TheHalfWayMan

Hi Everyone,

I'm new to the forum and some of you probably know me by now.

For those who don't, my name is Fahed, i'm 28 with 3 kids, from London and now in the UAE. I can hear and I've come on board to make deaf friends and learn about Deaf life, Deaf culture, Deaf attitudes and get advice from Deaf people regarding Deaf issues.

Any warm welcomes and personal introductions?

Deafness

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Brian

Welcome to AllDeaf.com - glad you have joined us here.

Dubai? Do you like living in the UAE?

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-Brian

TweetyBird

here and enjoy AD!

TheHalfWayMan

THanks for the Welcome. I haven't been in the UAE for that long, but its definitely a nice place. Its much warmer than the UK and, it seems, the sun has a brightening affect on people. The area which I'm in is much more family-orientated and that is definitely something me and my family value alot.

Where are you?

TheHalfWayMan

Thanks for the warm welcome. Especially from someone with 20,000 posts.
What's your name and which country do you live in?

NickCameron1031

Welcome to AD

TheHalfWayMan

Thanks for the welcome.

Forgive me for not knowing how to sign read, but what does your avatar say?

NickCameron1031

Oh its easy, it says NICK =)

TheHalfWayMan

Cool! Do you know of a web resource where I can see the alphabet in sign language? Also, is there a difference in alphabet between the sign languages of different countries?

NickCameron1031

If you do a search for sign language fonts you can usually find some. Mine is in ASL, and yes it does differ between the countries. I have never looked to see if the manual alphabet is the same or not so I cant say yes or no to that one.

If you do an image search for sign alphabet you can find some pictures with it, I like fingerspelling Nick its better than Nicholas, that gives me finger cramps :-)

TheHalfWayMan

Lol! I watched the guys on the DeafTax website and was amazed at their speed.

I don't want to ask too many questions (as I could get answers by googling and waiting for my course books to come), but it gives me a chance to talk with you.

Can you tell me, when does fingerspelling get used? Is it just when there's no sign for a specific word?

Also, thanks for the search idea, I'm trying them now.

NickCameron1031

You never bother me with questions, but if you have AOL AIM that would be easier to talk on, my screen name is the same as name on here. Feel free to hit me up. Fingerspelling is used when there no sign for the word, or you dont know the sign for the word. A lot of beginning signers use it and someone who is a fluent signer will USUALLY show you the sign that you spelled.

TheHalfWayMan

I've got lots of questions and will post them in the main boards. For now, I'd just like to say its nice to meet you and thanks for your warm welcome.

Also, as this is an "Introduce Yourself" thread, I would just like tell everybody that I am not very Deaf aware and I'm sorry (in advance) if I ever say anything wrong, offensive or hurtful. I kindly request that, if it ever happens, that you forgive me and correct me.

NickCameron1031

No problem and the offer to chat always stands, i love chatting

TheHalfWayMan

Thanks. I'm not too into IM as I could spend hours on it and I am so busy. I use MSN and I've bookmarked your offer for when I get more free. Thanks again.

SweetBettyBoop

TheHalfWayMan

Thanks for the welcome BettyBoop!

jillio

Welcome to AllDeaf. Hope your time here is enlightening.

Matilda

Hello and to AD! Hope you will enjoy your way around the threads.

HiBluE01

Welcome to AD! :-)

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HiBluE01

Jolie77

Hello there

Welcome to AllDeaf and do make yourself home here while you surf around. There's tons of informations on this site (controversial or not) that could broaden your horizons and hopefully it will help you be aware of issues in the deaf community, so and on.

I am curious, What prompted you to become interested in Deaf Culture, Deaf Life, Deaf Attitudes, so and on? Is there an interest to you to do this or that?

Again, Welcome Aboard!

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TheHalfWayMan

Thanks for the welcomes everyone.

Basically, I strongly believe in doing good and that each person should do good with whatever he/she has been blessed with.

About half a year ago, I came to realise how important my company's communication services were to Deaf people. I discussed things with my colleagues and we decided that we'd give our services away at cost price (i.e. no profit) to Deaf charities and companies working with Deaf people. And so, we got in touch with lots of Deaf charities, but none of them seemed to be interested and that was that.

More recently, I started to think that that approach was not the right one. All companies could use our technology (and other similar technology) to make their services just as accessible to Deaf people as they were to hearing people. We thought again and decided to engage in a Deaf Awareness campaign that provided a set of ongoing solutions to hearing organisations and, rather than charge cost-price, earn the usual profit and donate the profits to Deaf needs.

Obviously, to engage in a Deaf Awareness campaign, we would have to be Deaf Aware and so my journey into Deaf life has begun by joining a long distance course and making Deaf friends.

I must say, though, that what I've learned so far is truly amazing. Up until Nick introduced himself, I never hear of "finger spelling" - I'd only heard the phrase "sign language". I didn't realise that each country had its own sign language and, possibly, its own sign alphabet. I also learned that sign language has its own fonts. I've also learned that there are a lot of Deaf Charity scams which approach AD (lol!). I also guessed that Deaf people must value friendship much more and reporting this all back to my wife, she is also amazed and we're both thoroughly impressed.

In short, my journey into Deaf life is part of corporate social responsibility which I hope & think I'm really going to enjoy as an individual.

My course is going to be here in about 10 days and I'm trying to refrain myself from asking questions that I should learn through the course.

Hopefully, we'll start the campaign's blog soon and I hope you can all play a part in bringing about the big change which I'm trying to achieve.

NickCameron1031

One thing that always amazes me on here is how close everyone is. I know that for me (and some others on here too) growing up isolated from the Deaf community its a great thing to not only feel welcomed, but appreciated, and to feel like you actually have a place to fit in. I don't hide my Deafness anymore, I am actually very proud of it. I owe a lot of that to this forum and the people in it.

TheHalfWayMan

The best friends I've made in the past are the ones with whom I've gone through tough times. We might get seperated for a long time, but when we see each other, the warmth between us can't compare to what I feel with other friends.

From what I've read, life is quite tough for Deaf people and those challenges are something which you must all have in common. So, even though you may not know each other in person, the warmth is there. Then, for those who do know each other in person, the warmth must *really* be there.

I'm just equating things to my own experience, so please correct me if I'm wrong.

TheHalfWayMan

Thinking more about it whilst I was out in the car, being isolated by hearing people probably helps Deaf people value friends even more.

bumpsy

hey there,

I'm jannine, I live in Cornwall, used to live in Norfolk.

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TheHalfWayMan

Hi Janine,

THanks for the welcome.

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I'm a learner, so if I say anything wrong, please don't be offended. Just tell me & I'll learn from my mistakes.
Also, please participate Meeting Half Way - its life line is Deaf participation.