So, without the ability to hear, what else can deaf people do?  Let’s take a walk through history and seek some answers to this question. According to Wikipedia……..

Helen Keller - (1880 – 1968) –  Most people are familiar with this name. An American author, activist and lecturer. She was the first deaf/blind person to graduate from college.

She was not born blind and deaf; it was not until nineteen months of age that she acquired an illness described by doctors as “an acute congestion of the stomach and the brain”, which could have possibly been scarlet fever or meningitis. The illness left her deaf and blind. Keller went on to become a world-famous speaker and author.

Thomas Edison - Thomas Alva Edison (February 11, 1847 – October 18, 1931) was an American inventor and businessman who developed many devices that greatly influenced life around the world, including the phonograph and a long lasting light bulb. In school, the young Edison was noted to be terrible at mathematics, unable to focus, and had difficulty with words and speech. This ended Edison’s three months of official schooling. The cause of Edison’s deafness has been attributed to a bout of scarlet fever during childhood and recurring untreated middle ear infections.

Ludwig Van Beethoven - History tells us that – although Beethoven was completely deaf – he was able to compose and play extraordinary music. Today, he is recognized as one of the greatest musicians of all time. He had to turn and face his audience to experience the applause he was unable to hear.

Marlee Matlin - In 1986, applauded for her performance in ‘Children of a Lesser God’, Marlee became the first deaf actress to win an Academy Award and Golden Globe Award for Best Actress. Look up and to the right >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> there she is talking about The Sign Language Company!

Gerald “Bummy” Burstein -  The first deaf person in the world to become a certified professional parliamentarian. He’s been credited as introducing to America the famous deaf applause — hands waving in the air. In 1999, the Riverside resident became the first deaf person to establish a chair at his alma mater, Gallaudet University in Washington, D.C.

Linda Bove - A deaf American actress who played the part of Linda the Librarian on the children’s television program Sesame Street from 1971 to 2003. Bove has introduced thousands of children to sign language and issues surrounding the Deaf Community. Her role as Linda on Sesame Street is currently the longest recurring role in television history for a deaf person. Bove attended Gallaudet University.

William Elsworth – Dummy Hoy - (May 23, 1862 – December 15, 1961) was an American center fielder in Major League Baseball who played for several teams from 1888 to 1902, most notably the Cincinnati Reds and two Washington, D.C. franchises. He is noted for being the most accomplished deaf player in major league history, and is credited by some sources with causing the establishment of signals for safe and out calls. Hoy became deaf after suffering from meningitis at age three, and went on to graduate from the Ohio State School for the Deaf in Columbus as class valedictorian. Hoy also worked as an executive with Goodyear after supervising hundreds of deaf workers during World War I. In 1951 he was the first deaf athlete elected to membership in the American Athletic Association of the Deaf Hall of Fame.

Harold MacGrath - American author, (September 4, 1871 – October 30, 1932) was a bestselling American novelist, short story writer, and screenwriter. In an article in the April 23, 1932 issue of The Saturday Evening Post written under the title “The Short Autobiography of a Deaf Man,” MacGrath described how he had struggled early in life as a result of a hearing impairment. At a time in history when deaf people were almost automatically considered as lacking intellectual acuity, he managed to hide his deafness from his employer and others. Harold MacGrath’s success made him a very wealthy man and he traveled the world extensively.

Gertrude Ederle- (October 23, 1906 – November 30, 2003) Gertrude was an American competitive swimmer. In 1926, she became the first woman to swim across the English Channel. She trained at the Women’s Swimming Association, which produced such competitors as Eleanor Holm and Esther Williams. She joined the club when she was only fifteen. From this time Gertrude began to break and establish more amateur records than any other woman in the world. Ederle had poor hearing since childhood due to measles, and by the 1940s she was completely deaf. She spent the rest of her life teaching swimming to deaf children.

Laurent Clerc- (26 December 1785 – 18 July 1869) Laurant Clerc was called “The Apostle of the deaf in America” and “The Father of the Deaf” by generations of American deaf people. With Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet, he co-founded the first school for the deaf in North America, the Hartford Asylum for the Education and Instruction of the Deaf and Dumb on April 15, 1817 in the old Bennet’s City Hotel, Hartford, Connecticut.

Chuck Baird - Chuck Baird was born deaf in Kansas City and along with his three older sisters, went to the Kansas School for the Deaf. After an art residency at the California School for the Deaf in Fremont, he moved to San Diego in 1992 to work for DawnSignPress as an in-house artist, and painted a number of new Deaf-related works, culminating in the book, “Chuck Baird, 35 Plates.” He had his first major exhibition at the World Federation of the Deaf Conference in Washington DC in 1975.

Heather Whitestone McCallum - (born February 24, 1973) Heather was the first deaf Miss America title holder, having lost her hearing at the age of eighteen months. Whitestone represented Alabama at the 1995 Miss America pageant held in Atlantic City, New Jersey. Despite being profoundly deaf, she performed ballet en pointe to the song “Via Dolorosa” as her talent, winning the preliminary talent competition and the preliminary swimsuit competition.

Evelyn Glennie - (born July 19, 1965) is a Scottish virtuoso percussionist. She was the first full-time solo professional percussionist in 20th century western society. Glennie has been profoundly deaf  since age 12. This does not inhibit her ability to perform at the international level. She regularly plays barefoot for both live performances and studio recordings, to better “feel” the music.

I. King Jordan - The first president of Gallaudet University with a profound hearing loss.

Phyllis Frelich - won the Tony Award for her role in the stage production of Children of a Lesser God.

Terrylene Sachetti - Deaf actress, poet, storyteller, mime, and dancer.

Of course, this is just a partial list, but this post is already over 1100 words…..so we’ll save more for another time.

One question before we wrap it up. When approached by a deaf person requesting money to compensate for the ‘disability‘ and inability to work, what should one do? What is the appropriate action? What do you think?

Before we sprint toward the answers, let take a deeper look at the questions.

If you are reading this as a hearing person, think for a moment how many of “us” are out there. So many hearing people across the globe. Do we know that we are alike in the way that we hear sounds?  Are there reasons why some find certain sounds pleasant while others cringe? Is it a matter of taste or a difference in what we’re hearing?

We already know that we are not identical in the way we view our surroundings. Does John’s ‘red’ look exactly like Sue’s ‘red’?  20/40 vision, lasik corrections, color-blindness, astigmatism…….so many factors can affect perception without being deemed a visual impairment.

And theses are only two of our senses!  Touch, smell , taste…….how varied are our perceptions?  How can we possibly know?  Well it does appear that , in an effort to answer these questions, more questions rise to the surface.  How much can we generalize?

These particular points become relevant as we observe a general tendency to generalize.  So much is written about The Deaf or The Blind….as if each group has the identical experience based on their common condition. This is what we call a “slippery slope”. There must be room for individuality within a culture….right?

So, what’s the answer to our original question?  Do deaf people hear in their dreams?

One more question first. Do hearing people ‘hear’ in their dreams?   Do you?

At this point, individual feedback from members of the deaf community would be interesting. As a SODA (Sibling of Deaf Adult), I have asked my sister endless questions like this.  As a young adult, she explained that she remembers signing in her dreams, but she also remembers communicating without sign language.  If you really think about it, communication in dreams is akin to mental telepathy for the hearing among us as well. Lips don’t necessarily move and sound isn’t required for communication to take place.

In 1960, twenty-six deaf college students were interviewed to obtain information concerning the symbolic and perceptual processes experienced in their dreams. It was found that the dreams of the congenitally deaf were vivid, brilliantly colored, and reported as frequent in occurrence. Usually, the means of communication in the dream included sign language / non-verbal communication process.

Hellen Keller, who became deaf and blind at the age of 19 months, claimed to have “visions of ineffable beauty” in her dreams.

Dreams allow visions without sight, communication without sound, flight without wings and desserts without calories! Dreams may be the place where universal common ground is finally found.

Confession:

The intended message of this post is hidden between the lines. When absolute statements are made about the experiences or the beliefs of  The Deaf or The Blind, a thoughtful perspective allowing for individuality and potential personal preferences is refreshingly enlightened. The first step is always awareness.

Additional information on this topic is available by request from The Sign Language Company.

In the land of ASL and sign language interpreters, it’s just as easy to forget that our world is completely unfamiliar to many. We can roll our eyes when we hear “can deaf people drive?”  or  ”do deaf people watch TV?”.  But for those who have never dipped their toes into this fascinating land, the bends and twists surrounding the questions can be endless.  ”Do deaf people dream?  And can they hear in their dreams?” One question inevitably leads to another.

If your profession is Healthcare, Education, or Government……Corporate, Legal, or Entertainment and you find yourself encountering a deaf person and an interpreter, do you sometimes wish you had a hand-book to guide you? If the interpreter will be interpreting for you and facilitating the communication between you and the deaf patient, student, client……what are some of the basics that you should know? How do you know what you don’t know?

The following suggestions may be helpful.

* Try to avoid the natural temptation to speak in a loud voice and/or exaggerate the enunciation of your words in an effort to help the deaf client understand you. Speak to the deaf person as you would to a hearing person. The interpreter will do the rest.

* Please speak to the deaf person directly and not as if they aren’t there. The interpreter is there to facilitate a 2-way conversation. They are not there to “participate” in the conversation or begin sentences with “he said”………

* As with most of us, preferences can vary. It’s wonderfully progressive to ask the deaf person to let you know if he/she has particular preferences. Some might and some may not. It’s not a ‘one size fits all’ expectation.

* The sign language interpreter is there solely to interpret. They are not there to assist in any other way. Many have been asked to fill out forms, pass out papers, help lift items or people, offer opinions, run errands and even babysit a classroom.  In education or in a medical setting, if the medical practitioner or teacher leave the room, the interpreter usually leaves the room as well.

* When booking an interpreter through an agency, alert the agency to any extenuating circumstance. Is the deaf individual in need of an English speaking Interpreter?  Spanish speaking?  Other language?  Sign language is not the same worldwide.  Is the deaf person also low visual? We do have interpreters who interpret for the deaf/blind.  Every detail helps us determine which interpreter would be the best fit for the job.

*Did you know that American Sign Language (ASL) and spoken English are different in their word order? ASL is a conceptual language and may be the deaf client’s native language. This is why the seemingly simple solution to write notes back and forth (instead of using an interpreter) can be confusing and frustrating for all involved.

* Feedback to the agency is priceless. Did the interpreter communicate easily with the deaf client?  Was the sign language interpreter professional and on time?  Did you have an ideal experience and prefer to always work with this interpreter if possible?

As we introduce you to our world, we also welcome any tips you might suggest when we visit yours.

And now we return to an earlier question. Do deaf people hear in their dreams?  For that matter, do blind people see in theirs?

What do YOU think?  Good questions for another day……..

Sometimes, we would make the drive to her School. It felt like landing on another planet. Kids were signing and laughing and I had no idea what was going on. My sister seemed to be talking to and laughing with everybody and I had never seen her so animated!  What were they talking about?  What was so funny?  I didn’t like it. I felt completely left out. The irony never occurred to me at the age of eight.  Deafness was definitely a disability. Something was horribly broken….needed to be fixed at any cost. So why were these kids laughing and seemingly happy.  In this land of ago, it still wasn’t unusual to hear the term “deaf and dumb”.. This was confusing as I could tell my sister wasn’t ‘dumb’.  Maybe my little brother, but not my sister.

How times have changed. For the most part, families are now encouraged  to learn sign language to facilitate ‘total communication’.  The Deaf have made their voices heard as to what works best for them individually and as a community.  ”Deaf and Dumb”  morphed into “Deaf-Mute” morphing again into simply “Deaf”……..able to do absolutely anything ~~ except hear.  It’s easy to envy these families today. I know very little about my sister’s life growing up in the 60′s.  To this day, she continues to learn new stories about things that were said or transpired in our family throughout the years.  I was shocked the first time she communicated with me that she envied the friends who came from families where everybody was deaf.  She wished we were ALL deaf??  ALL broken?? ALL disabled??  Over time, this became easier and easier to understand.   How comforting it must be to journey through this life with those who come from ‘the same planet’.

In the end, isn’t it about the basic desire for communication and the feeling of being connected?  These fundamental needs are often too easily taken for granted. Wishing to connect on a deeper level with our sister, some in our family did learn sign language.  What a gift it is to finally get to know somebody you’ve known all your life. She is smart and funny and adventurous and kind and still has a beautiful smile!  It runs in the family.

Deafness is one of the most overlooked and misunderstood dimensions of diversity not just outside the diversity and inclusion field, but actually within it. As you continue to read think about how we may be inadvertently reinforcing audism—the discrimination of those who are deaf—even as we advocate on behalf of the deaf.

What the Deaf Want

As a Sign Language Agency, we often encounter hearing people who have little experience with the Deaf. Here is a surprise for many hearing people: the Deaf  (the majority of those we’ve met) don’t want to be seen as people with a disability, but rather as a linguistic minority with its own language and culture. This stance has vital implications for the work of diversity and how we approach the deaf.

ASL is not a manual way of turning English words into hand signs, but rather how ASL is a separate language altogether. Like differences between various spoken languages, the syntax, word order, and even the words used in a sentence can be quite different between ASL and English. Also, ASL is not a universal language. For example, there is Portuguese Sign Language andFrench Sign Language just to name a couple of the hundreds of different sign languages that exist.

The Deaf form a different culture compared to that of the hearing.

In deaf culture, communication is much more direct. Body language is more expressive (featuring the highly animated use of all facial muscles, especially the eyes) and demonstrative (hugging is quite common). When in comes to social events and time, the deaf tend to be more event oriented than clock oriented and they are more group oriented than individualistic when it comes to their sense of identity. And more likely than not, regardless of race, ethnicity, gender, age, and sexual orientation, the deaf tend to first identify with the deaf culture before they identify with their other multidimensional identities. Add to this a “disability” label that, used in the spirit of inclusion, actually creates exclusion:

“With the cultural frame changed [to the infirmity model] the deaf pupil was now an outsider. Spoken language in the classroom and speech therapy failed to make him an insider, while it drove out all education, confirmation the child was defective. Unsuccessful education of deaf children reinforced the need for special education, for experts in counseling of the deaf and in rehabilitation of the deaf. Finally and most devastatingly, deaf children in America, starting in the late 1970s, were increasingly placed in local hearing schools. Having cut off the deaf child from his deaf world, having blocked his communication with parents, peers, and teachers, the experts have disabled the deaf child as never before in American history. The typical deaf child, born deaf or deafened before learning English, is utterly at a loss as he sits on the deaf bench in the hearing classroom.”

Often, in the name of helping the deaf (defined as those born deaf versus those who have become hearing impaired through illness, accident, or age), the interests of the deaf have not been met, as the hearing are the ones who decide what is best for them. It’s the hearing who own the schools for the deaf, have advocated for mainstreaming the deaf into classrooms for the hearing, and are most likely their teachers. This puts the deaf at a significant disadvantage by forcing them to operate with their second, and not their primary, language. Plus, they are instructed by a hearing teacher who often does not know ASL and, therefore, cannot fully communicate with them.

And what happens when individuals cannot communicate in their native language or the world around them does not know their native language? Yes, of course, they are seen as less smart, less capable. Asking them to learn English and not teaching them in ASL is to impose the values and approaches of the hearing onto the deaf.

Labeling deafness as a disability has done significant harm to deaf self determination and identity. This travesty was further reinforced when deafness was thrown into the Americans with Disability Act. By framing it within a deficiency model, the deaf then must be helped paternalistically.

On the other hand, when deafness is seen as a culture it takes on a different mode. It must be respected and understood as being as equally valid as other cultures, including such as the Asian-American, African-American, and hearing cultures. Therefore, to engage with those who are deaf we all need to demonstrate greater crosscultural skills in order to be inclusive of one another.

Do We Really Understand?

This mind-bending understanding of deaf culture raises questions not only of ways in which we may have been advocating—if we have at all—for deaf employees, but also where we may be having significant blind spots around other groups whose abilities are different from the majority’s.

Do we really understand what the blind need, what those with Down’s Syndrome need, what the quadriplegic need? Do we understand when something is a disability and when something is not? When making decisions that affect these communities, how much of a voice do they have in the decision-making process?

Just because the deaf can’t hear, the blind can’t see, and those in wheelchairs cannot walk, their voices about their needs and their identities must be heard as the first and primary order of business. If not, those of us who are hearing, have vision, and can walk will not hear the message, see the possibilities, or walk the talk.

Read more about this topic at Inclusionparadox.com or contact The Sign Language Company for resources and information.

Deaf teens are finally seeing characters and situations they can relate to.  One teen in Fremont California describes it this way to Chuck Carney in the Contra Costa Times.

Olivia Stein, a 17-year-old student at California School for the Deaf in Fremont, can probably count on one hand how many times she has seen someone like herself beaming from a television screen.

It’s no wonder, then, that she has become hooked on “Switched at Birth,” a feel-good family drama pegged, in part, to multiple deaf characters who have brought some prime-time exposure to an underrepresented segment of society.

“It allows us to be more involved. We can relate. We’re finally seeing people like us,” she said through a sign-language interpreter. “And it’s showing the world that deaf people are cool. We rock.”

“Switched at Birth” debuted on ABC Family last summer with a sensationalistic premise: A couple of teen girls — one of whom is deaf — discover that, due to a hospital error, they wound up with the wrong parents. Now their families, from two different worlds, are struggling to get to know each other.

The show became an instant ratings hit for ABC Family. Moreover, it sparked wide interest among the deaf community for its frank and respectful depiction of people with hearing loss.

The teen girl who is deaf, Daphne Vasquez, is played by Katie Leclerc, who in real life has Meniere’s disease, a disorder of the inner ear that can affect hearing and balance. Also among the cast are deaf actors Sean Berdy and Marlee Matlin. The series was created by Lizzy Weiss, who learned how to sign ASL while attending Duke University.

“Switched at Birth” doesn’t focus solely on deafness — the soapy twists and turns cover a wide terrain. But it does explore several pertinent deaf issues, including communication and societal barriers, speech therapy and the debate over cochlear implants. It also makes extensive use of sign language, subtitles and something very rare in this era of pop-cultural clatter: Moments of utter silence.

Anna Schumacher, a Berkeley native who served as an on-set interpreter for “Switched at Birth,” calls the show an important step forward because it doesn’t isolate its deaf characters “into a novelty category” or portray them as disabled.

“While Daphne’s life is by no means easy, because of many variables, she is seen as just as bright, capable, insightful and full as any teenager,” she said. “Yet she experiences the world in a different way and has a wonderful language at her fingertips.”

Several students applaud the show’s casting of Berdy, a charismatic 18-year-old actor who attended CSD’s sister school in Riverside. To them, he’s a “cool role model.” They even like the way he signs.

“We can pick up on his irony — something hearing people can’t,” said Conrad Baer, 17.

But Berdy’s casting also represents a sign of hope, according to Brinkley-Green.

“Some deaf people want to be actors, too,” she says. “Maybe this will open a few doors to new possibilities.”

Click on the link to view the ever-growing list of shows where The Sign Language Company has provided interpreting services, see our IMDB page.

This advice comes from sign language interpreter Dan Parvaz. “There are particular sign language interpreting assignments that should be avoided by entry level interpreters. Medical, Legal, Job interviews and I would also add educational interpreting, particularly in the K-12 area. All too often, this is treated as a dumping ground for beginning interpreters, particularly because the pay is typically much lower than what freelance interpreters make. Also there is a perception that grade school = easier. To disabuse yourself of that notion, watch “Are You Smarter than a 5th Grader?”.  Better yet, pick up a junior high science or history textbook and see what the students have to absorb.

The material at the grade-school level is more advanced than the stereotype would have us believe and the need to provide good linguistic input is acute. Somehow, the prevailing practice — I won’t dignify it with the word “wisdom” — has been to put brand-new interpreters into that high-pressure situation where there is potential for real, permanent harm.

There are other freelance assignments and mentorship opportunities where the price of failure isn’t quite so high. Even better, if possible, is to find yourself a work or volunteer situation that puts you in contact with a large variety of Deaf people — a part-time (non-interpreting!) position at the school for the Deaf, receptionist at a Deaf organization, etc. In my experience, what new interpreters need more than anything else is more language… the basic instruction one gets at a typical two-year (or even four-year) college program is not sufficient.

More than anything, find good role models and learn from them. And stick to it! We need the next generation to be there to pick up the torch.”

Well said Dan.  Thanks for your input!  Over the years, at The Sign Language Company, we have found it extremely helpful to meet with potential interpreters wishing to affiliate with our agency. Face to face, we are able to evaluate beyond the degree and certifications. Professional?  Proficient?  Flexible?  able to establish trust and rapport?  Reliable?  If you happen to be reading this as a potential sign language interpreter – - and you wish to get the agency perspective on what is deemed ‘the ideal interpreter’ , please contact us at The Sign Language Company for additional information.  Particular Sign Language Interpreters are very busy and ‘in demand’. Find out why.

Drawn to the balmy climate and the “paradise” environment of Coachella Valley, California, the valley’s population is a diverse mix of people who share similar interests in the recreational, cultural, and social opportunities readily available throughout and around the region.  Among those in the mix is a vibrant community of deaf and hard-of-hearing people, many of whom relocated to the valley from other parts of the nation and made their homes in Palm Springs and other neighboring communities.

With American Sign Language (ASL) being their primary mode of communication, a small group of deaf friends found themselves increasingly frustrated by the lack of sufficient and competent sign language interpreting services in the area.  Geographically located about one hour east of Riverside and two hours east of Los Angeles and San Diego, it was difficult, and cost prohibitive in most situations, to get qualified sign language interpreters to travel to the Palm Springs area to interpret for situations ranging from one person’s medical appointment to stage performances for deaf audiences.  In addition to that, the group was also concerned about the availability and quality of age-appropriate and barrier-free services and resources for the area’s deaf and hard-of-hearing citizens.

Incorporated on October 24, 2007, the primary purpose of the Deaf Seniors Foundation of Palm Springs is to raise funds to achieve its community center and senior housing goals. Many of us have parents or grandparents in Senior Centers across the U.S.  Can we imagine what it would be like to live in such a home, and be unable to easily communicate with staff or other residents?  Wouldn’t this create a feeling of isolation?  Now imagine a home for Deaf Seniors where ASL is the norm and decisions are made to serve the Deaf Community in residence.

DSF continues to plan fundraising events to raise money and awareness. We can follow their progress and participate in fundraising events via their website   http://www.dsf-ps.org/index.html  For more information regarding Deaf Seniors, you can visit the dsf website or contact The Sign Language Company.

What is American Sign Language?  (ASL)

ASL is a complete, complex language that employs signs made by moving the hands combined with facial expressions and postures of the body. It is the primary language of many North Americans who are deaf and is one of several communication options used by people who are deaf or hard-of-hearing.

No one form of sign language is universal. Different sign languages are used in different countries or regions. For example, British Sign Language (BSL) is a different language from ASL, and Americans who know ASL may not understand BSL. However, as those who communicate in sign are adept at conveying concepts without sound, the Deaf may find it easier to translate another country’s sign language than most hearing people could translate the spoken language

Where did ASL originate?

The exact beginnings of ASL are not clear, but some suggest that it arose more than 200 years ago from the intermixing of local sign languages and French Sign Language (LSF, or Langue des Signes Française).Today’s ASL includes some elements of LSF plus the original local sign languages, which over the years have melded and changed into a rich, complex, and mature language. Modern ASL and modern LSF are distinct languages and, while they still contain some similar signs, can no longer be easily understood by each other’s users.

In spoken language, words are produced by using the mouth and voice to make sounds. But for people who are deaf (particularly those who are profoundly deaf), the sounds of speech are often not heard, and only a fraction of speech sounds can be seen on the lips. Sign languages are based on the idea that vision is the most useful tool a deaf person has to communicate and receive information.

ASL is a language completely separate and distinct from English. It contains all the fundamental features of language—it has its own rules for pronunciation, word order, and complex grammar. While every language has ways of signaling different functions, such as asking a question rather than making a statement, languages differ in how this is done. For example, English speakers ask a question by raising the pitch of their voice; ASL users ask a question by raising their eyebrows, widening their eyes, and tilting their bodies forward.

Just as with other languages, specific ways of expressing ideas in ASL vary as much as ASL users do. In addition to individual differences in expression, ASL has regional accents and dialects. Just as certain English words are spoken differently in different parts of the country, ASL has regional variations in the rhythm of signing, form, and pronunciation. Ethnicity and age are a few more factors that affect ASL usage and contribute to its variety.

Finally, a little history:

In 1815, a Protestant minister, Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet, left his home in Hartford, Connecticut to visit Europe. Dr. Mason Cogswell had asked Gallaudet to investigate methods of teaching his deaf daughter, Alice Cogswell. While in England, Gallaudet hit a roadblock when directors of the Braidwood Schools,  who taught the oral method, refused to share their methods of teaching. Nevertheless, while in London, Gallaudet met with Abbe Sicard, director of the Royal Institution for the Deaf in Paris, and two of his students, one of whom was Laurent Clerc. Sicard invited Gallaudet to visit the school in Paris. He did not go immediately, but instead traveled to Edinburgh, Scotland where he again met the directors of Braidwood. They again refused to teach him their methods. Gallaudet then traveled to Paris and learned the educational methods of the Royal Institution for the Deaf with sign language, a combination of Old French Sign Language and the signs developed by Abbé de l’Épée. Gallaudet persuaded Clerc to return with him to Connecticut and become a teacher for the deaf. Gallaudet and Clerc opened the Connecticut Asylum for the Education and Instruction of Deaf and Dumb Persons (now called American School for the Deaf) in April 1817. Deaf students were taught French signs and brought in signs of their own, such as those from Martha’s Vineyard. Thus, it was at this school that all these influences would intermingle and become what is now known as American Sign Language.

You never really “finish” learning ASL. The language continues to evolve as a living – breathing thing. Signs that have been used for years may be deemed ‘politically incorrect’ and revised. News travels quickly and a new sign is born.  This happens with nearly every language and ASL is no exception. To receive more information on ASL , please contact us at The Sign Language Company.

Breathe!
You will make mistakes…own them!
Find a mentor that you know, love and trust that will support you AND tell you the truth!
Skip the ego phase if you can.
Breathe!
Be the middle of the ladder. There will always be people more skilled than I am and there is someone to whom I can reach down the ladder to help up.
Practice! Just because I am working as an interpreter now doesn’t mean I should stop practicing. Also when everyone tells you that you are a great interpreter, say thank you and still practice.
Breathe!
Appreciate diversity! In people, in language, in life.
Don’t take compliments or criticism personally or too seriously.
Get in the habit of keeping your mileage now.
Breathe!
Know that you will not get along with everyone and that’s okay.
Fingerspelling is a pattern and context is your friend.
PREP is your new four letter word! Use your tools and your synonyms.
Ask for what you need.
Oh yes…and Breathe.

Sounds like excellent advice to us!  Of course, learning how to sign / learning ASL is just one part of the training needed to become a qualified sign language interpreter. Many interpreters become interested in learning this beautiful language because of a deaf friend or family member. They may be conversationally proficient, but still lack information regarding Deaf Culture, Laws pertaining to the A.D.A. , signs which are often ‘Industry Specific” and even proper protocol in interpreting situations. This is one field where the experts seem to be happy to share their insight and tips to help others avoid bumps in the road. If your goal is to communicate freely with The Deaf, then taking classes in ASL will be fun and informative. If you choose to go on to serving as a sign language interpreter, then your best bet is to find a mentor and take advantage of their experience and expertise. Feel free to contact us for more information on how to get started down the path as a professional sign language interpreter.