[NFB-DB] ASL Instruction for Deaf Blind

Mon Nov 1 01:06:27 UTC 2021

Another great resource for learning how to sign that does provide descriptions, could potentially be better, is an app for the iPhone and computer. That website is called: www.signingsavvy.com you would probably need to go onto the website first and create a login, they do have a paid membership, but you can access some of the information through a free account. Once you have signed up on the website, then you can log into the app and get the same information. The app is actually very accessible.

Marsha drenth  
Sent with my IPhone  
Please note that this email communication has been sent using my iPhone. As such, I may have used dictation and had made attempts to mitigate errors. Please do not be hesitant to ask for clarification as necessary. 

> On Oct 31, 2021, at 8:33 PM, Andre Zelvin via NFB-DB <nfb-db at nfbnet.org> wrote:
> 
> 
> Hi Diane,
> I haven't contributed to this group so far. I'm Blind and have hearing related  issues, some are a supposedly mild hearing impairment and some are related to auditory processing and not my actual hearing. So, I don't know what to call myself and am mostly just listening. I do have something to offer here. I spent considerable time learning  AsL at one point   in my life. I have some residual vision, but I am completely unable to receive ASL visually, no matter how close a person is so I learned tactile signing and couldn't use books or videos or anything. I started out with a tutor. who was deafblind herself, and she immediately got me to go with her to deafblind socials so I had people to sign with.Altogether I had two deafblind tutors, one sighted -hearing tutor who is an interpreter who was recommended to me by deafblind people he interpredted for, and one who was deaf and sighted. I have no recollection of how I connected with her. I sadly don't remember a lot now, because I never use it, but I also am totally confident that if I ever really need or want it badly, I have a base to build on and know I can learn, and without having to go to a training center. 
> And I think you can too. It's a language and requires the same amount of time any language takes to learn. I learned something different from all my teachers. Although immersion gets emphasized, in my opinion, there is a lot of benefit to learning about the language in English. There are quite a few books about ASL and also about deaf history available from bookshare and I think, from them, you can get an overview of some of the gramatical structure that is helful. The thing is, that adults don't learn as easily and fluidly from imersion as children do but adults can compensate somewhat by using our adult intellect to analyze language. I think this is true for any language. People who are sighted take immersion classes but it's not true immersion. True immersion is living in a country where nobody speaks English. In these cllasses, teachers use gestures, pantomime, and pictures, and go through exercises that involve conjugating verbs and written language to basicly teach grammar.  In  other words, they are using what students already know about language and grammar to teach language and grammar, they just don't use English to explain it. Anyway, that's a long way of saying that I think a combination of deafblind people to sign with and hearing people who can help you figure out  what you are missing and books which can give you some sense of how the grammar works are all helpful. I also had a textbook in Braille which was also helpful for looking things up. Sadly, I think the master for that book is lost. It was transcribed by a transcriber group in Nevada which I think no longer exists. at one time I found an on-line reference which  did an okay job of describing signs, so if you get that far, just use google and you'll probably turn up something.  YOu can't learn from that sort of thing to begin with, but it's good for looking up signs you just can't quite remember or reinforcing what you have learned.   I do think your idea of starting now in case you need it someday is a good one. Because now, you can relax about the learning process and enjoy it in a way that would be real hard if your hearing declines and right now you have more tools for making connections. sometimes we benefit from being forced into  learning, but sommetimes we don't, we just become more isolated and frustrated. So, I'm encouraging you. You just have to be resourceful about making your first connections. From there people will introduce you to others.I had someone teach me to finger spell before my first lesson, and finger spelling is the hardest part, but my first teacher was relieved that I'd learned that because she was a bit nervous about starting out with no way to communicate with me. with my other deafblind teacher he had us use a laptop with both screen magnification and speech output so he could see in large print what I typed to him and I could hear what he typed to me. I paid for lessons.  But nobody charged a lot. Probably it's better if deafblind people get paid more for their teaching then they did,  but since I didn't have it, it was wonderful that they  were so generous with me. 
> If I were starting out with no connections, I'd start out taking to interpreters because they are easier to find. Unless you are lucky, how to find deafblind people and community may be word of mouth so you need people to pass the word. I might aproach interpreter services and ask if they have skilled tactile interpreters who would be willing to talk to you, or maybe programs that train interpreters and talk to the teachers. Just ask them if they know deafblind people and would be willing to put you in touch. Another resource might be Hellen Keller International. Yes, the place with that training center. But they have regional reps throughout  the country. find out who yours is and just ask them if they know deafblind people who sign who they could put you in touch with. Ask them to pass along your email  address to whoever they know. Like I said, you just need a couple of connections. Tell them you are looking for a teacher, and also for any deafblind social activities, and why you want to learn,  and they will pass the word along. Maybe others here have more ideas for good starting points. Just know, you kind of have to make up your own learning process rather than finding something already organized, but that's fine.   
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