Signing For Dummies (56 page)

You sign stiff by using the same Sign as freeze (see
Chapter 6
).

English:
Can you cough?

Sign:
COUGH — CAN YOU Q

English:
Her mouth is bleeding.

Sign:
MOUTH BLEEDING — HER

Handling Emergencies

Going to the hospital during an emergency is a scary thing. However, there’s nothing scary about these emergency-related Signs (except having to use them). Table 11-9 may be your 9-1-1 when you need to help out in an emergency!

Hemorrhage
is the same Sign as
bleed.
To sign bleed, let your dominant hand motion up and down rapidly. The faster you do it, the heavier the bleeding.

Signin’ the Sign

Lily and George are going to the hospital; he is ill and needs medical attention. Read on and see how the story unravels:

Lily:
You need to get to the hospital.

Sign:
HOSPITAL — GO — MUST YOU

George:
I’m dizzy and my stomach hurts.

Sign:
DIZZY ME — STOMACH HURTS MINE

Lily:
We’ll go to the ER.

Sign:
E-R — GO US — WILL

Fun & Games Answers

Part IV: Looking into Deaf Life

In this part . . .

T
his part gives you a glimpse of the Deaf world — their customs, culture, and how they interact, both in our world and their own. The three main topics covered here are the Deaf way of life, Deaf etiquette, and communication devices for the Deaf.

Chapter 12: The Deaf Way

In This Chapter

Viewing Sign through history

Looking at the Deaf community and its culture

Understanding how Signers can be bilingual/bicultural people

You probably picked up this book because you want to find out how to sign and communicate with Deaf friends, family members, or colleagues. But there’s more to the Deaf community than just Sign language. In this chapter, you find out the history of Sign, the challenges that Deaf people have faced both past and present, and what it means to live in two cultures and to speak two languages. This information can help you better understand just what it means to be Deaf, which, in turn, can help you to better communicate with the Deaf people you know.

Many people who can hear typically think Deaf people have a huge void in their lives because they can’t hear. Nothing could be further from the truth. Even though Deaf people experience life a bit differently, they have a wonderful quality of life and enjoy the same things that hearing people do.

Digging into Sign’s Past

You can find Sign languages in every country throughout the world. Some countries, such as Canada and the United States, have similar Sign languages because their spoken languages are also similar. However, this isn’t always the case. American Sign Language (ASL) is unique among the world’s Sign languages because it has had many influences and has influenced many Sign languages of the world. This section explains the history of Sign language and the effect that these Sign languages have had on the origins of ASL.

Looking at the origins of Sign language

The roots of Sign language run fairly deep. Although early Greek writings refer to manual communication, no one knows whether those writings refer to just a few gestures or an actual alternative language using Signs. Hippocrates studied deafness, and Socrates believed that it was a natural occurrence for Deaf people to communicate manually.

Juan Pablo Benet (1579–1629) wrote the first book, published in 1620, on how to teach Deaf people. He incorporated gestures, fingerspelling, writing, and speech.

Exploring the two schools of thought on Deaf communication

Throughout history, people have attempted to teach Deaf people language. Many people believed that Deaf people would be enlightened by sound and speech reading. However, others — many of them Deaf — believed that manual communication was a more natural way to express ideas. Two schools of thought evolved regarding the communication methods of Deaf people:

•
Oralist method:
This method starts at childhood and relies on residual hearing, speech reading, and speech production in hopes of teaching verbal skills. In many cases, signing is forbidden. This school dates back to Europe. In Edinburgh, Scotland, the Briarwood Academy — perhaps the oldest oral school in Europe — emphasized speech; those who could afford it sent their children to this school. Their method of teaching was unknown because of their policy of secrecy. In America, oralists established themselves in the classroom after the Civil War. With the rebuilding of America, oralists wanted Deaf people to depend on speech rather than Sign language.

Many forms of Sign language, both early and modern, fall under the oralist method school of thought. This approach to Sign language is closely tied to the spoken language of the land. When using the oral method, the signed language adopts the properties of the spoken language. They share a common word order, cultural implications, and idioms. In short, the signed language is a reflection of the spoken language.

Great Britain, Australia, and Russia are some of the countries that use oral methods for communication. Efforts in America have had some success. Alexander Graham Bell was one of the American pioneers. His support of oral methods of teaching gave credibility to oralism. His belief that Deaf children could learn to communicate verbally found a great deal of support from parents who wanted their Deaf children to speak. He was a contributor to schools that were established under this philosophy. A.G. Bell schools are well established in the United States even today.

•
Manualism:
Manualism, which emphasizes Sign language over speech, dates back farther than oralism in America. It wasn’t until the latter part of the nineteenth century that lip-reading and speech was introduced into the classroom. Instructors of Deaf children believed that education should be done in Sign. Many of these instructors were religious people who believed that Sign language was a gift from God. They believed that the oralists were depriving Deaf children of their natural language.

Examining when and how ASL began

The origin of
American Sign Language
(ASL) has two parts. Many people believe that ASL was strongly influenced by the work of Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet and Laurent Clerc in the early 1800s at the American Asylum in Hartford, Connecticut.

Another influence of ASL’s origin goes back long before the arrival of Gallaudet and Clerc. In the seventeenth century, Deaf people were living in the United States. They lived in their own communities on Martha’s Vineyard and made their livings as farmers and fishermen. Most of these inhabitants were descendants of people who’d moved to America from England. Three hundred years later, their descendants were still living there and attending the Hartford Asylum under Clerc and Gallaudet. Many believe that the Signs brought to America by these educators and the Signs used by the Vineyard population are largely responsible for today’s ASL.

ASL isn’t related to English, although it borrows from English — as many spoken languages do. ASL has a word order that’s different from English, and it has its own idioms, jokes, and poetry — all unrelated to English. People who support ASL believe that anything can be taught in ASL because it’s a language guided by properties.

Sign Language is visually based. An object, such as a person, animal, or thing, needs to be understood by two parties before any information can be signed concerning the subject. Some people believe that this is the natural process for language. Many languages are based on this idea — it’s the noun-verb rule. You need to name an object before you can discuss it.

Facing the Challenges of the Deaf Community

Through the years, Deaf people have had to face numerous challenges. In the past, they had little access to education, and almost no opportunity for gainful employment. Although things have improved over time, Deaf people still face challenges. This section discusses challenges past and present and looks at how the Deaf community has made strides to overcome them.

Putting the past behind us

Sign language, like the Deaf people who use it, has had to fight for survival. Around the world, Sign language — as well as those who communicate this way — has been viewed as lesser than that of the hearing world. Many hearing people have dedicated themselves to changing the Deaf and their language.