Hello, I'm hoping this community will be very helpful...

[Misto]

First off I want to say, I'm not hearing impaired or deaf. I am however strongly interested in taking on learning ASL and want to fluently interact with the deaf community. When I was back in high school it merely peaked my curiosity and didn't really spend much time on it because I was learning the languages of computer servers and scripting programs (PHP, HTML, CSS, C, etc). Once I was done with that I didn't really have the resources to take a class for it nor did I find myself in a situation in which I could really benefit from it. Of course working with the public as much as I do, I occasionally get customers who are deaf and I feel horrible for not being able to understand them better. Now I'm sure I could have said the same for the Spanish community or any other ethnicity, but the big difference in those is that those people, who are here in America, where English is a predominate spoken language can be spoken and learned by choice. Deaf people, as far as I can tell, don't get to choose whether they can really hear or not. It is part of who they are and by no means have an alternative they can go to. The fact that such a strong culture exists with those who are deaf only peaks my interest more as said culture isn't exactly treated as fairly as they should and as a result are required to really come together to form the community and culture that exists within said group. The only issue I've had though when I did try to start learning was the lack of events where I could go to meet others who were deaf and learn from them. Like any language it requires practice and reading a lot of books and trying to practice hoping I'm doing something right only serves to frustrate me as I have no real feedback nor am I really practicing with others who are already more familiar with the subject. Hell, I had a hard enough time trying to find this community let alone anything here in Orlando and Winter Park. I'm hoping by joining this message board I can find more opportunities to really get back to educating myself and really participating in a very wonderful and communicative culture.

[Angel]

Hello,

Welcome to AD and enjoy your stay here ...

[steph9700]

I am trying to learn ASL now before I become totally deaf. I have lost 10bd worth of hearing in both ears in the last 2 years alone. have you gone to the lifeprint site? it is ASL American Sign Language and has all kinds of learning things there. you can also download and install the Gallaudet true type font from there and send fingerspelling word documents between yourself and your friends that want to learn sign as well. we can get to know each other that way. my husband is the I.T. manager for a 11 branch corporation in 9 states so if there are any computer issues that you don't know the answer to, surely you could come up with the answer together. if you want to try learning the fingerspelling by sending letters back and forth via email then just pm me and I will give you my email.

[TweetyBird]

here and enjoy AD!

[Roadrunner]

Hello and welcome to Alldeaf! Once again, it's always nice to see another person who is interested and willing to communicate with other deaf individuals. Hope you'll find it rewarding and enjoyable as well as making new aquaintances elsewhere and here in AD. Also, enjoy your stay here as well.




~RR

[jillio]

Welcome to AD. I'm sure you will gain much insight into the language and the culture here.

[Misto]

Originally Posted by steph9700

I am trying to learn ASL now before I become totally deaf. I have lost 10bd worth of hearing in both ears in the last 2 years alone. have you gone to the lifeprint site? it is ASL American Sign Language and has all kinds of learning things there. you can also download and install the Gallaudet true type font from there and send fingerspelling word documents between yourself and your friends that want to learn sign as well. we can get to know each other that way. my husband is the I.T. manager for a 11 branch corporation in 9 states so if there are any computer issues that you don't know the answer to, surely you could come up with the answer together. if you want to try learning the fingerspelling by sending letters back and forth via email then just pm me and I will give you my email.

While the fingerspelling was the only thing I ever mastered and never forgot I definitely won't turn down any offer for help.

Originally Posted by TweetyBird

here and enjoy AD!

Originally Posted by Roadrunner

Hello and welcome to Alldeaf! Once again, it's always nice to see another person who is interested and willing to communicate with other deaf individuals. Hope you'll find it rewarding and enjoyable as well as making new aquaintances elsewhere and here in AD. Also, enjoy your stay here as well.




~RR

I'm sure I will and I appreciate all the positive response to a new member. Thanks.