[nfb-db] Question

[Wolsiefer, Heather Elizabeth]

Hello RJ!

I understand this must be tough for you! I just wanted to ask one thing about this: does Amanda have ANY hearing at all? I am just curious because I myself am deaf and visually impaired, but I have cochlear implants to help me hear. I also had a friend at my school who was totally blind and we were able to communicate fairly well due to my having artificial hearing. I have been trying to learn ASL myself, which is difficult to do depending on your level of vision, because it goes so fast with fluent people and I cannot see very well.

A normally sighted and hearing friend of mine took sign language classes and there were times when we were at the beah at night when I could neither hear nor see and she would simply sign the American Sign Language Alphabet into my hand. Being that she can hear and I can speak, I DID repeat the letters as she did so for confirmation. I beleieve tactile sign language is extremely similar and if you could be taught the alphabet at least, even by Amanda herself, perhaps it would help? I think if you learned something like that together it could also bring you closer.Also, I know you said Amanda had some sight, can she use it to lip-read at all or is it too difficult? I only ask because if she could, while she was teaching you or you were learning,, you could speak to her and she could confirm yes or no. As far as other signs, I'm sure you two could possibly come up with your own.

I hope it didn't sound like I was rambling or anything. Sometimes my thoughts come out jumbled. Best of luck to you and Amanda, dear!

Heather Wolsiefer



~ORIGINAL MESSAGE~
From: nfb-db-bounces at nfbnet.org [nfb-db-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of RJ Sandefur [joltingjacksandefur at gmail.com]
Sent: Wednesday, August 24, 2011 9:39 PM
To: nfb-db at nfbnet.org
Subject: [nfb-db] Question

My name is RJ Sandefur. I'm totally blind, but I'm in a relationship with a visually empired deaf girl named Amanda. Amanda has some sight in other words, she's not a braille reader. Her mother does the signing for us, and this makes me feel really uncomfortible. Will Amanda have to learn tactile sign language in order to comunicate with me?