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fredfam1

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I am a hearing disabled vietnam era veteran. I am seeking deaf friends to
communicate with. I became intrested in ASL and the deaf community in
college. When I went to college in Alaska ASL was the only other class that would fit into my schedual.
I decided to try it and my instructor gave us homework to introduce ourselves
to the first deaf person in the community that we saw. I was looking around on the public bus system and I saw a man signing to himself! And I thought,
"Wow, the first deaf person I meet is talking to himself!" I was nervous but
had to do my school work so I introduced myself. After twenty minutes of
strugle, (this was my first ever class) I grew suspicious. I voiced, "Are you deaf?" To which he replied using voice and a big grin, "No!"

That was 24 years ago and this November we will celebrate our 24th wedding
anniversary. We have seven children and I have taught them all a little
sign language. But I have no deaf people around me and if you don't use a
language you loose it. Also that was 24 years ago and I have been told by
several Deaf people that I use "old signs"! sigh

Anyway would love to communicate.
 
Hello and welcome to Alldeaf! Interesting introduction-- ;) Hey, no matter if your signing looks 'old'...just tell 'em, 'but hey, you still understand me when I sign?' :D Anyhow, hope you'll enjoy your stay here in AD! :)




:wave:
~RR
 
Thanks

Thank you for responding. Yes every time I sign this story to
deaf people they seem to find it very amusing!
My husbands cousin was born deaf and that is why he
became interested in sign. But he learned SEE sign so
that was why I had so much trouble understanding him.
We still use sign for private conversations and have
recently gotten in touch with deaf friends that he
introduced me to 23 years ago. It was so good to
find them!
 
:welcome: to Alldeaf and hope your visit to this site will be a good experience for you! Ahhh, another fellow Pacific Northwestern here. ;)
 
Thank you!

Yes the pacific NW is our home and has been for 25 years now.
Which is funny because I was a Navy Brat and my dad moved
us all over the US. By the time I was 13 I had gone to 14
different schools and lived in 28 different states. My dad took
a lot of school and job training opportunities.
We live on an 8 acre farm in Oregon called SPIRIT MOUNTAIN FARMS.
This is actually a cottage industry that my children run.
One of their products is an organic fertilizer that that make
from...ummm....farm animal by products.:giggle: It also has
other secret ingrediants and they made over $300 this summer.
Not bad for a 12 year old, a 10 year old and a 7 year old.
I also homeschool all our kids.
 
Hi and :welcome: to AD!

U and your family are all hearing and u taught them sign language? That is so great! We need more hearing people like u!

Hope u enjoy your stay here.
 
Babies learning sign language

I began teaching basic signs at birth of each child but with all
my other duties I never was very consistant. They all picked
up on it at about a year of age. But with the birth of my 5th
child, and first boy, for some reason I had the time to be more
consistant. Now my receptive skills are terrible and thats important
to remember when I tell you about my son. Every time I went
to nurse him I would sign hungry? and milk? Soon I was on auto
pilot and just did it without thinking. One day when Chris was
exactly 5 and 1/2 months old, we were all sitting in the living
room and he was lying on a blanket, on his back. He was holding
both arms straight up in the air and squeezing both fists in
a repetitive manner. Knowing about early childhood development
I was puzzeled and brought this behavior to my husbands attention.
"Honey look what Chris is doing! Babies don't do things like that
at his age." My husband observed our baby for a moment, his
eyes got real big and he shouted, "Hey! He's signing MILK! You've
been trying to teach him that since birth you silly goose you!"
Of course Chris got fed imediately and praised very much!
what fun!
 
:welcome: and WOW! What a fantastic story you tell! Keep on posting and let us know how things are going with ASL and everything. Again, :welcome: :thumb:
 
Thanks, I plan to be here a while. Sign Language not only got me a husband, it comes
in very handy on the farm when equipment is running and I just can not hear what my
husband is yelling! Sign Language makes life easier and raises my childrens IQ. (Scientificaly Proven!) smile
 
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