[NFB-DB] ASL Instruction for Deaf Blind

[Rox Homstad]

Lisa,
You said this so well. At the time I became deafblind-- in 6 weeks from start to finish-- I was my family's only means of support, living in New Orleans 6 months after Hurricane Katrina and the destruction of the levees and I couldn't just... pack up and take 9 months. I had a full time job and coworkers and clients who relied upon me to be there and do it. 
It took 2 years of me advocating but finally VR paid for 3 years of private ASL instruction and I have been up and running since. I also searched out other opportunities on my own such as local deaf and deafblind events, things like deaf chat coffee and Deaflympics. I made an effort to get to know local DB people or people near enough to whom I could travel. Honestly deciding to learn ASL and pursueing that education was a second full time job. I don't regret it but I also wish there were other opportunities for DB people that didn't involve going and living at their training center for 9 months.


Rox'E and the Kitchen Bitches
Soleil, Rowan, Phoenix
https://sneakeezebra.wordpress.com/ 
pawpower4me at gmail.com

> On Oct 29, 2021, at 8:12 AM, Lisa Ferris via NFB-DB <nfb-db at nfbnet.org> wrote:
> 
> I have wanted to learn ASL, too. But I had always heard that HKNC is not really that proactive at teaching ASL. Also, not everyone is in a position to move away from home for a year, just to learn something that most people can learn by taking a class once or twice a week for a few hours. I have also heard the downtime at HKNC is ridiculous. Why doesn’t HKNC have a network of tutors that could work with DB people locally? I am not saying that center training can’t be beneficial to some, but I’ve done all my blindness trading in all areas except ASL/Protactile years ago. It would be totally disruptive to my life and a waste of time to do it all over again. (Also impossible, because I’m on the transplant waitlist.) It just seems to me that HKNC could offer more local or regional specific trading, but it always seems like all the regional reps want to do is get you to go to the center. It’s frustrating.
> 
> Sent from my iPad
> 
>>> On Oct 28, 2021, at 7:38 PM, heather Albright via NFB-DB <nfb-db at nfbnet.org> wrote:
>>> 
>> 
>> Yes, I would see if voc rehab will send you to the center to teach you. I think you have to be tested and have doctor’s notes to allow you to attend. I think it is either a 6 to 9 months at the center. That is what I heard from others who did attend. I wish you luck. Heather
>>  
>> Sent from Mail for Windows
>>  
>> From: Robin Diane Graves via NFB-DB
>> Sent: Thursday, October 28, 2021 6:55 PM
>> To: 'NFB Deaf-Blind Division Mailing List'
>> Cc: rdgraves2007 at gmail.com
>> Subject: [NFB-DB] ASL Instruction for Deaf Blind
>>  
>> Good Evening Listers,
>>  
>> I am totally blind with a severe hearing important, and I would like to become fluent in ASL and tactile signing. Does anyone have an idea as to where I might gain such instruction? I am in the state of Indiana.
>>  
>> Diane Graves
>> President
>> NFB of Indiana
>>  
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