In addition to the possibilities of video, technology for the deaf includes a lot of different ways to send signals, such as flashing and vibrating alarms. Flashing alarms can alert a deaf person to everyday events like someone at the door or a phone ringing, but they also play an important role in safety when it comes to crossing streets or fire alarms. The prevalence of vibration to quietly get the attention of both hearing and deaf individuals is also on the rise and quite useful. You may ponder how deaf individuals are awakened in the morning? Vibrating alarm clocks can be placed under a mattress or pillow!

The deaf community certainly embraces the same technologies that everyone else does as well. Text messages are an easy way to contact friends, as well as using social-networking sites like Facebook or applications like Facetime on the iPhone to share and gather information.

So the next time you are heading out for the day, look at the world with a new perspective and perhaps you will start taking more notice of technologies that exist in your environment and how they might benefit the deaf. Ongoing innovations and technology for the deaf continue to broaden opportunities for the community.  Keep on the alert for what is sure to be a growing list of assistive gadgets in the future!

What better time to learn ASL? Toddlers already gesture in an attempt to be understood, why not apply those natural tendencies to learning American Sign Language? There are many inherent benefits to infants learning ASL. As mentioned, it encourages and strengthens language acquisition, fostering that natural progression toward speech. It provides toddlers with a means to easily express their wants and needs, making communication less frustrating for them. Subsequently, communication between parents can improve as well.

As toddlers utilize a variety of gestures learning American Sign Language, they are building important bridges in the brain, exercising synapses and making connections that can only benefit them in other areas of their learning. So, the next time that little one is refusing his peas, try distracting him with a few new ASL words, and who knows? Perhaps those vegetables will look more appetizing when he realizes how much fun they look via the interesting gestures that populate American Sign Language! Making language acquisition amusing can be a doorway to wonder for young children, enjoy it.

Now, there are some things that improve the success of the lipreader. One significant factor is how familiar the deaf person is with the topic. Another is how well they know the person they are attempting to lip read. With that in mind, if you don’t know ASL it is still better to gesture than assume that talking to a deaf person is sufficient.  This is made worse by the fact that hearing people tend to over exaggerate or talk loud when they are conversing with a deaf or hard of hearing person.

One of the ways that deaf people deal with this situation is to anticipate what people are going to ask or say, keeping in mind the context where the conversation is taking place. For example, if a deaf person were to be pulled over by the police, he or she would predict what the officer was going to ask, such as requesting their driver’s license, vehicle registration and certificate of insurance. Then again, if the officer were to ask something completely random to the situation, like a question about their mother, the deaf person would have difficulty understanding that by lipreading, even with the use of gestures.

Many more examples or explanations could be given, but the main things, as always, is to gain a better understanding of what it is like to be deaf to help inform your interactions with members of the community. Perhaps you might like to try it sometime with a friend by blocking your hearing and seeing if you can repeat back even 10% of what they said?  Chances are your struggle to understand will give you yet one more reason to learn American Sign Language!

There are numerous fields that require the services of a professional ASL interpreter, particularly the major areas of medicine, law, and education.  Although it may seem obvious, hearing individuals do not always consider that deaf people certainly require the same services as any other human being! To that end, it is important that access to a certified interpreter be available to clients at various doctor’s offices to, for example, relay key information about a deaf patient’s health.  This is sensitive, so it is not something that should be trusted to an amateur that has merely dabbled in American Sign Language, but a professional interpreter. The same rules apply for hospital visits when things can be even more immediate or intense and clarity can mean the difference between life and death. Things are no less serious in a court of law or when a deaf client is seeking legal assistance. In addition to K-12 schools, there is also need for interpreters at the university level.

One of the advantages of having the skill of being a certified ASL interpreter is the ability to apply your talents to a number of different situations and environments. In addition to the above, you could also work in a religious setting, interpreting church services and ceremonies, work as a video relay interpreter or even provide sign language assistance for someone requiring mental health support. There is likewise an endless amount of freelance interpreting you can do in any number of different settings, such as the post office, for political events, performances, you name it!

So, if you are a curious person who enjoys a challenge, interacting with people in a wide array of fields, in settings ranging from the most populated and public to more solitary and private, then you may want to consider becoming a certified American Sign Language interpreter. Open up your world and expand your knowledge through ASL!

One significant myth is that ASL is universal. If you stop to think about it, you may see that the obvious clue as to why this is not the case is included in the name itself… AMERICAN Sign Language. It does not always occur to hearing individuals that every country has their own sign language system. For example, the sign for “Kangaroo” may vary in the United States and Australia! Similar to oral histories among the hearing, signs are also sometimes passed from one member of a culture to another without having any written record of the language. A related myth is that all deaf people use sign language. It may surprise you to know that some of the deaf are raised orally, which means that they depend solely on lip-reading and talking to communicate with others.

Apart from how deaf people interact with one another, there are a few other prevalent myths about the lives of deaf people that are worth note. First, there is a widespread misconception that deaf people cannot drive. Not only can they drive, they tend to be safer drivers than hearing people, in part due to their need to be particularly alert since they are unable to rely on the same sound cues others may take for granted. A second fallacy in regards to the deaf culture is a belief that they do not appreciate music. Actually, some deaf people find listening to music and feeling the vibrations an enjoyable pastime.

It is important to avoid these myths if you hope to interact successfully in the deaf community, otherwise you may unintentionally assume certain things and raise the risk of offending someone you are trying to make a connection with. The more you learn about the deaf, sign language, ASL and engage in an online program to broaden your understanding of the culture, the richer and more successful your experiences will be.

Should you take the opportunity to learn ASL through an online program you are opening up an entirely new world for yourself! One of the obvious advantages is that you are developing the valuable skills and knowledge of a second language. A more unique advantage is that you are crossing through a door into a new culture and can make connections that many others do not have access to. You never know when you might meet people who are deaf and the positive outcomes that may result. If you learn to communicate with American Sign Language, you can use those skills to enrich your life through a deeper involvement in deaf culture.

Beyond the personal benefits of broadening your scope of friends and contacts, there are worthwhile professional aspects to consider as well. Perhaps you will decide to pursue a career in sign language as an interpreter or teacher for the deaf? Need a more practical, immediate incentive? ASL is an interesting alternative to the traditional languages offered for meeting the two-year language requirement. Still not convinced? Think about the fact that if you and a friend learn sign language through an online program you could communicate secretly with each other in the middle of a crowded, quiet room and no one would be the wiser (unless they know it too J). Besides, learning American Sign Language is fun! Try it and you will see.

Features of ASLdeafined.com: Video technology – 21^st Century

• Themed Lessons(140 + lessons) – 24/7 (always online)
  • 15 words per lesson
  • 4 retention exercises
  • New lessons added frequently – continuously evolving
• Periodic Quizzes and Reviews
  • Constantly reviewing learned vocabulary and concepts
• Individualized progress chart(students have their own username and password)
  • Every completed activity is scored and recorded
  • Instant feedback from completed activities
  • Excellent for progress monitoring
• Fingerspelling
  • Starts off with 3-letter words and goes to 8-letter words (increase in speed)
  • Detect fingerspelling within an ASL phrase
• Spelling (English – unscramble the word activity)
• ASL grammar lessons
  • ASL to English
  • English to ASL
• Deaf Culture and history
• Story time
  • with comprehension questions
  • Based on learned vocabulary
• Customizable vocabulary bank
  • Over 10,000 words to choose from
• Synonyms with words(ASL is based on concept)
  • One sign could have multiple synonyms (car:  automobile, vehicle, transportation)
• Automatic vocabulary review (based on customized vocabulary bank)
• Customizable favorite pages
  • Favorite lessons
  • Favorite pages
  • Favorite activities
• Alphabet and numbers
• Multiple meaning words(Concept words)
  • Multiple meaning word activity  – checking for comprehension
• ASL syntax / grammar
• Classifiers
  • Samples of how to use classifiers
• Common phrases used in ASL
• Non-manual markers