Chaptrer 16 :)

"Home Correspondence Courses in Basic Sign"  Chapter 16                                                

Learning sign in a rural area is a concept I had never thought of. As the book mentioned in many chapters, including this one, the library has lots of books and videos available. If the library in a certain rural community doesn't have a certain resource they can get it from another library. While I agree that books and videos are helpful, I strongly believe it is important for people who are wanting to learn correct Sign Language to be able to interact with proficient signers. One reason I feel this way is because as mentioned in the book, there are so many different regional signs and dialects that can not be learned through a generic video tape. Another good suggestion this chapter offered was to see if a near by community college offers a noncompetitive ASL class for non-degree seeking students.

Living in a rural area and wanting to learn Sign is one thing, but living in a rural area and being Deaf is a whole other thing!! I can not imagine how difficult it is for a deaf person in a small town to get the help and guidance they need. I am sure there aren't qualified schools available in a reasonable distance to cater to the educational needs of Deaf children. Deaf children need to be exposed to sign at birth and being improving their Sign in school, but the rural school might not have teachers who are qualified to effectively teach Deaf children. 
I now see why Deaf people are more likely to live in a city setting. They benefit from the organizations, educators, and schools available in a more urban setting. Also in an urban setting there are more support groups and events for Deaf people to go to to interact with other Deaf people.