Introducing Myself

Stronger2012

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Hi,

I Am Not Deaf Or Hoh. I Just Have A Interest In Learning ASL. I Am Wanting To Go To College And Become A Special Education Teacher And Have A Minor In Sign Language.

My Question Is: Can I Still Learn To Sign If I Am Only Able To Use My Right Hand? The Reason I Ask Is Because When I Was Eight, I Lost The Use Of My Pinky And Ring Finger Of My Right Hand Due To An Accident.

I Know This Will Complicate My Learning To Sign. I Just Want To Know If I Would Still Be Able To Learn. I Mean, Besides Finger-spelling All The Time.
 
yES. pEOPLE lEARN tO sIGN wITH cOMPLETELY mISSING hANDS aLL tHE tIME.

sOMEWHERE hERE iS a vIDEO oF A mAN wHO sIGNS wITH hIS fEET.
 
yES. pEOPLE lEARN tO sIGN wITH cOMPLETELY mISSING hANDS aLL tHE tIME.

sOMEWHERE hERE iS a vIDEO oF A mAN wHO sIGNS wITH hIS fEET.


That Was... Interesting. I'm Not Sure How To Begin Learning Asl Because The Few People That Have Tried To Teach Me Use Both Hands And I Am Unable To. Any Suggestions?
 
Is there a reason why you capitalize every word? It makes it harder for others to read.
 
That Was... Interesting. I'm Not Sure How To Begin Learning Asl Because The Few People That Have Tried To Teach Me Use Both Hands And I Am Unable To. Any Suggestions?

Well first, quit capitalizing every word!

Then just form signs to the best of your ability. Any missing part from two useless fingers will be easily extrapolated by the recipient of your signing.
 
...My Question Is: Can I Still Learn To Sign If I Am Only Able To Use My Right Hand? The Reason I Ask Is Because When I Was Eight, I Lost The Use Of My Pinky And Ring Finger Of My Right Hand Due To An Accident….
Are you saying that you cannot use your left hand at all, and that you have partial use of your right hand?
 
Wirelessly posted

Idk. because i like to. so... any suggestions about learning to sign?
 
Wirelessly posted

No. i can fully use my right hand. but i am only able to use the first three fingers of my left.
 
Wirelessly posted

No. i can fully use my right hand. but i am only able to use the first three fingers of my left.
I don't see any problem then. Use your right hand for fingerspelling and as dominant signing hand. Use the left hand as the non-dominant signing hand. There aren't that many signs that the two fingers of the non-dominant hand will make a difference.

As Botts posted, the persons receiving the signs will be able to mentally fill in the gaps. It's a process called closure, which is commonly used in the fingerspelling receptive process.
 
Whats The Best Way To Learn ASL Since I Can Only Use One Hand And Part Of the Other One??
 
Wirelessly posted

Yeah. right. i'm so not ready. i can only fingerspell and do a few phrases
 
My dad has a few missing / part fingers on his left hand, due to an accident long ago. but he is learning how to sign with me. He uses his right a dominant and left as non-dominant. You can do it :D Facial expression/body language is helpful of course. If we can't figure out whats going on, paper/pen or texting always help. You can do it :D
 
Whats The Best Way To Learn ASL Since I Can Only Use One Hand And Part Of the Other One??

The loss of mobility of those two fingers is going to have practically no effect on your signing. Like Reba said, if you make that your non-dominant hand, you'll rarely use them. And it will have *no* effect on how you *learn* asl. So the answer to your question is "the same as the best way for anyone to learn ASL".

In short, what Botti said.

in a class with a deaf teacher...

Yeah. right. i'm so not ready. i can only fingerspell and do a few phrases

You don't need to already know ASL to take an ASL class (assuming it's a beginner level class). Having a deaf teacher is a fantastic way to learn. It sounds like you're worried that they're just going to sign over your head, but they'll teach to the appropriate level of the class. You just have to pay attention and work hard.

PS: If you want to talk about this any more, at least with me, would you please nix the caps on each word?
 
Wirelessly posted

Sorry about the caps thing. its a habit. and if i can't afford classes yet whats my best option? books? skype with someone to learn?
 
Wirelessly posted

Sorry about the caps thing. its a habit. and if i can't afford classes yet whats my best option? books? skype with someone to learn?

Thanks about the caps thing, and sorry for being grumpy about it.

Ok, so about classes: I don't know if you're aware of all your options, so sorry if this is something you already know or just plain useless, but- if you mean you can't afford college classes, which can be expensive, it's worth looking for cheaper options. Some places offer non-credit classes, much cheaper than college tuition. You might find them at a center that primarily serves the Deaf community, you might find them at a school for Deaf kids (maybe night classes for adults) or even at a college with an ASL program: sometimes they offer continuing education classes at much cheaper rates. I know that here college ASL classes *start* at hundreds of dollars (depending on where you go, it can be more) but you can get an 8 week course for 60.00 or so at one of these non-credit places.

They're not as intense, you don't learn as much as you would in a credit class (not as much time either) but still very worthwhile.

Part of why you should want to take a class is the instruction and material itself, but part of it is just to have access to someone who knows their ASL very well. You need feedback because it's really easy to teach yourself wrong.

If you absolutely can't take a class, then sure, websites like lifeprint and then using skype to practice with others is useful, but I think you still need at least *some* contact with a competent signer. Someone to ask your questions, someone to correct you when you get on the wrong track. I feel pretty strongly that if you go looking for someone to help you (I mean someone deaf or at least fluent) you need to offer them something in return. Money is probably the best thing to offer, but if you can't afford classes (again, not exactly sure how much you can't afford, see above) maybe you can't afford that. So maybe there's something else you can offer, I don't know. I've done some skill swaps and work trade things with Deaf people in my area which was pretty cool. Anyway. The person doesn't have to be your teacher - just someone to meet with once in a while to help you clean up any messes you get into.

I blogged one of my posts a while back in response to someone who was looking for ways to learn ASL. She was also taking classes, so my answer to you isn't exactly my answer to her, but there might be something in there you can use. http://www.alldeaf.com/blogs/amylynne/1191-ideas-learning-asl.html

Getting back to your original question: Books are good for deaf culture and history, maybe linguistic stuff like ASL structure once you get your basics down, but to start with when you're trying to learn individual signs, I'd go with something that has a video component. Like I said, lifeprint is a good website, and lots of other stuff out there - dvds, websites etc. Just be careful that you don't just learn vocabulary (like from a dvd) and try to string the words together like an English sentence.

(Just to be clear, you *should* read books on deaf culture and history while you study ASL. Very important and interrelated. And interesting:) )
 
Thanks :) i'll try that. Do you know anyone i could practice with or should i try studying on my own first and then try and find someone? I have a friend whos in college studying to become an interpreter but hes like half a world away and doesnt have time to teach me.
 
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