my concerns in communicating with the deaf in real life

rjr2006

rjr2006

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I don't know what to say, but I am feeling a little uncomfortable when it comes to NTID and deaf students. I am the only deaf student at high school and I am more exposed to SEE and the way I talk to hearing people. I do really want to go to NTID, but my SEE will bore them since they would prefer ASL. Is there someone who knows how to write in ASL? I would like to learn how to write in ASL (I can't sign due to physical disability) so I can write in ASL to deaf students while keeping SEE for education and hearing world. Thanks in advance!
 
If the students are not snobs they should accept your way of communication. If you and the other students are open and friendly with each other, you can quickly start picking up their ASL signs. You are young and intelligent, so you can probably quickly understand their signs. Don't worry about boring them. You are an interesting person, and I am sure you and the other students can work things out.

Some college students are still in the juvenile "high school" mode, but you will also meet students who are mature and intelligent. They will make good friends for you.

ASL doesn't have a written form. If the ASL signers are attending NTID I expect they have adequate English skills for reading your English notes.

IMHO :)
 
Well, I don't think NTID is a strong-ASL environment like Gally... They won't crucify you if you use SEE. Every deaf person got their reasons for which method they use. NTID do have some CI deaf people who don't know ASL at all. After the graduation, they learned ASL and are able to use it if needed. (I know one hearing impaired person who went to RIT with no ASL or Deaf culture/pride and returned as a "captial D" Deaf person.
NTID is a large college-- you will find your niche where no method of SL will be condemned included SEE.

( I STILL use some old SEE signs which my husband totally MADE fun of me included friends.. I used "V" for have, "D" for had, "S" for has... "I" for ice cream, et cetera... yet my husband said my ASL skills is beyond his .... I grew up in a SEE-used classrooms so i guess old habits die hard. :-/ But nobody hates me.. they just laughed out loud at me and asked me "WTF ARE YOU SAYING?!" Arrghhh! They backed off after I told them that I CANNOT change who I am because it is sort of part of me... SEE, PSE, ASL, pfft!!)
 
You are the only one way to learn from them better soon.

You will just have to practices your communicates with ASL and their way of communicate skills too. It's fun to learn too. Good Luck! ;)
 
I did not go to NTID MYSELF, but I have many friends and acquaintances who did, and truthfully, a very large percentage of them are "oral" or SEE using people. Trust me. You do not need to worry. And if you find that you actually like ASL, all you need to do is join that crowd.

Go into this as if you were Popeye. "I yam what I yam"!
 
I go to RIT and while I am not an NTID student per se I can say that most of the deaf/hh people I know (myself included) use SEE, or sign in a fashion that is far more similar to English grammatically than ASL. Why? Just easier. RIT/NTID isn't Gally. English is the default language here, regardless of whether it is spoken or signed. Are there frequent ASL users? Certainly, but my experience tells me that they're in the minority among the deaf and I don't know a single hoh person that uses ASL regularly. (I'm sure a few exist, I just haven't found them.)
 
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