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Barbiegirl78

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Hi my name is Barbara Elder. I am 35 yrs old. I was in a serious accident back in 2001 and lost all hearing in my right ear. My left ear is now going as well. I was told that sometime in the future i will lose al hearing. So i am looking to meet some deaf friends or people who will be willing to help me learn sign language. I do know a littke but its not much. I have also learned to read lips which i have gotten good at doing.
 
The way my husband learned to sign was he took a couple classes at a community college to get the basics. The only classes that worked for him were the ones that were completely silent. Then he just started going to deaf coffee chats to gain fluency. Heck, at the place where he first took classes, you could even bring in a family member or friend for free, so it was two for the price of one.
 
I started with college ASL one also. I was in Arizona at the time and my sister (10th grade at the time) and mother took a class at community college in NY.

My friends all learned to communicate with PSE as I spoke while signing always. I personally have a hard time using ASL grammar while speaking orally because my mouth wants to be as quick and descriptive as my hands haha

I know ASL and can jump into a conversation instantly but I mostly use PSE because sign language has been more of a survival skill than a language for me - it keeps me in touch with old hearing relationships because those friendships are valuable to me and PSE compliments the way my friends and family want to speak to me.

I suggest finding your local Deaf/hoh center - the fun picnics and meet ups are easier to enjoy than classes. For me classes felt like rehab - too formal. The picnics and good conversation were more rewarding.
 
I dont know if there are any community places around here that offer ASL classes. I just moved to Wisconsin last year so im not really familiar with things here. Where would i go to look for places like that?
 
Barbiegirl78 said:
I dont know if there are any community places around here that offer ASL classes. I just moved to Wisconsin last year so im not really familiar with things here. Where would i go to look for places like that?
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Where exactly do you live?
 
I was at Wisconsin deaf event in Darien, WI last weekend. There are quite a lot of place to go in WI to go for ASL class. I go to Wisconsin sometimes, but I live in Illinois.
 
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