How the Deaf Think

Those of us who were born Hearing and went to a school for hearing children learned language differently from those who are born Deaf.  The Deaf think in pictures.  The above picture is an example of a new publisher Brother, his talk notes for a #1 Bible "Reading"  in our Theocratic School. (Yes, we have Bible Reading talks too.  Attend an ASL meeting and find out how we do it.) I only saw one English word on that page. Amazing!!  He knows EXACTLY what he's going to "read" to the congregation.  Is this above example the same as what another Deaf person would draw for the same scriptures?  Probably not.  Each individual would "gloss" their talk differently.  When I gloss a scripture or paragraph, my "gloss" is very personal, what my mind is thinking and how I would understand the translation of that scripture or paragraph.  I would have a tendency to use more words, since my mind was taught to use the written word from childhood.  I love the written word, but I wish I could think in pictures too.

True or False?

All Deaf in the U.S. can read English.
All Deaf in the U.S. learned and use American Sign Language
All Deaf in the U.S. attended Deaf schools
ASL is a signed translation of English
Sign Language is not a real language, it's just acting out what you want to say
Sign Language is universal, so all Deaf people can communicate the same around the world

The answer to all of the above statements is........FALSE!

1. All Deaf persons in the U.S. cannot necessarily read English, or read at all.  And yet most get along very well in this world.  They enjoy life, go to eat in restaurants, learn a skill, work, have families, etc.

2. All Deaf persons in the U.S. have not learned ASL and not all can use it.  Some Deaf were made to attend Hearing schools.  Some Deaf have no formal education at all.  Some Deaf only use "Home Sign", which is a sign language used in that person's home to help them communicate with members of their family.

3. Not all Deaf attended Deaf schools. Some never attended school at all, some were forced to attend hearing schools and depended on lip reading and help from others.  This doesn't mean a deaf person who did not attend school is not intelligent.  Actually, they might me more intelligent than the average hearing person.  They have to figure out life without a real language.  We know of a man in our congregation that, up until a couple years ago, never learned sign language, but grew up, held down a job, had friends, and communicated with others.

4. ASL is NOT a translation of English.  It's just not.  It is based on English words, but is a language all it's own.

5. Sign Language is a real language, with grammar, sentence structure, punctuation, and anything else that is involved with a language. The language is made up of physical movement or your hands and body, but also VERY much includes facial expression.  Sometimes the facial expression is all you need to get your point across.  But there are rules of grammar in forming sentences, just like any other language.

6. Sign Language is NOT universal.  There are dozens of official sign languages around the world. Some countries take up American Sign Language because more has been published using ASL.  But many countries take pride in developing their own official sign language.

Most of you reading this blog know that some (soon all) of our New World Translation Bible is translated in video form in ASL.  This is how we study our Bible, in video form.  Check out the Bible and other publications we have in ASL  on jw.org, change your language in the upper right corner to American Sign.  Find a scripture in the Bible that is very familiar to you, then watch the ASL video and see if you can figure out what sign is what. Also, I invite any of you to attend an ASL meeting at a Kingdom Hall near you.  You will not be disappointed!!  It's very entertaining, if not anything else.  But sign language is not there to entertain. It's a way to communicate.

We truly feel blessed and cherished by our God Jehovah that the Governing Body would care enough about our Deaf brothers and sisters to translate the Bible and other publications in ASL, as well as other sign languages.

As always, your comments are appreciated.

English Assembly

Since John missed so much of our ASL assembly, we decided to take in some of the same assembly in English.  So what was different?

First thing both of us noticed that, as people started assembling inside the auditorium after lunch, it started getting noisy.  We forgot how noisy hearing people are.  :) ASL assemblies and meetings are sometimes eerily quiet, with a few spoken voices here and there, but very quiet.  And during the meetings, very quiet.  I do find it very calming and soothing during the ASL meetings.  

Second thing:  ASL is very entertaining. English sometimes is kind of boring.  No offense.  Maybe it was the speakers.  But even John looked over at me during one of the talks and signed "English boring."

It was nice to hear the last talk given by the Bethel speaker in English. Even though I completely understood the same talk in ASL, and understood that the very same information was given, the illustrations the brother used were very clear to me, and the urgency of the talk, about how the scriptures say we are all responsible to be peacemakers in the congregation.  But I did understand, in ASL and English, that it's our personal responsibility to maintain peace in the congregation.  Wonderful reminders!

Though we didn't know anyone at that assembly, it was nice to hear our "native" language being spoken by people around us, even if conversation wasn't directed to us, we didn't have to think about what people were trying to say.  Sometimes at ASL conventions and meetings, we are so conscious about signing our thoughts that we miss hearing the words.  It's difficult to explain.  I love ASL as a language, and I'm learning to love the culture (some things still hard to accept), but I still love the English language.  When it comes to "reading" the Watchtower and Awake magazines, as well as the other publications we have, I don't so much enjoy reading them, but really enjoy listening to them while driving around town.

In June we have our Regional Convention in Norco CA and Fairfield CA. Both conventions are in June, within one week of each other.  I can only imagine that both conventions will have the same Bethel speakers traveling from South (Norco) to North (Fairfield).  Since I will be attending one or two days in Norco, and all three days in Fairfield, I'll let you know if the same speakers attended both conventions.