September 8, 1999

>>I have had some difficulty with ASL seeming to be mostly adult

>>oriented. For example I have asked deaf friends and interpreters

>>for the following signs: pretend, show-off, yogurt, ginea pig,

>>costume, and others I forget - and noone has been able to help me.

>>A three year old can't fingerspell yogurt, so I made up a sign.

I have the Random House Webster's American Sign Language Dictionary. It

has signs for pretend, show-off, guinea pig and costume. Nothing for

yogurt though.

Barbara Handley

" I felt part of everything, part of animal and bird, tree and stone. If I

was part of everything, then I was also part of bridge and stream, of the

sharp rocks beneath the water and the tumbling, rushing waters. Even if I

fell into the waters, and even if I was swallowed up by them, I would still

be part of it all. In such a world, such a universe, nothing terrible

could happen to me. " --- Furlong

September 8, 1999

started learning the alphabet and how to fingerspell his name when he

started school at three years old. After about a month, he could spell his