Sign Language

Post Reply New Topic

Does anyone use sign language as a secondary form of communication?
Often I find that although I have something to say the larger problem is in the act of being able to physically speak them, most often when I'm agitated or uncomfortable. So I started looking into learning sign language. I know a few people who know the manual language and using it is comfortable for me, but fingerspelling is time consuming and slightly confusing.
I figured I'd see if anyone else found it useful before I go off obsessively spending large sums of money on instruction.

I don't use sign language. (That reminds me of this commercial my mom told me about with a deaf boy and this neighbor woman who learns sign language but gets "pie" and "dog" confused. It leads to something the woman says to the boy in sign language..."I baked a dog for you.")

Mich

Ack! I'm afraid of that as well. Although most anyone I would be signing to would be learning with me, I'm still nervous I'll do somethng embarassing like that!

I'm not afraid of that! I think it's funny, in a weird way!

Mich

I am a little hard-of-hearing (maybe I have 10% or 15% hearing loss), and I do know the manual alphabet which I learned on my own, as I have had a few deaf friends in my life. I also know a few signs.

There is an interpreter at my church, and I have considered learning sign language for the times when I cannot hear, understand, or lipread the priest. I did ask about this on a Deaf message board, and they told me that unless if I was going to sign in every-day life, that I shouldn't go through the trouble of learning to be a fluent signer.

One time I was at Mass and we had a priest who was Latino or Indian. He had a very heavy accent and I couldn't read his lips. I couldn't understand a damned thing he said and had to ask a friend at church to tell me what the priest said. I recall that I gave up trying to understand the priest, and dozed off.

I do know how to lipread, except I find it tiresome and hate it when I have to rely on lipreading alone.

My only hearing problem is that volume flucuates for me constantly. My main thing is that I just rarely speak outloud. It's not because I don't have anything to say because I do, I just have extreme difficulty with the physical act of speaking.
I also seem to like the fact that when I sign people aren't looking at me, they're looking at my hands. But fingerspelling can be extremely time consuming if I'm out and I need to tell someone something. That's a downfall for me since I tend not to want to take up that much of someone's time when we're supposed to be out enjoying something.

just for some info. I went to the autism conference at Penn State the other day and did learn this:

signing and gesturing do help your procesing of information (learned this at the apraxia lecture) So for a non vocal learner you teach sign and as they learn to talk; the child continues to sign and talks at the same time, you then fade the signing. This helps with both receptive and expressive speech.

so; for a young child to learn sign as they are learning language is a good thing and not a waste of time

but on the other hand: as you get older sign is not very easy ( fast and easy to learn) and many people do not understand it-

is there another way that you can communicate without speaking or using/learning sign????
Is this a motor planning problem that you are having???
Maybe you could get an alpha smart or other device to have in case you need it?? ( I do not know your age, you may not be comfortable with this)

Michele

Makaton signing [a system as opposed to a language] is used frequently with non-verbal autistic children in New Zealand. Its handy to be familiar with!

I once took an ASL course and loved it. I have not had a chance to take it in school though and prob. won't, but I try to teach it to myself at home via internet. I one trained a deaf dog through ASL - the turnout was awesome and it was so much fun, and he was adopted from the shelter!

I know a limited amount of sign language and I use it simultaneous to verbal language. I find it's less difficult to give visual cues and body language cues.... less frightening, anyway.... if I'm signing along with what I'm saying. I know I'm doing something appropriate, even if no one else understands me.

I have found that receptively sign language is just as difficult as spoken language, because it comes and goes with the same speed as spoken language. I have forgotten a lot of the expressive vocabulary, and it truly is a whole new language. One thing to consider, too, is that the sign language you learn will likely only work in some English-speaking countries and not others. American Sign Language is closely related to French Sign Language, for instance, but is not related to British Sign Language.

I and some other autistics with significant speech trouble have found that what has worked best for us is to carry a text-to-speech (TTS) device around with us at all times, or, if we cannot afford one, a smallish wordprocessing device such as an AlphaSmart. Some use these things full-time and others part-time. (I had been experiencing a decrease in communicative speech abilities over time, so I started out part-time but eventually went to full-time.) The lowest-tech alternative, of course, being pen and paper (and I've heard of some people using chalk and a slate, although those people weren't autistic). It can be possible to get insurance to cover a text-to-speech device, but I have seen them occasionally for as low as $180USD or less on eBay (I got one for $180 that had more features than the one my insurance paid over $1000 for, but I only would've paid about $75 if it hadn't been for a last-minute bidder). I can give you different names and websites for such devices if you want more information; there are many.

I've always wanted to learn sign language even if just to communicate with my kids so I don't have to speak aloud and draw attention to myself (and them) in the grocery store or other public places. Just a few choice, meaningful phrases, like STOP TEASING YOUR SISTER THIS MINUTE OR YOU'LL SPEND THE REST OF YOUR LIFE IN YOUR ROOM!
Sign language would even come in handy at home when the radio or Playstation volume is too high.

i know the alphabet and a few words and phrases like "i love you" and "poop" hahaha.

i've always wanted to learn more. you can just buy a sign langauge dictionary. they should have them at any bookstore.

I know sign language. I can say "Give Way", "No Smoking", and "Danger: Hazardous Chemicals!"...

...(Okay that was a bad joke...)

I have always been very interested in ASL and found it came very naturally to me. When I was a kid I tried to teach myself sign language from a sign language dictionary. I am taking a class on it right now at my college. The teacher is deaf, and everyone is forbidden to talk outloud in class! Most people don't like that, but I love it! I am learning fast! I sort of wish I could be an elective mute and communicate only in sign language.

I also worked at a school with a little boy with autism. He could talk very well, but I taught him some sign langauge anyway. Sometimes using signs with him worked better to get his attention. I just used simple signs such as stop, sit, wait, more, walk, and stuff like that. He liked it a lot. He also taught himselves the signs for the days of the week!

- Angel

I'm learning American Sign Language now.^_^I'm hoping to help out with deaf and/or non-verbal kids.


-SpaceCase