Lillys dad

OK, As some know, I am learning sign. I was taking our new puppy (13 week old standard poodle, who is going to be trained as a hearing dog for my daughter) to be dropped off and get groomed, then I had a meeting to go to at work. Anyway, while at a stop light, a car pulled up next to me. I noticed a R.I.T. sticker on it. I also noticed that the driver and passenger were signing back and forth. The passenger saw my puppy, and signed for the driver to look at the dog. He looked over and said "I like your dog".. I signed "thank you". I think he was a little suprised to see me signing. A very brief conversation started in which I signed to him that my daughter is deaf and the dog is going to be a hearing dog for her.
He asked where I was going. I signed that I was going to work as the light turned green.
Please keep in mind, that I have very little actual signing experience. I knwo enough sign to communicate with my daughter, but have a hard time having a conversation with an adult. After I signed that I was going to work, I started to drive away. As I did this, the guy signed something that I do not know what he said.
Using his right hand, it looked like he touched the fingertips of his thumb and middle finger together and pointem towards the middle of his chest whilie keeping his pointer, ring and pinkey fingers straight. He then raised this sign up towards his chin, then out and away about 6 inches from his chin. He had a small smile on his face as he signed this.
I hope I described this sign in a manner that is clear. What doe this mean?

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Lilly CI right ear Sept 8 2005
CI left ear Jan 17 2007

Deafness

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nightcrickets

I hope it doesn't mean the "F" you word

nightcrickets

I guess not Profanity in ASL - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Lillys dad

I hope it wasnt. While I do not know what he said. His body language didnt seem offensive. He seemed to be more friendly. Besides, if he was signing someothing like that, that wouldnt make sense. It is quite obvious that, by my sign abitily, that I am hearing, and learning the language. For him to have that type of attitude, it would show that he would be some type of elitist looking down on me. He really didn't come across as that type of person.

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Lilly CI right ear Sept 8 2005
CI left ear Jan 17 2007

Angel

hmmm sound like he signed " like " .....IF he touched the fingertip of his thumb and his middle finger together and point it toward the middle of his chest and looking like a ring then that the sign for it, but then again you said he raised his sign up towards his chin then out and away about 6 inches from his chin?, now I'm not so sure....It's easier for me to see it then I would know the sign..I'm sorry I tried ...

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Lillys dad

That could be it. As I said, the conversation took place car to truck. I drive a truck that sits higher than cars. He was in a smaller 2 door mistubishi eclise (or something like that) the angle we were at was a little odd to be signing for me.
Thank you

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Lilly CI right ear Sept 8 2005
CI left ear Jan 17 2007

Reba

It sounds like "LIKE" to me, too. Maybe he was just signing it higher than normal so he could be more clearly seen thru the car window?

Reba

Can you look at the sign "LIKE" on aslpro.com and see if that's it?

SxyPorkie

Sounds like Reba and Angel is right....it does sounds like 'LIKE"

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Life Goes On!!

jillio

Maybe he was signing "like your dog" or something?

gnarlydorkette

????

"White" ??? yet you said the sign stays the same throughout the movement, so it cannot be "white"

it COULD be "like" but why would he move it to his chin?

"Expert" is a possibilty but you do not start that sign on chest so ... hmm....

LuciaDisturbed

"interesting"?

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Reba

I just checked ASLPRO.com, and they don't have the sign for "LIKE" in the main dictionary! ASL Browser does have the sign "LIKE". Please look at that one, and see if it was the same sign.

Interpretrator

Yeah, that's what I was thinking, only moved up so that it could be seen out of the car window as Reba said.

Reba

:smacking my head!:

I totally forgot about "INTERESTING"! I'm so used to doing it here with open-to-closed "X" handshapes that I forget about the "8" handshape version.

Just one hand? (Of course, he was driving. )

"INTERESTING" would fit the context of the conversation.

BearBeauty

I'm thinking interesting myself. the handshapes do match interesting IMO.

Liebling:-)))

Interesting description of ASL... It's total different as German sign language.

Lillys dad, it's cute of you to practise with sign for your daughter and then get a hearing dog for your daughter... I know from your many posts that you are a good father...

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Lillys dad

Thanks everyone! After looking at the two words in the ASL Browser, Im pretty sure it was Like. As I said, my signing ability is very limited, and it is very obvious. Im thinking that he signed like, in an effort to keep it simple for me.

Liebelling, Thank you. I am a firm believer in giving Lilly options. When she gets old enough to make her own decisions, she will be informed enough with the hearing world, and the deaf world to make her OWN informed, educated decision on how she choses to communicate.
I get some funny looks from both hearing and deaf when it comes to the path my family has chosen. But, when Lilly is old enough to start making sense of all of this, see will clearly see that our family is very supportive of her, and that we have given her every option available. Afterall, a parents responsibilty is to raise a confident, educated, responsible, children. The more options and support a child has, the better the chance of accomplishing this. (getting off topic here) My wife and I examine as every decision we make regarding Lillys deafness from the perspective of "how will this effect Lilly as she gets older. For example. Her CIs, when we had to pick the type of CI, we were given a choice of color for the equipment. You can get it a tan (skin color), black and silver. After thinking this over, we decided to get it in silver. We did this so the equipment will not appear to be camoflauged. We did not want Lilly to see that the wires, ear peices and so on were trying to be hidden. Afterall, her deafness is nothing to be ashamed of, so there is no reason to hide it. While her deafness does not define WHAT she is, it is a part of WHO she is. I dont want Lilly to feel that she has to be ashamed of who she is, for any reason.
Sorry for the digression.

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Lilly CI right ear Sept 8 2005
CI left ear Jan 17 2007

Southern

I am thinking it is interesting as well. How you sign “like” and how you sign “interesting” have the same hand movements and shape. But where like is only one hand, interesting uses both hands. The second hand is up in front of your face. If he was signing one handed at this point he probably wanted to indicate that he meant interesting by moving the free hand up to his face. I know one handed signs are confusing when you first see them. I have been around it from time to time and I am just now starting to kind of get the hang of it…. a little bit! LOL This seems like the best fit in your conversation as Reba said, “like” really doesn’t make sense if that is the only sign that was done, Like what?? “Interesting” makes more sense. If you go to aslpro.com and look up “interest” in the video dictionary you will see what we mean. Now if you cover the woman’s face you will see the sign for “like” (since with her face covered you cannot see the second half of the sign). You will see how the two look similar. I think the person in the other car was trying to indicate the difference in the two signs since he was only signing with one hand at this point.

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kayla123

the dog is going to be a hearing dog for her.


Lilly's dad, in what ways does a hearing dog help Lilly? Just curios, i've heard of a hearing dog once before but was'nt too sure how they help.

BearBeauty

From what I know of hearing dogs, they basically help alert deaf people to the phone, doorbell, alarm, danger, and whatever the deaf person needs. I have limited knowledge, so this is all that I know.

Lillys dad

Sophie ( the puppy) will begin puppy obedience training soon. Then basic obedience, then advanced obedience. Then she will begin training as a hearing dog. A hearing dog alerts the deaf person to environmental sounds that Lilly could not hear. For example, smoke alarms, alarm clocks, door bells and so on.
I realize that Lilly is too young to take advantage of a hearing dog right now. I have had some people tell me that she does not need a hearing dog, because she has 2 CIs. Well, as we all know, she is still deaf. It is not uncommon for Lilly to come home and take off her CIs to enjoy some down time. I fully expect her to do this throughout her life. In that situation, if the fire alarm goes off, the dog will let her know. If someone rings the doorbell, Sophie will alert Lilly that somoeone is at the door. Or the good example that my wife uses. In a few years from now, Lilly will be at the age where she will want to go to slumber parties. If she is at a slumber party, and there is a fire or other type of emergency, everyone would probably instantly evacuate. After they do that, because they are not firmiliar with looking after a deaf child, they may forget that Lilly could not hear the alarm. I am hopeful that other parents would have the foresight to realize that Lilly could not hear the alarm, but I would not bet her life on it. With the hearing dog, we wouldnt have to hope they remember that Lilly did not hear the alarm, because Sophie main objective in her life will be to hear for her.
I realize alot of this may seem far fetched, but I am a firm believer in having a plan. I have hed way too many times in my professional life where having a simple plan has saved my life and the lives of my coworkers.

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Lilly CI right ear Sept 8 2005
CI left ear Jan 17 2007

Lillys dad

As I said above, Sophie is still too young to begin training classes. So in the mean time, I have been taking her too as many places as I can where she can be exposed to the public. It is important to socialize any pet dog. But it is vital to have a well behaved work dog if it is going to be in the public. I am also starting some of ther training already. General dog training uses hand gestures. I talked to a few dog trainers and they both agreed with me that it would make more sense to train the dog in sign language instead of training gestures. I taught Sophie the sign for "sit" in a couple hours. I sign it, and she immediately sits and waits for more commands. She really is an awesome little puppy. She can be so laid back and relaxed. That coupled with the fact that she is 13 weeks old and already weighs almost 25 lbs, nakes me forget that she is just a puppy.

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Lilly CI right ear Sept 8 2005
CI left ear Jan 17 2007

Boult

interesting was the word I believe.. I know too late for me to put in 2 cents

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shel90

Yea that has to be it. I was reading thru the thread and signed myself using both words. 'Interesting" is more likely the sign that was used. Also, it would make more sense to use in respond about the dog.

Good luck with the training of the dog!!! It is not easy but will be worth it for your peace of mind.

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~Shel~

"A child educated only at school is an uneducated child." -George Santayana

kayla123

A hearing dog sounds great in those types of situation. I wish i was'nt afraid of dogs because i would certainly consider one too. I am the biggest chicken when it comes to dogs, no matter how well trained they are...lol

sweetmisty77

[size="4"][/SIZE

hi to lillys dad i am a 47 year old female i have a hearing dog named jr whos a yorkie terrier i had him since the year of 2000 he does work wonders for me he alerts me when some ones at the door or the smoke alarm goes off or the phone ringing and alll in all hes a great little guy i love him a lot i,m, sure the dog you train for your daugther willl be good for her i got jr from international hearing dog inc. in colorado they flew him to me and stayed for a week to train with me. they how ever did train him before they bought him to me but they wanted me to learn as well and we been together ever since he was a year and a half when i first got him we really bonded well. with jr i got my life back now and can do things i couldn,t before. i hope all goes well for you good luck your friend sandy

Dixie

Im all for hearing dogs as I dont expect anyone who is deaf/hoh to wear their CIs, aids, or whatnot 100% of the time. There are times they have to come out. I remember when I had to wear aids I would come home from school and pop them out while I did my homework. But in reality is that if someone was at the door I could not hear it, if the phone rang and I was in the other room, I could not hear it. If the microwave beeped, I could not hear it.

There are times I will be at my aunt's house with the family and I'll be sitting there thumbing through her old People Magazines and I will not have realized that someone has come into the house until someone else elbows me or if they yell. (it is embarrassing but it doesnt happen often).

If I ever move out on my own, I would for sure invest in a hearing dog. For not just my safetly and well being but for my DD's as well.