CHAPTER 36:

"What do you call a deaf person who doesnt speak?"

Id say you would call a deaf person, deaf. A hearing person, hearing. In old days it is said that people would classify deaf people as "deaf-and-dumb". That statement is wrong and rude. Deaf people are not dumb just because they are unable to hear. It is estimated that profoundly deaf people, at most, have a 5 % chance of developing intelligible speech. Considering that deaf people cannot hear themselves talk, they have no way to control the pitch of their voices. A person who is deaf, is a normal person who cannot speak. Faces that are made at some deaf people who try to speak are rude and offensive and I believe that people need to become opened-minded to this growing population because its prevelence is forever growing. To speak or not to speak, this question is still up in the air. Does it really matter either way? A deaf person should have be able to make their decision on whether or not they want to or not. No judgement is needed.

CHAPTER 35:

             "If you're deaf, how come you can talk?"

This question is very understandable for the people who dont know much about deaf people and their culture. It is hard to fully understand how you can speak but not hear because of the world wide belief all deaf people cant talk or hear. "The quick 'n' easy answer is "Well, some deaf people have good speech skills and others prefer not to use their voices at all." Deaf people are individuals just like hearing people. People should not stereotype these individuals just because they are deaf. There are many distinct groups of deaf people just as there are of hearing people. To speak or not to speak-- is it really even a choice if people are thrown off either way?

CHAPTER 34:

"A deaf woman in my office does not speak. However, we do hear actual understandable words from her once in a while. Has someone has worked with her in speech? And it is wrong to want her to verbalize?"

Having a conversation with someone who has little speech established can cause confusion or create a desire to communicate more. I'm a server at a resturant and I have come into contact with several deaf people who speak very little, their words are sometimes hard to understand. I am different because instead of wanting a customer to be more verbal I appreciate the fact that the person is trying their best to communicate with me. Hearing people that have no knowledge about deaf people and their culture sometimes are lost and dont know how to communicate with these people, its normal. BUT, a deaf person should never be treated any differently because they can not communicate the way two hearing people can. Virtually, all deaf adults have had a heavy dose of speech and auditory training. Although oral training is part of the TC curriculum, there is no consistent standard of quality. Not every person benefits from from speech training. Good articulation is notoriously difficult both to achieve an maintain, especially for those born deaf or early deafened. Bottom line is that deaf people are everywhere and some know how to pronounce words and others do not. Although it may seem rude to some, wanting these people to verbalize is not wrong rather it is normal.

CHAPTER 33:

"Most speech pathologists I know are nice. Why don't deaf people like them?"

Deaf people have problems with numerous members of the medical professionals because they feel that the presetation in many areas is poor. Doctors and audiologists are usually the ones who deliever the news to the parents that their child is deaf. Very little resources are provided for hearing parents and their deaf child. This can be a big problem if a parents first child is deaf. Same with deaf parents and their child, many resource should be provided for people who are deaf just as any other disorder diagnosed. Deaf people may get offended and feel that their community is any less important than others. Whether professionals realize it or not their words carry weight, and if people have a negative experience, chances are they will not be forgotten. These  highly trained professionals are in charge of many aspects of a deaf patient, they diagnose and send patients off to other specialized doctors that study even further.Speech pathologists take up where the doctors and audiologists leave off, their tasks is to mold the speech of a deaf child whose parents have entrusted to their care. Sometimes these professionals come off as demanding or bias to their own understanding and push their beliefs on their patients. Disregarding the main reason why the deaf child is there is the first place.  Perhaps training these individuals to be more comforting to the recieving party should be established. The deaf community is growing and if their experiences are always negative it will be hard to change the outlook of speech pathologists and other professionals.

CHAPTER 32:

"Ive been working with a deaf man for 20 years. He's an excellent lip-reader. Recently I met his friend, who uses sign language. I tried to communicate with him and couldn't. I was shocked. Can't all deaf people read lips?"

Most hearing people share one same misconception of the deaf community, they think all deaf people can read lips. From personal experience, before my deaf friend taught me signs, she was able to read my lips but I had to speak slower and with more emphasis. If she still didnt understand what I was trying to say I would get out a pad of paper and pen to write it down.   Important thing to remember is only 30% of all spoken sounds are visible on the lips. Many sounds like "b" "p" and "m" are virtually impossible to distinguish by watching the mouth. Every deaf and hearing person is different, and some may be able to read lips better than others. Everybody makes use of some degree of speechreading at times. For deaf, its s survival skill.

CHAPTER 31:

"My wife teaches children with learning problems. Would there be any information to help her better recognize children with hearing problems or anything related?"

 Information is over flowing and can be found in numerous places but what people have trouble with is deciding where the starting point should be. There are lists of books that can be found in the back of the For Hearing People Only Book and also on the internet. The libraries of NTID/RIT/CSUN, and Gallaudet are prime resources. It is important to establish these problems early and I am so thankful with the number of resources available!

CHAPTER 30:

"What's the best clearinghouse for information about deafness" 

Learning Sign Language is the coolest thing I have ever decided to do. When I want to figure out a sign for a word, I know where to look. I have checked out a few books at the library that show the sign and give a description of how it is done. ASL has so many resources that are available to anyone who is seeking information. Besides, the library the internet is a great place to add new words to your mental vocabulary.
The best overall resource center is the Laurent Clerc National Deaf Education Center which is located at Gallaudent University. Its address is 800 Florida Avenue N.E. Washington, D.C. 20002.

CHAPTER 29

"Why is there a movement to close down residential schools for the deaf in this country?"

Money. Many deaf schools are not state-run, some operate with very little government funding. But why?
I believe that deaf schools should be state-run because deaf education is just as important as standard state school education. "Mainstreaming sounds like a great, inexspensive alternative to costly state-run schools". Mainstreaming law was not originally intended for deaf children rather is was a way to ensure that handicapped/disabled childrens individual needs. Instead it became an excuse to shift deaf education from residential schools into local day programs. It is said that many parents want their deaf kids to be "normal" but what is "normal"?
There are many advantages as well as disadvantages to residential schools. However, I feel as though the community should have more of a choice!

"The future of the schools depends on the support of the deaf community"

CHAPTER 28

"What do deaf people think of all this controversy about methodologies and literacy and all this criticism of deaf schools? If the old schools for the deaf were doing something right, what was it?

Before "manually coded English" or "Sign-supported speech" or "contact sign language" or "Pidgin Sign English" were established many deaf people had their early education at home. Your teacher was your paretns, or older sibiling_ someone you had a one on one relationship with. Of course if you were a deaf child in a hearing family this complicates everything. A parent of a deaf child would then hae to learn sign language and would not be able to teach until the language was understood by them first.
Luckily in 1817, Hartford Asylum opened and deaf children and adults finally had access to real education. This is where Hopkins Gallaudet and Laurent Clerc who were the orignial faculty at the school came into history. According to chapter 28, Clerc used a form of French Sign language. Although deaf students (just as hearing students would) adapted to their own preferences, they adapted to their own form of signing. These students took some of Clercs' signs borrowed, changed, and rejected much of the teaching. Just like every language students had to be practiced, and the students of this school had lots of practice.

practice makes perfect, practice, practice, practice! :)

CHAPTER 27

"Doesn't closed-captioning help deaf people improve their English"

"Captioning is best appreciated by those with a reasonable degree of fluency in written English_ a fluency many Deaf viewers simply do not have". Considering that ASL is the language to Deaf people, they feel more comfortable with signs rather than wrtitten English. Just as a native English speaker would feel  more comfortable with written English rather than signs. Many deaf people preger interpreters on TV because they can see the signs, facial inflections and rhythm that provides a much clearer visual sense than written English across the bottom of a screen. 
I agree with this chapter because I do believe that closed-captioning has the potential to increase English skills among deaf viewers. However, I feel as if the captioning industry should focus on the wants of the Deaf cmmunity because they are the people who use the system.

CHAPTER 26

"Why don't some Deaf people like to read?"

ASL has no traditional written form, and it is considered more important for deaf children to learn good speech before they learn good reading and writing skills. So the main focus is for children to learn speech first. Many hearing people have misconceptions about deaf people and reading, but these are  not necessarily true. Many say that they should love reading for some sort on enjoyment and some believe that deaf people are not as intelligent as a hearing person. I believe that deaf people could have these ssame misconceptions about hearing people because ASL is a challenging language to learn. If ASL had a written form people would have to learn how to read and understand it just as a person has to learn to read English. In Chapter 26 the author states, "Oralists commonly blame ASL for Deaf people's poor reading and writing skills". I believe that learning any language that is not native to your own is tough and takes time to become "fluent".

CHAPTER 25

"Why do so many Deaf people have trouble with English?"

English is primarily a spoken language, hearing infants are born into a world that is full of people interacting with one another. A child unconsciously absorb this dialect the moment they are born. However, think about a child who is born deaf. A child who hears nothing from the moment they are born. Hearing children can hear and imitate what the people around them are saying but a deaf child can only see the expressions on ones face. A deaf child with parents who do not know any sign are forced to go to school with no language established at all. Can you imagine how hard that could be?
I couldnt imagine.
This could have a negative effect on a deaf childs educational development throughout their life time.
ASL and English are two different languages, so if a deaf person is just learning ASL they have to learn English as well and because English is a spoken language it makes the learning process so much more difficult. Just like any language that you will learn, it takes lots of practice!

CHAPTER 24

"In my pamphlets and textbooks, Deaf people are portrayed as being delighted when "the Hearing" learn Signing. But I get the impression from other sources that Deaf people resent hearing people doing that. What's the real situation?"

Just like the previous chapter, the deaf community do not like the fact that hearing people learn sign language to further themselves within the deaf community and get paid while doing it. They feel as if these hearing people learning their language are doing it to benefit themselves with no respect to the owners of the language itself. I agree with the author in this chapter when stated, "it depends on what your motivation is in learning how to sign, your attitude, the context, who's teaching you, who's learning with you, and whom you're mingling with".
Deaf people admire their native language and they want people to respect it in a way that it deserves to be respected. ASL is a beautiful, constantly changing language and for the people who are learning because of interest and a desire to communicate with the deaf community are more respected by deaf people.

CHAPTER 23

"Im always getting asked where I learned sign language. Do all people do that?"

ASL is the language to the deaf community, it belongs to them. Many deaf people ask these questions because they are interested in why a hearing person has learned their language. Also, In chapter 23 the author states about hearing people "some of them think they're above deaf folks, they use their skill to gain cachet in the deaf community, and manipulate deaf people to satisfy thier own craving for power." That said I feel as if deaf people question hearing people because of that. 
When a hearing person is fluent in ASL because they admire sign language as another language and have taken college course or independent learning classes a deaf person is going to be more impressed because they didnt necessarily have to choose sign language as another language to learn. Just as if a native spanish speaker learned English and spoke it as a beautifully as a native English speaking person would. Questions like these are natural when it comes to someone picking up on another language that is not their own :)

CHAPTER 22:

"I understand it is bad manners to watch people signing without their knowing that you also sign. But it is bad manners to interrupt people who are signing and telling them that you are taking courses in ASL even if you sign in English?"

Sign language obviously isnt "private". In fact, a sign conversation can be read across the room. Deaf people may feel protected around hearing people however because they know that statistics and know that many hearing people who are not native ASL users would have a hard time understanding a conversation of two deaf people. Deaf people use a jacket or something to create a "sign-sheild" this would be like a hearing person telling another hearing person a secret in their ear with their hands around their mouth while speaking. In public signing environments its okay to watch others signing and join in. It would be the same as a hearing person over hearing a conversation at the bus stop and adding a comment to what was already said. Although, you may be fascinated with ASL (like  myself) think about a situation as if you were deaf.. would you want someone to constantly interupting your conversation just to tell you that they are in ASL class? It could possibly get old.

I agree that it all depends on the situation and whom you are with. It is important to remember that people react differently to every situation, for example one deaf person you talk to may be thrilled that you know sign language while the next may look at you like youre crazy.

CHAPTER 21:

"How do deaf people feel when a hearing person approaches them in public using sign language?"

I am a server at a resturant here in town and I waited on a party od 9 deaf people. When I approached the table signing, I think they were thrown off. Why did I just start signing without asking if they were all deaf or if any were hearing?
I dont think they thought I was offensive and by the end og the meal when I started to feel more comfortable, we made jokes and I feel like the appreicated me for knowing their language. In every day situations a deaf person will ask for help if they need it just like a hearing person would. Just because a person is deaf doesnt mean they need help. They have adapted and are independent.

CHAPTER 20:

"I heard that ASL is the 3rd most used language in the U.S. If this is true why dont all universities accept ASL as a foreign kanguage?"

First, if you are not deaf or have no deaf members of your family the deaf culture is foreign to you. ASL is a growing language that people desire to learn about. Universities should in fact offer and accept ASL as a foreign language. To me, saying sign language isnt foreign would be equivelent to saying Spanish is not foreign. Which is not the case. Deaf culture is foreign to us that have never studied it.

CHAPTER 19:

 "What is Total Communication?"

Total communication is popular in the U.S. but very tricky to define. The Conference of Educational Administration Serving the Deaf defines TC as "a philosphy incorporating the appropriate aural, manual, and oral modes of communication in order to ensure effective communication among hearing-impaired persons". Total communication is the throwback to an outlook in a broader view that held the acquistion of speech that is not the be-all and end-all of dead education_it is just one aspect. There are other approaches such as: simultaneous communication and bilingual-bicultural(most popular today) that makes this language even more complex!
Considering that sign language is continuously changing and adapting to the newest trends in deaf education, we use the bilingual approach today which uses ASL in the classroom to teach English. I truly believe that attention must be paid to the inndividual needs of each deaf child. As stated in text, a residual hearing person may be happiest in an oral/aural program where on the other hand a profoundly deaf person may be happiest in an ASL affirmative environment.

CHAPTER 18:

 "How do I know if someone is using ASL or signed English?"

First I would like to start of by saying that all of my life that I have learned and was taught sign language, it has blown my mind that there are so many details about deaf culture that I never was told. To much not to question, why? Sign- language continuum is a diagram representing the entire population of sign-language users_ that is the purest signing exact english approach. I thought that ASL and signed English were the same. English is an orally/aurally based language while ASL is an visual/gestural/spatial language. There is a manual code to sign language which is fingerspelling, which also I find myself doing when I can not think of an exact sign for a particular word. A deaf person often knows the alphabet in fingerspelling which provides a way of communication for people who are not fluent. It is important to know that "Basic sign" wont introduce you to ASL_but to some or many of the components of communication. The best thing to do is practice, practice, practice!

CHAPTER 17:

"What is Pigin Sign English?"

American Heritage Dictionary defines Pidgin as "a simplified form of speech usually a mixture of two or more languages_and used for communication between groups speaking different languages. PSE (Pidgin sign english) is an impromptu blend of ASL and American English signs. Before I took my ASL calss, I had misconceptions about sign language as a whole. I had no idea there were so many dialects and so many characteristics. I thought all signs were universal and PSE was the way deaf people communicated. Little did I know. Before reading this chapter I had been wondering wha kind of sign language I was taught growing up. I realized after reading this chapter it was in fact PSE. I still cant believe how different ASL is. I grew up with my best friend, whose mother was deaf, she taught me the sign language I knew prior to this class. I realize now that she spoke in english sentences siging just as a hearing person would. PSE is commonly used when ASL- deaf people communicate with a hearing person who are not fluent in ASL, but do know some signs and fingerspelling.My own understanding of Sign language_ or what I feel more comfortable with is PSE. There are so mo much syntax grammatical structure of ASL like every language that people have trouble understanding. Looking back on that part of my life, I wish I would have known what I do now. I cant wait to visit her again so I can see if she uses ASL or PSE.

CHAPTER 16:

 "Are there any home correspondence courses in Basic Sign?"

Imagine not knowing anything about the Mexican culture and living in Mexico, surrounded by spanish speaking people. You are unable to communicate because your native language is English,  would you feel lost? confused? frustrated?
Deaf people are likely to live in big cities so that they can reside with people who understand their culture and communicate. Sign language is best learned with a fluent signer to practice with. In addition, there are video courses such as: DawnSignPress, Dictonary of American Sign Language, and multimedia programs that provide access to more help. It is important to remember that each signer is going to have their own unique body language and expression. A learning method such as DawnSignPress may work for one student but may not be practical for another. The best thing to remember is that basic sign is best learned by practice and it is helpful to keep track of the varations of sign.

CHAPTER 15:

 "Should all hearing people be required to learn signing, and if so what are the absolute essentials?"

Sign language is a language that many people forget about, or dont know enough about. Children in preschool are at the prime age for language acquistion. They take it "naturally" and tend to master it quickly. I believe that children should be required to learn sign language because there are many causes to deafness and if they establish sign language as they are young it isnt as hard to learn as it is for an older person. Learning to sign can also be beneficial for children. For example, If a child is in a church sermon and has to use the rest room that child can simply sign to their parents without distracting anyone around. Sign Langauge is also good practice for hand-eye coordination and manual- dexerity skills. It is a language that can be useful through out life and I strongly believe that hearing people should be encouraged to learn.

CHAPTER 14:

" I know it takes a great deal of practice, but do you have any information on how to better accomplish fingerspelling?"

Fingerspelling is the easiest part of sign language to me. Although it did take a great deal of practice to accomplish the speed that I currently am at. Fingerspelling is a vital kinetic-visual skill and takes alot of practice and training of your fingers to get used to. I agree with the respondent in the book that you should use your signing hand as a "new voice". From personal experience if you feel confident while signing most conversations will be less complicated because you can focus on what the signer is trying to say. Also, you have to train your eyes to "see quickly" just like you have to train your hands to coordinate. I completely agree again with the text motivation is more important than dexerity and clarity is more important than speed. Sign language is complex and takes practice to accomplish a goos speed at fingerspelling.

CHAPTER 13:

"I've noticed that when someone uses ILY sign in public, some of my deaf friends have a dismayed expressions on their faces. Dont they like it?"

ILY means I love you, and formed with the fingershape of each or the beginning letter of each word with one hand. Most people loved this sign when it was first brought out, but often they feel once people have established a meaning and know that sign they are "safe" and feel more comfortable in conversations with deaf people. Sign language is just like every other foreign language that people dont grow acustomed too. In some cases I feel that hearing people often cross the boundaries of being offensive and annoying when it comes to conversating with a deaf person. For example, If you only knew one word in spanish and every time you approached a fluent spanish speaker with the one word that you know, they would be confused and probably be annoyed after a while. Same goes for deaf people. Unfortunately not many people acknowledge sign language as the actual language that it is, so when a hearing person learns ILY sign and constatly use it a deaf person is likely to wonder why that one sign. I believe that this sign has become so popular because it is a way to symbolize, "I love you" with one hand and can be seen from a distance when your voice wont carry. I am gulity of using this sign sometimes, and I will be the first to say that some people over use it. I believe that if you think that one sign is unique and interesting you should study ASL and learn many more signs and expand your vocabulary!

CHAPTER 12:

                         "I want to learn bigger signs"

Sign language is a very complex interesting language that people develop their own signature signing technique, just as every hearing person have their own voice. Resources to learn more about ASL can be easily found. Such as: A public library, Internet, CD-ROM, DVD, Videotapes, clubs, classes, and organizations are provided for people to gather the exact information that they want. All of these things reflect the growing popularity of ASL and increasing of "deaf awareness". As for my own personal opinion, I desire to learn as much about deaf culture and signing as I can. I do understand why people have misconceptions about the language itself and also the confusion that arises.
Sign language is a visua language and the best way to learn bigger signs is practice with either a skilled teacher/fluent signer or a deaf person. For me, I need to signn every day to become fimilar with new words because there is so much to learn and remember.

PRACTICE !   PRACTICE!      PRACTICE!

CHAPTER 11:

 "I heard that there are new, nonracist signs for Korean, Chinese, and Japanese that dont involve reference to slanting eyes. Would you please describe these, and any other new signs regarding ethnicity or nationality that come to mind?"

Sign language is not the only language that classifies different groups of people by using some distinct word, sign, or description to point out unique characteristics. The original signs for Korean, Chinese, and Japanese could easily be taken as racist and offensive. However, I do not believe that these were intended to be taken in an prejudice way. Sign language is characterized by the same sort of sexist, racist, ethnic and religious bias tht marks other languages. For example, "female" signs indicate on the femiine gender such as: woman, girl, wife, mother, daughter, etc. are made on the cheek bone near the chin and mouth. Reflecting the old-fashioned gesture of tapping a hat. Same goes with "male" signs which are done in the masculine zone. Signs like "think" "intelligent" "briliant" and "genius" are made in the "masculine zone". If people think a reference to a phyiscal characteristic of another race is offensive, how is the masculine zone any less biased torwards women?
Some signs could be taken offensive to a foreign person and I do believe that there is always room for updates and changing signs that are more up to date with this generation.

CHAPTER 10:

Are there such things as accents among signers from different areas of the country or world?

Sign language is a language, of course there are different accents just like there are for English-speaking people. Every signer signs differently, they all form their own unique way. Just like how each hearing person speaks differently. Every sign-language system "works" differently. Just like spoken English there are many regional variations.
Sign language is complex. There are differences between the ASL usage of a college graduate and a realtively uneducated deaf person. In ASL there are white-collar and blue-collar. Its just like our own language!
"Linguistic snobbery certainly exists in the Deaf community. Those who are proud of the purity of their ASL, those who enjoy showing off their advanced "Englishy" vocabulary, and those who have learned ASL relatively late in life- all have very different accents, and each may look down on the others."

CHAPTER 9:

Can people who are deaf from birth appreciate jokes and puns that involve homonyms?

Jokes that rely on  homonyms are pretty much incomprehensible to many born-deaf people. A child born deaf grows up without that unconscious absorption of spoken English. This makes deaf children not understand these jokes because they have never heard them in context so to speak. Deaf children often start school with no real language at all which leaves their English vocabulary to be quite llimited. "Most congenitally deaf people cant be expected to understand the whimsical aspects of English wordplay, much less enjoy it." Much of English humor is "oral-based" and not accessible for deaf people.
Deaf humor is visually based. Although hearing people may find some of deaf humor entertaining, it is most of the time incomprehensible to hearing people. Having a deaf background in ASL will help people appreciate deaf humor.

CHAPTER 8:

               How do deaf people learn sign language?

Communication is universal. Deaf people learn how to sign from each other until recently ASL is never formally taught to deaf children. This leaves deaf children plunged into an ASL environment in playgrounds, cafeteria, and the dorms.
In this chapter, signing was forbidden in the classroom. Which is crazy to me because deaf people have no other way of communicating with others without their language. Deaf children use ASL everywhere outside of the classroom and new kids pick up on it quickly and within a few months become fluent and skillful signers.

FUN FACT

Most deaf parents have hearing children, the 10% who have deaf children often send them to the residential schools. Some dead persons learn ASL later in life. The easiest way to become proficient in ASL is by living with a deaf person. It takes time and the right experience to become fluent.

CHAPTER 7:

                         Is ASL a written language?

ASL is purely visual/ gestural language that has no written form. There are no news papers, magazines, books, etc. written in ASL. Generally, we use English (glosses) to write about ASL.

A number of ASL translation compter programs have been developed and much experimental work has been done in this field.

Important names:

Sam SuPalla created a modified ASL- writing system and uses it to successfully help young deaf children learn English.
Dr. William C. Stokoe published the first ASL dictionaty in 1965 for which he devised a set of useful linguistic symbols that showed the five parameters of each sign.
Cokely and Bakers in 1980 developed an ASL textbook to utillize a code of symbols and abbreviations to emphasive the English wors used to translate the meaning of the ASL sentences.

* ASL owes nothing to English

" ASL is never written. It can be coded, glossed, or translated into English"

CHAPTER 6:

Can you explain the sentence structure of ASL? Is it a result of its French background?

The syntactical structure of ASL is not really due to a French origin, even though it was deeply influenced and enriched by FSL. ASL originated in the United States, it existed well over a century before Clerc brought FSL to the states.
Once again, ASL owes nothing to English.

In ASL the entire body is used expressively to convey information and can expand the expression of each sign according to the signers mood, feelings, or attitude.

English = uni-dimensional
ASL= multi-dimensional

In ASL information about nouns, subjects, or objects is incorporated into directional verbs.

CHAPTER 5:

  Why isnt American sign language like British sign language?

American sign language owes nothing to English. American English derives from British English, people assume they have to be the same but they are not.
In fact, there isnt much similarity between ASL and BSL. They both developed from two completely different sources.

ASL and BSL are two different languages. BSL is the creation of members of the deaf community in the British Isles, New Zealand and Austrailia. ASL is an indigenous product influenced by French sign language. BSL could be mistaken for ASL at first glance, except it isnt "readable" to an ASL user who doesnt know BSL.

More differences

BSL uses a two-handed manual alphabet while ASL and FSL use a one-handed version derived from the spanish fingerspelling system. Signs appear similar but are different.

"BSL is a beautiful, expressive and vivid language, in its own right, and reflects the culture, struggle, and visual humor of the British deaf community."

CHAPTER 4:

 Wasnt French Sign Language invented by the Abbe' del' Epee?

No. French sign language was invented by deaf people, along with many other dialects of sign language. Although Epee was a "neiborhood priest" whose involvement with deaf people began in the mid- 1700s and who is now known as the first known educator, who bothered to learn from deaf people themselves.
Epee wanted to save deaf peoples souls from damnation, he researched information on deaf education and soon adapted the spanish fingerspelling. He was the first hearing person to go to the deaf community to learn its language.
Epee approached deaf people with an open mind, unlike previous educators who didnt take into account the fact that deaf people alread had a highly developed "visual" means  of communication.

Although Abbe' del' Eppe is an inspirational figure to many deaf people, he did not have anything to do with the invention of sign language, rather he recognized the importance of sign language as the best way to communicate with and educate deaf people.

CHAPTER 3:

             Is there any similarity between Braille and ASL?

No. None.
Braille is used for individuals that are blind and ASL is sign language that deaf people use to communicate with either hearing people or deaf people like themselves. Braille is not a langauge like ASL or English. Its a code, a way of translating.
In our culture blindness has become more reognized and more respected than deafness. Blind people are easily recognized and are offered assistance but deaf people are not immediately recognized unless signing a conversation.
Although society thinks that deaf people know braille, they are not correct.

" You will never see two people standing on the corner having a conversation "in braille"".

CHAPTER 2:

                   Is there one sign language for all countries?

No more so then there is one spoken laguage for all countries! Like stated in the previous post in Chapter 1, communication is universal. There is sign language everywhere you find deaf people. So just like hearing people find ways to communicate using words, deaf people have an impluse to sign. For example, deaf children not exposed to any standardd sign language invented their own sign system called "home sign".

Every national sign is different, but deaf people have no trouble understanding one another. There are several complete and rich sign languages that have never been studied, along with the many languages that have been recognized. Every differnt sign however, reflects its own history, culture, and social mores. You have to be careful signing certain words in some areas because what is "acceptable" here may be banned for others.

Deaf people improvise using whatever method works. They use gestures and expressions until they establish some sort of mutual comprehension to build on to start a conversation. "International Sign Language" does not exist.

CHAPTER 1:

                                 WHAT IS ASL?

American Sign Language is not "bad or broken" English. ASL (American Sign Language) is a unique language with its own grammatical rules and synatax that is precise, and subtle as English. Chapter one is focused on the history behind this language, which in the classroom it began at Hartford Connecticut in the early 19th century ASL evolved from a blend of whats now called old french sign language, which was traced to the "dialect" used in the communities of Childmark and West Tisbury on Marthas Vineyard. To me,  this chapters main point is to bring to hearing peoples attention that communication is universal. People find ways to communicate to one another. There is no "exact" definition for American Sign Language and the subject is rather controversy. ASL structure and vocabualry owes nothing to English. This language continues to evolve, and every user has a unique style of signing.

In chapter one, it says, "not long ago, deaf children were discouraged if  not prohibited even in schools for the deaf from signing in the classroom, and adults were ashamed to be signing in public". I could not believe it! If communication is universal why should sign language of any kind be prohbited to the individuals that are deaf? Deaf people were made to feel that ASL was strictly inferior to English, and communicating in sign was not socially acceptable.

Luckily, people have become more accepting of  it, but of course there are still some sentiments that exist and children are still discouraged from making ASL their first language. 

"ASL is a beautiful, expressive, and colorful language that is finally beginning to get the respect it deserves."