[nfb-db] A question about learning ASL?

[heather albright]

Well, I took ASL and had to drop it for personal reasons!  But the space is 
so your sign interpreters are close enough to communicate with you!  It is 
harder the further away you are!  I did not get much help in my classes, 
more help was from this list, thank you!  Thinker spelling is not ASL so you 
will have to learn the signs eventually in order to speak to someone who is 
using ASL.  There is no Braille or audio materials that one can use to learn 
ASL, unless someone has come up with them in the past 3 months!  I gather 
you cant speak in the class to ask what that person signed and you have to 
do it outside of class!  The braille book store has a list of everyday signs 
but get this, it is not in braille; the braille book store not having 
something in braille!  And the ASL books in braille from the NLS did nothing 
to teach you because, the print pages with the signs were "omitted" from the 
braille pages.  So why braille a book on learning ASL signs if you are not 
to going to tell you how to make the signs.  Also, Learning Ally's readers 
chose not to enlighten us "blind" readers on how to make the signs , even 
though the book said "a guide to learning ASL"  OR "THE DICTIONARY TO ASL" 
ETC.  So half of the book is omitted!  HKC as far as I know does not have 
braille materials outside of the center and I don't know about within the 
center!  I think perkins or Hadley has on sight classes but, the rest of the 
blind don't always live near these places.  I find, just my oppinion, the 
regular deaf population does not have pacients enough to sit to help someone 
who cant see the signs in class.  Not all are like this but, there were 20 
students taken ASL here in austin and only 1 is still taking it and they are 
failing for the second time because there is no support!  I would try to 
make sure you have a good support system at your school that, can work with 
you in the class, in the labs and is willing to work with you in the deaf 
community!  I would also recommend you to take the 3 times a week instead of 
the twice or once a week! Heather 
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