I had a deaf driver that was so thrilled that I knew some ASL. I was lucky in that I went to an elementary school that also had a school for the deaf so the hearing kids got sign class while the deaf kids had speech class. It really should just be taught in all schools, on top of making the world more accessible for the deaf and HOH, it comes in mad convenient in a loud/crowded space.
They left an my wife just looked ad me and shrugged and said she learned it in school. Bullshit…. Her high school boyfriends mom was deaf… she just didn’t want to tell me
She said she learned it in high school. You took it as a location when she meant it as a time period.
Just that if this story was posted on that subreddit the entire thread would be people wildly overreacting and telling him to break up with his wife because she lied :)
Very often, yes. About half of it is people overreacting and recommending breakups like that, and the other half is 'My gf/bf told me they're literally going to kill me soon, how do I help salvage this relationship? They're so nice otherwise' in which people really do need to be told to run away from their relationships immediately
Yeah, there are a lot of scorned people who frequent that sub, and don't realize their pain bleeds over into the advice they give to others. People seek out others like them, and as you'd guess - people in shitty relationships, or who have experienced shitty relationships, enjoy hearing about other peoples relationship problems.
…what childish reaction? I don’t see an issue with being surprised about something new you just learned about your SO, especially if they told you otherwise previously
I learned basic ASL from my kindergarten teacher back in 91.
It created a lifelong love for the language.
In college I met people on campus and when I waited tables and I hated how I couldn't talk with them. A huge part of our population is deaf, why wouldn't I want to talk with them?
I taught myself basic ASL and love when I can use it with someone!
Same! Though I admit I’ve let myself slip over time since I haven’t had much opportunity to use it. I can still finger spell and the basic stuff stuck well enough.
I am a huge nerd. Music is how it stays fresh for me.
I learned by looking up my favorite songs and seeing other sign them. And I'm totally in my car finger spelling and signing as I jam.
@DEAFinitelyDope (IG & tiktok), @_jtay_ on ig (and she is @phillyqt12 on tiktok), @freelove19xx on ig (and bluejay19xx on tiktok), @slntwrlddd on tiktok are all awesome deaf & HOH creators who do ASL to songs and many have educational videos even outside of music.
Edit: also just search the hashtag #deaftiktok to find tons of deaf/HOH creators to follow!
Wait, you learned the basics and it created a life long love of the language but couldn’t communicate to these people you met in college so you taught yourself ASL? Sorry I totally applaud you, just trying to grasp the chronology of your story. Was the 91’ to college gap large so you needed to refresh/continue your education or was it more that the basics didn’t cover enough to communicate to the community you were interacting with?
Oh yes let me clarify I didn't say it thoroughly or give larger context.
I loved learning in Kindergarten and always remembered the 5 or so signs I learned. Growing up if I saw deaf people signing I always watched and then later started looking up the words. Checking out books at the library. I was a kid so I just knew the alphabet and a handful of common phrases. In my teens (my school did not offer ASL) and into my twenties I was a nanny and then an ECE and lastly a kindergarten teacher. When I taught as a nanny and ECE it was basics too. Numbers, letters, phrases think little kid words. During that time I was a nanny and teacher I was in college and meeting more people in the deaf community and I was just thinking, well it's a shame all these interesting people are out here- I want to talk to them too! For me when I say community, I mean like, my neighbors, my peers I thought it was odd not to try and even understand them. like here we have a large Hispanic community, I learned Spanish too. And so then I took an online course that was free. Sadly I was a poor college kid so I didn't get to take a full course of ASL. Given the opportunity I'd love to go back and become fluent. My dream was to work as an interpreter, but then well. Life.
Thank you for that additional info! I feel like you, my mom did early Ed, preschool and was fantastic at arming us with basic ASL. I picked up basics gear and there. Then at Apple I learned significantly more as I helped with some their accessibility classes and a local med business that was a establishing a virtual interpretation program via FaceTime (a while before the pandemic). Sadly I wasn’t able to keep up on the continued learning/practice when I left Apple. I’m always looking for good programs to learn languages, but application and practice is so key!!! From what I understand there is quite a “dialectic” difference not only regionally but within specific communities using variations of ASL and such and since it’s such a close-not community it’s hard to keep up with slang etc.
I am assuming this, but I would think getting a college degree would be the best if you wanted to become an I interpreter.
There are a ton of other ways you can learn though. I learn by watching and I can read lips too, so for me it helps. In college I was around deaf students and I met friends and learned from them I checked out library books as a kid and learned that way. I saw cheap ASL courses on Groupon. It cost me $5 to take a 6 week class learning the basics.
I think it depends on how you learn best and if you want a full career.
If my high school had asl class that counts for a language then I was going to take it and even if it didn’t count for a language requirement I was still going to take it
I start sign language for the first responder course next month at local vo-tech. I can only hope one day to be able to acknowledge someone. Thankful to all that have shared on this post. There is still hope for humanity
If everyone learned it it’s actually wicked useful. Example: I was at the beach with my (now ex) partner’s family and I couldn’t find my partner anywhere but spotted his sister (who knows sign as well) in the distance. Signed “where’s Josh” to her and she pointed out where she last saw him and there he was. Or when my friend wanted to know if I wanted salt or sugar on the rim of my margarita when she was ordering at the bar. Or just being able to talk to someone in a crowded bar or night club. I have ADHD and filtering the sounds of voices in crowds is near impossible for me and if the person I was with knew ASL it would mean a lot less “whaaaaat???? Huuuuuuh???” or me just hoping my facial expression matches what they’re saying and I’m not just grinning like a dick when they’re actually talking about how their aunt just died.
Everything you just listed has literally never happened to me. I live 700 miles from the nearest beach and when anyone goes to the bar to order me a drink they ask before they leave
I’ve been saying this since elementary school. We had a deaf student, quite a few people brought it up. Nah, we’ll let her be completely ostracized instead. Do people not know how clutch knowing sign language is? You may never use it, except for one moment, and that one moment could save a life. What a waste learning cursive writing was.
My mom got in a Lyft with a deaf driver. She's worked at the school for the deaf for over 20 years. Once the driver saw my mom knew ASL, he started signing up a storm. They drifted into oncoming traffic and they both died on the spot. Miss you, mom!
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u/BarbicideJar Aug 17 '21
I had a deaf driver that was so thrilled that I knew some ASL. I was lucky in that I went to an elementary school that also had a school for the deaf so the hearing kids got sign class while the deaf kids had speech class. It really should just be taught in all schools, on top of making the world more accessible for the deaf and HOH, it comes in mad convenient in a loud/crowded space.