Chapter 10 :)

For Hearing People Only Chapter 10                                          

I had never given the idea of there being accents in Sign Language much thought before reading chapter 10. After giving the question much thought, I couldn't imagine how there wouldn't be different accents. People from all parts of the country have different dialects of English, and use different synonyms and phrases so I would assume ASL does too. One real life example that came to me was Stacey (my ASL 101 teacher) she is from California, and is now teaching in Kentucky. Stacey signs her numbers a little different from people here in KY, and I am certain there are other differences that I will notice the more I learn. One thing I found interesting in chapter 10 was that there is "white- collar ASL and blue- collar ASL). I found it cool that there is "linguistic snobbery" even in the deaf community. 

Chapter 9 :)

For Hearing People Only  Chapter 9                                        

The concept of laughing at a joke is one thing that I had never really appreciated before reading this chapter. I hadn't given it much thought that deaf people didn't understand jokes the same way hearing people can. So many jokes rely on sound and puns that people who are deaf from birth cant understand. 

Another interesting topic that was brought up in chapter 9 was the issue of deaf children's standardized test scores, this is another concept that I had never thought about. After reading the chapter and thinking about ASL and glossing I do not think it is fair to have deaf children take the same standardized tests as hearing children. I think a separate test should be made, at the same difficulty level, but maybe a visual form of the test could be made on video. 

Chapter 8 :)

For Hearing People Only  Chapter 8                                                                                        

This short chapter had lots of information in it that was new to me! One fact I found to be particularly interesting is that "ASL is said to be the only language in the world that is transmitted from child to child." I was surprised to read that until recently the only ASL classes offered were to hearing college students at post-secondary institutions. I definitely think that Deaf students should be able to take ASL as a class. There are many different dialects of ASL and rules that even a Deaf person who knows ASL wasn't aware of. I speak English and I can take as many English courses as I please, how should the policy be any different for a Deaf student speaking ASL.

Chapter 7 :)

For Hearing People Only-  Chapter 7 

Before reading chapter 7 I did not realize that glossing was not simply written ASL. When I am confused or don't know a sign, I go to the internet to see a video for clarification. I have never used an ASL dictionary, but I have gone to my course workbook for reference on certain signs and it was difficult for me to understand what the signs were supposed to look like in 3 dimensional form. Learning the grammar for ASL I think would be even more difficult from a dictionary, because it would be hard to depict sentences through pictures of people signing and there is no true way to "write" ASL. I think that the closest way of writing ASL however is through Glossing.
While I don't find the ASL dictionary to be very helpful, in 1965 when Dr. Stokoe published the book, I am sure it was a remarkable accomplishment. The first ASL dictionary was not Dr. Stokoe's only great accomplishment, he also devised the 5 parameters of Sign Language which we are still learning today (HOLMS). The concept of HOLMS, in my opinion helps explain signs better than a dictionary could.

Chapter 6 :)

For Hearing People Only    Chapter 6                     

For the most part chapter 6 wasn't much help to me. I have found that learning the grammar and syntax of ASL to be a difficult concept to grasp. In chapter 6 all the talk of  "SMVO, MSVO,SVOM..." etc confused me more than I think it helped. 

In high school I took 3 years of Latin, I loved the language but learning it proved to not be such an easy task. Learning ASL is reminding me of Latin, in both languages the topic is in the beginning of the sentence, I am sure there are more similarities but it has been a few years since I have studied Latin. ;)

One part of chapter 6 I did find rather interesting was the part about Manually Coded English Systems. I agree with the book in the aspect that yes MCE systems would be easier for Hearing English speaking people to understand, but I think that implementing a system like MCE would take away from Deaf culture. I do however think that Manually coded English systems could be a good way to teach Deaf children English, I think the best answer here would be for children to be familiarized with MCE systems so they read lips.

Chapter 5 :)

For Hearing People Only  Ch. 5                                                            

http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/217/deafnsmart.jpg/

America and Brittan share a spoken language (English), so I assumed that both ASL and BSL were nearly the same signed language. I was wrong! After reading chapter five and I learned that they are actually very different, BSL uses a two- handed alphabet opposed to ASL which primarily utilizes only the signers dominate hand. 
In chapter 5 BSL is described using adjectives like "beautiful,expressive, and vivid." British Sign Language sounds like a fascinating language to learn, but the right opportunities would have to arise for me to want to learn it. I am having a hard enough time learning ASL, I think trying to learn BSL would be more confusing that helpful to me at this point. 

In chapter 5 it was noted that in Britain the term "Deaf and Dumb" is still used by society, while as we know here in America the phrase has been black listed. The book mentions that after the Congress of Milan in 1880 " the quality of British deaf education went downhill, and BSL went underground." After this there were hardly any deaf teachers, this began a sad time for BSL. In my opinion BSL never recovered from this tragedy, and BSL users have been stereotyped as being less than hearing citizens. This is why I think the term "Deaf and Dumb" is still openly used in Britain. 

http://tagdeaf.coms-princess-diana-to-know-some-bsl/

There is one particularly influential person who I believe with more time could have turned around Britain's outlook on the deaf community; this person is the exceptional late Princess Diana. I have always admired Princess Diana for her awareness of public affairs and devotion to charity, on thing I did not know about princess Diana was that she knew BSL! I think it is remarkable, especially in Britain that a public figure such as Diana took the time to learn BSL. I think more public officials should take the initiative to at least know some Sign Language. I know that I would not want to be addressed by a public official in a language I could not understand.

Chapter 4 :)

For Hearing People Only Chapter 4                                                            

Abbe de L'Eppe is so important to ASL because he was "the first hearing person to learn from the deaf. He went into the deaf community"to learn it's language, to let deaf people teach him." He founded the world's first free public school for the deaf. Abbe Roach- Ambroise is also known for going into the deaf community, he was "the first known educator to bother to learn from the deaf themselves." Abbe went on to write a two volume book on deaf education, which was adapted for American use. 
Without these great men who knows if ASL as we know it (or are learning) would even exist!

Chapter 3

For Hearing People Only Chapter 3                                                                                           

luc.devroye.org

I am legally blind without any type of vision correction, when I was a child my parents and doctors feared I would lose my vision completely they tried getting me into the Kentucky School for the Blind so I could learn braille. Thankfully I was able to have surgery and everything went as planned, I still have issues regarding my vision but from this experience I was able to learn a very small amount of  braille. For me the thought of braille being confused with Sign Language makes no sense, I have always known that braille is for vision impaired people, and Sign Language is for deaf people.

I think it is an important thing to remember though that "blind people are visible to us in a way that the deaf aren't" this is a statement I had never thought of before. 

lifeprint.com

I have always thought of blind people as being so strong willed and intelligent because I personally vaguely remember trying to learn basic braille even with a small amount of vision and it was extremely difficult. I  have so much respect those who have no vision and have learned braille and carry out everyday tasks just like everyone else.
Just the thought of being blind or deaf scares me, so the idea of being blind and deaf is terrifying. If I were to lose two senses it would be extremely hard to cope. I know how difficult it was to try to learn braille as a child and now I have all of my senses while am trying to learn Sign Language and it is still very difficult for me. If I was do be deaf- blind I would definitely need lots of one on one help and training not just for knowledge and communication, but also psychologically. I couldn't help but ask why me? It seems that we (or I know I do) take for granted such things as vision and/or the ability to hear.

Chapter 2

Chapter 2 For Hearing People Only                                                                                       

Chapter 2 of For Hearing People Only was a rather short chapter, but it was filled with lots of insightful information. For instance I always just assumed that Sign Language was an international language that could be understood by all signers from various parts of the world. After reading chapter two  I felt a little silly for thinking that way, I mean there is not one universal language for all hearing people, so why would Sign Language be any different?

While reading chapter two the Spanish language seemed compariable to Sign Language in the aspect that there are various dialects and accents within the same language. For example a Spanish speaking person from Cuba will not be able to decipher the Spanish spoken by A Latino from Mexico just like American Sign language can not be understood by someone speaking Australian Sign Language. However for Sign Language there is to some extent an "International Sign Language" called Gestuno, it is not widely used except for at national gatherings. One event I could think of where Gestuno could be used would be at the Deaflympics.

One of my favorite quotes in this chapter says: "the impulse to communicate is universal. For deaf people, the impulse to sign is universal." For me this quote hits home even more the idea that deaf people are no different than any one else.

Chapter 1 :)

Chapter 1: For Hearing People Only

http://hsdcstore.com

Before taking a sign language class, or doing any research on deaf culture I knew very little about the language or its users. The only time I have ever been in close contact with non hearing individuals was with my lifelong my best friend. His grandparents were both deaf, there were a few occasions where I was present at family dinners or holidays with Charlie and his grandparents would be there, to my surprise they looked and acted just like any other grandmother or grandfather. As a child I was fascinated with this unknown language, while I could not understand a word of sign language at the time their expressions and body language seemed to tell stories as if they were speaking clear English. While reading For Hearing People Only, and as I learn more about all of the history and culture behind ASL it makes me more and more thankful for the opportunity to learn this language and culture.

Before I actually had the opportunity to take ASL I always thought that sign language was English in a visual form, just in the first week of class I have been fascinated with how complex the language is. Through reading For Hearing People Only I have learned the deep history of ASL and how it struggled to even become recognized as a language. 

One fact I found particularly interesting in Chapter 1 was that "people using ASL can communicate comfortably with each other across a football field" it also goes on to say that sign language is commonly used in underwater communication. Another tidbit about Sign Language I had not thought of before is that it can not be picked up by bugging devices. I found this information insightful because it gives some positive aspects of Sign Language, and some takes on the language that are commonly not addressed or thought of. 

 

In Chapter 1 of For Hearing People Only it is stated that "some "well meaning" hearing teachers told their students that it was considered "animal-like"" to sign as well as claiming that it was "inferior English." I can not fathom how those students felt after being told that their only way of non written communication was " animal-like," especially by an educated individual. Comments like this are sure to shatter student's self esteem, and crush their outlook on life. I would be ashamed of my self, and would not want to learn anymore after hearing thoughts like this. 

After finishing Chapter 1 I have become more aware of how much I take for granted the teachers, facilities, and schools that are available today for students people with different needs. on page 40 it is said that in the early 1800's even if your family was wealthy there were only two options for deaf children regarding schooling; either "you sent your child overseas to the famous Braidwood Academy in Edinburgh Scotland, oh hired a private tutor." While neither of those options would be easy, if your family was poor the child either stayed home, or went into an asylum where they would get not schooling what so ever! As the chapter progresses it reveals that bringing Sign Language to America and having good educates and institutions with the appropriate funding was a long difficult fiasco.

I plan on putting my Sign Language skills to great use, unlike the early educators mentioned in the HPO book. I am a Communication Disorders major and I will hopefully have the  opportunity to work with hard of hearing individuals from all backgrounds and ages. I love working with the elderly population so communicating or even teaching signs to all walks of life interests me.