Outsiders Are Not Not Saving A Language By Learning It.

Stupid

Sources: SigningSavvy, Lifeprint, ASLDeafined, The ASL Lab

[Image ID:

The Sign for Stupid in American Sign Language. Back of the hand in V handshape taps forehead. Arm and crossed eyes are translucent pink. Background is white.

End ID]

Family

Sources: SigningSavvy, Lifeprint, ASLDeafined

[Image ID:

The initialized sign for Family in American Sign Language. Both hands in F handshape start with thumbs and index fingers touching each other, then twist forward ending with pinkies touching. Movement is illustrated by arms that are translucent blue and pink in different stages of the sign. Background is white.

End ID]

Here's the link to the skeet https://bsky.app/profile/margaretadelle.bsky.social/post/3lgnrffsfa22b

and the course

https://courses.osd.k12.ok.us/collections

Everyone needs to learn sign language pls. Like whatever version is used in your country I encourage you to learn.

Not only will you be learning another language, but you'll be able to talk to other signers, D(d)eaf or not, and two people can communicate in loud places without needing to hear the other.

I'm hard of hearing and have such a difficult time with trying to hear others. I stopped wearing hearing aids because I got annoyed that even after about 18 years I still had a hard time distinguishing what hearies were saying.

I'm learning my country's sign language (ASL) but don't have any experienced signers to practice with. I really hope more people learn these languages (and the history of said languages).

And sign is also helpful with neurodivergent people and babies aswell!

Pig

Sources: SigningSavvy, ASLDeafined

[Image ID: Pig in American Sign Language. Hand in B handshape palm down rests under the chin then changes to Bent-B handshape. Above the hands is a pig face. End ID]

Tea

Sources: SigningSavvy, Lifeprint, ASLDeafined

[Image ID:

The sign for Tea in American Sign Language. Dominant hand in F handshape and base hand in S handshape. Motion is similar to dunking a teabag in a tea cup. Movement is illustrated by arms that are translucent blue, purple, and pink in different stages of the sign. Background is white.

End ID]

Ghost

Sources: SigningSavvy, Lifeprint, ASLDeafined

[Image ID: ghost in American Sign Language. Both hands in F handshape. Base hand palm up and dominant hand palm down with tips of thumbs and index fingers touching. Then dominant hand moves upward. End ID]

it's a little early for this but could we get a happy Halloween if you haven't already?

Sure, it's close enough

Halloween

Sources: SigningSavvy, Lifeprint, ASLDeafined

[Image ID:

Halloween in American Sign Language. Both hands in bent B handshape rotate to cover the eyes. Movement is illustrated by arms that are translucent purple and orange. Eyes and fangs are purple.

End ID]

When I’m out with Deaf friends, I put my hearing aid in my purse. It removes any ability to hear, but far more importantly, it removes the ambiguity that often haunts me.

In a restaurant, we point to the menu and gesture with the wait staff. The servers taking the order respond with gestures too. They pantomime “drinks?” and tell us they learned a bit of signs in kindergarten. Looking a little embarrassed, they sign “Rain, rain, go away, come again another day” in the middle of asking our salad dressing choice. We smile and gently redirect them to the menu. My friends are pros at this routine and ordering is easy ― delightful even. The contrast with how it feels to be out with my hearing husband is stunning.

Once my friends and I have ordered, we sign up a storm, talking about everything and shy about nothing. What would be the point? People are staring anyway. Our language is lavish, our faces alive. My friends discuss the food, but for me, the food is unimportant. I’m feasting on the smorgasbord of communication ― the luxury of chatting in a language that I not only understand 100% but that is a pleasure in and of itself. Taking nothing for granted, I bask in it all, and everything goes swimmingly.

Until I accidentally say the word “soup” out loud.

Pointing at the menu, I let the word slip out to the server. And our delightful meal goes straight downhill. Suddenly, the wait staff’s mouths start flapping; the beautiful, reaching, visual parts of their brains go dead, as if switched off.

“Whadda payu dictorom danu?” the server’s mouth seems to say. “Buddica taluca mariney?”

“No, I’m Deaf,” I say. A friend taps the server and, pointing to her coffee, pantomimes milking a cow. But the damage is done. The server has moved to stand next to me and, with laser-focus, looks only at me. Her pen at the ready, her mouth moves like a fish. With stunning speed, the beauty of the previous interactions ― the pantomiming, the pointing, the cooperative taking of our order ― has disappeared. “Duwanaa disser wida coffee anmik? Or widabeeaw fayuh-mow?”

Austin “Awti” Andrews (who’s a child of Deaf adults, often written as CODA) describes a similar situation.

“Everything was going so well,” he says. “The waiter was gesturing, it was terrific. And then I just said one word, and pow!! It’s like a bullet of stupidity shot straight into the waiter’s head,” he explains by signing a bullet in slow motion, zipping through the air and hitting the waiter’s forehead. Powwwww.

Hearing people might be shocked by this, but Deaf people laugh uproariously, cathartically.

“Damn! All I did was say one word!” I say to my friends. “But why do you do that?” they ask, looking at me with consternation and pity. “Why don’t you just turn your voice off, for once and for all?” they say.

Hearing people would probably think I’m the lucky one ― the success story ― because I can talk. But I agree with my friends.

  —  I’m Deaf And I Have ‘Perfect’ Speech. Here’s Why It’s Actually A Nightmare.

It's time for another episode of Good Idea, Bad Idea

[Image ID: lightbulbs replace the 'o's in "good idea." Under that is the phrase "go to class early" in American Sign Language. Then the words "bad idea" with a lightbulb over the 'i'. Under that is the phrase "go to class naked" in American Sign Language. End ID]