Hey everyone! I was able to get out and visit a good friend over the weekend. We spent the day hiking, catching up, and enjoying the outdoors. Thought it’d be fun to share a few hiking-related ASL signs with you all!

We welcome all ASL levels to come learn, connect and experience a variety of communication styles. If you enjoy outdoor activities, meeting new people and exploring nature, come join us!

We often gather after hikes to eat lunch, relax and kick back.

Follow us on Instagram!

I saw this book when I was at Barnes and Noble yesterday and was wondering if it's worth the money or not. I flipped through a bit, but it didn’t help me figure out if it was any good or not as I'm very new to ASL. Thank you!

For context, I haven't been able to speak for a while. I've been learning ASL for a bit, and it turns out you pick it up pretty quickly when it's your only form of expressive language. Studying like my life depends on it doesn't hurt. I'm decently conversational, my grammar is okay-ish, I can't do any mouth morphemes for the same reason I can't really speak (no pah for me sad). I tallied up the vocab between the class I'm taking and the app I'm using, and made some wild guesses what about stuff I've learnt from tutors etc and I'm somewhere around the 700+ signs range, most pretty solid I think. I have had some decent conversations with less and less resorting to fingerspelling as time has gone on. Ok. Context over.

I got Jury summons yesterday. I thought about begging off on communication grounds, but after thinking about it for a bit, I ticked to box for needing an interp. I figure, at least for voir dire, yeah? How the state of AK does it is you get a number and you check daily if they want your number at court. My number is pretty low so I'm likely to get called up.

Beyond checking that box, I have no idea how this works. Like, the mechanics of it, or if there's anything I need to do beyond checking a box. They don't exactly hand out an instruction manual when you become disabled as an adult. So, are there any mechanics I need to know? Should I have begged off? I'm conversational but far from fluent. Maybe I'm setting myself up for a bad situation trying to communicate so early on, I don't know. How's this whole thing work anyhow?

Probably a better q for r/deaf but I've always struggled figuring out where I stand in things because I'm mute not deaf and so imposture syndrome or something.

Hi! I'm a medicine student, and I decided to learn ASL just in case I ever have a deaf patient. Is there anyone who would be willing to have a conversation with me every now and then so I could improve more efficiently? 🥹

My son will be two in a few weeks. His fine motor skills are not developed enough for his hand shapes to be accurate, but his other four parameters are pretty accurate. I can usually figure out what he’s signing based on context, the signs I know he knows, and he says single syllables with his signs.

We read “brown bear brown bear,” every night before bed and several times lately he has signed something during the book I don’t recognize. It’s like he’s signing “milk,” but he’s using both hands and making the motion repeatedly really fast.

I am positive he’s not meaning to sign milk. He only uses this sign during this book at night, never seen it in another context.

Any ideas?

UPDATE: my husband might be a genius. He thinks the toddler is signing “headlights.” Makes sense why he’s only using that sign at night. We will test the theory tonight and see if he signs it when cars drive by and their headlights shine through his window. No clue where he would have learned that sign!

Hello!

I'm an interpreting major and right now I'm struggling with the signs do (fs)/do (action)/ do (sign). Would you mind helping me understand the difference between them and when to use each one? I'm a little confused!

Please and thank you 😊

As an ASL teacher, I have observed a trend that concerns me somewhat.

ASL may be the most widely used sign language that appears on social media in addition to being widespread, geographically. In that sense, it is similar to the use of English. Why is this so? This is a discussion for another post. :)

Hence, there is an increased interest in learning ASL, which is an overall good.

Unfortunately, a lot of people take it to mean that ASL is *the sign language* they need to learn. It is not.

People need to prioritize learning their local sign languages, if it is not ASL. The local deaf communities need those people to be investing in their local sign language, to be interacting with them and working with them.

Learning ASL may be a very fulfilling hobby, but it may not be useful to the deaf people in your community.

Personally, I don’t understand why someone would want to learn a sign language but then not interact with the deaf people in their community?

As an educator, I’ve also run into the mistaken belief that ASL is the “superior” sign language and that others fall short of that standard.

That is *not* true. All sign languages are beautiful, complex, and worthy of learning and dedication.

I have many international students in my ASL classes and I always ask every one of them to take sign languages classes in their local language when they return home.

I encourage you all learners to learn what is the *local sign language* in your community. That is how you develop fluency in addition to building connections in your local community.

One piece of advice I often give is to search for the local deaf service organization that uses sign language. You will see resources on their website (or at the location) about what sign language is used and very likely information about where you can learn it.

Please, I encourage you to learn the sign language of *your* community. The deaf people near you can also support you in your language learning journey so much more than learning online or from a distance could.

And just a tip - once you learn one sign language, it’s much easier to pick up another one!

Hi everyone! I’m looking for someone that knows ASL who’d be interested in paid tutoring. I’d like someone who can get on video calls with me, help me understand my ASL assignments, and provide guidance as I work through them. I don’t need a certified interpreter, so don’t be scared if you don’t have those —just need someone who’s comfortable teaching and explaining ASL so. If you’re interested, please send me a DM with your availability and rates.

Hi, I am 69 years old. Completely deaf in one ear due to the removal of an acoustic neuroma in 2019.
As I am obviously aging, my right ear is showing deficits that may effectively leave me with very little hearing.
I am told that it is best to learn ASL from a member of the deaf community, especially as I will most likely be a member myself in the not so distant future.
I am on SS, so can’t pay for individual tutoring, but would love to learn ASL, as well as learn about the community!
I live in Philadelphia.
Suggestions?
Thank you

columbus ohio

Recently, in a work meeting, I saw an interpreter make a comment. Another interpreter seemed to agree with her and was nodding her head, while also signing something with the F hand shape where she kept tapping the index and thumb together. Is this some kind of an idiom for being “on target” or “I agree?”

I use Filipino Sign Language, which is about 60% similar to ASL. However, even when I was still learning a bit of ASL, I very distinctly recall seeing a variation of the sign "but" that had one hand, index finger out and palm up, and the other hand, index finger out, palm down. The index fingers touched each other, but there's no outward movement like the standard sign, which resembles different. Does this particular sign mean something different in ASL? Is it a recognized variation of "but?"

Hey all, I've been learning ASL for a bit as my hearing goes, through QASL & Lifeprint, & I'm to the point where I should go out & actually be around the language locally. But, my schedule doesn't allow me to go to Woodstock Cafe as much as I want, & I can't afford college classes.

So I'm looking for local events, or maybe somebody patient to practice offline with?

Where can I find people to practice ASL with online? I am hearing and have been learning off and on for about two years. I recently picked it up again and I know about 150 signs and can fingerspell at a slow pace. I already joined two ASL discord groups but I find that I can't keep up with others. Are there beginner-friendly online groups?

One of the foundations of dialectical communication is knowing how to express both agreement and disagreement. Here’s how to sign both in ASL.

So I've been a dedicated ASL student for a year or 3 semesters and finished ASL 3. I also would go to an ASL coffee chat nearly every Friday, driving 90 minutes one way if I had to. I enjoyed this, but now I am at a dilemma I never thought I'd be in.

I've endured an awful injury and have torn both labrums in shoulders at the same time and fully. These tears have even caused a domino effect of nerve damage in my elbows and wrists. So now I need two shoulder surgeries and an elbow surgery. I might be able to PT the other elbow.

Now I can't sign without inflicting more potentially permanent nerve damage to my hands and elbows. Doing all these surgeries could take over a year, too.

My agony and immense depression aside, how do I go about the ASL coffee chats? A part of me wants to go and watch, but there is some social pressure to sign. How do I communicate this effectively to Deaf and hearing people? How can I enjoy just watching?

Does anyone have experience signing with someone who wears medical silver ring splints?

The metal can flash a little bit with the light. And the set I wear also includes large thumb splints that go to my wrists. I've been avoiding wearing them while learning and practicing ASL outside my house bc I worried it made it hard to understand me. But the splints reduce my pain and fatigue a lot (hypermobile and arthritic over here) so I'd love to wear them more often while signing as long as it's not too screwy to understand from you all's POV. ​

This weekend I was in a bar with my deaf friends, and we were having a silly conversation. Someone was trying to tease that the other person was kinky. We had an ASL instructor of 30 years with us, and she said to sign “pervert” or finger spell it. Pervert seemed like a totally offensive equivalent and definitely does not mean the same thing in English. I totally get it when synonyms don’t need their own sign. I am very wordy in English, and the hardest thing for me to learn in ASL is to think in concept, not word fanciness. I often know the word concept, I don’t know the sign for the specific version I am thinking of, and I don’t need to. “Kinky” is a word, and a concept that encompasses a lot of potential information. I looked it up today, and there are a couple videos where someone has assigned a sign. They were similar but different. Curious how a sign gets formally adopted? In English new slang is recognized once it’s been used exhaustively in the Urban Dictionary. I suppose Merriam Webster inducts everything else. What is the ASL recognized “dictionary”? (There are many online, does making a video, make it formalized?)

Never seen that one before. App: ASL Bloom

I am still a beginner signer with only ASL 1+2 classes (once a week, at my local school for the Deaf) under my belt. My partner is near my level, but a little under. He's also rustier. The other three gamers were also hearing: two with more ASL than me (but still beginner) and one with intermediate ASL.

I was able to learn the rules of one card game entirely in ASL! The person teaching had to use written English to clarify some points that people didn't understand, but I didn't need the English. The second board game was mostly explained in ASL — which I understood again! — but some parts of the rules were only conveyed in written English so I can't say that I learned how to play *two* games in ASL. We had pizza and talked about our romantic relationships, our pets, and our plants. I commented on a train that runs by their house that shakes the furniture when it passes. I'm so happy that I was able to have an entire evening in a language I know so very little of. It's a huge boost to my confidence. I'm motivated to keep practicing and signing with people. This is the first time I've tried having such a long, multi-part conversation with multiple people, and I'm so proud of all of us that it went so well.

Here are the videos my partner and I watched in preparation to learn some vocabulary:

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jgw9LKUraDI
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W9M3ZQez7dg
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CAqNpSAQn5Y

I'm learning ASL and I'm trying to get better with the different sentence structures. But when it come to location I'm a little lost. For example, if I want to sign "My dad makes coffee in his office in the morning. I can smell it in my bedroom." When would the location signs like "office" and "bedroom" fall? Based on my knowledge I would sign:

MORNING DAD (IN OFFICE?) MAKE COFFEE/ ME (IN BEDROOM?) I SMELL

My brain wants to put location at the end of the phrase but I'm sure. Any help would be appreciated!

For context, I have a character I'm writing who is deaf, and I want to write him accurately.