Gallaudet & TISLR

[Adam Frost]

It was a nice surprise to see you too, Shane. Hmm, I wouldn't mind seeing if we could get something going. I have gotten some positive responses about SignWriting in my department, so it might be possible. ;-)

Adam

On Oct 8, 2010, at 8:28 AM, "Shane K. Gilchrist" <shane.gilchrist at GMAIL.COM> wrote:

> Hi everyone,
> 
> sorry for the silence here - im on the plane to London after my 3 weeks stay in the States. I have enjoyed myself very much there.
> 
> Want to talk about two things here:
> 
> 1. Adam Frost at Gallaudet
> To my surprise, I found myself sitting beside Adam Frost in one of the linguistics classes at Gallaudet - I didnt expect him to be there (I didnt know he was doing his MA at Gallaudet - maybe he did say something abt it on SW-L but I didnt follow SW-L until a few weeks ago :-( I have really enjoyed getting to know him and hes a cool guy - quite smart for sure :-)
> 
> I was wondering maybe Adam can set up an informal class after Xmas at Gally to teach signwriting and I could talk to Gaurav one of the assistant professors in the Linguistics department to see if they can set up a course module (creditable) next year to teach SW there - but they might not buy the idea.
> 
> 2. TISLR Conference
> As many of you know, TISLR is THE conference for sign linguists and researchers so it was natural that I had to be there - 400 were registered to attend but most did come - got to meet many big names and made new friends etc. There were a lot of SW supporters, especially the Belgians but unfortunately there were no talks on signwriting - it has to be addressed (no I didnt submit in time!) but hopefully that ll change at the next TISLR conference - it ll be in London - 2013 - maybe Adam and I can submit a paper together there :-)
> 
> I got to meet Charles Butler - it was really nice seeing him - I introduced him to a few SignWriters there.
> 
> More signwriters there:
> 
> Isabella Heyrecik (sp?)
> Thierry Haesanne
> Danny de Woordt
> Mim Veer-something ;-)
> 
> some more but I forgot their name - either way, we can get a special session on signwriting at TISLR11 as it will be hosted by Bencie Woll who is a supporter of SignWriting :-)
> 
> Shane
> 
> 
> On 3 October 2010 18:17:37 UTC+1, Erika Hoffmann <erhoffma at oberlin.edu> wrote:
> > Wow! I really regret that I was unable to get funding to attend TISLR
> > this year - not only could I have me you and the SignWriting people
> > you mentioned, but I just learned that a Deaf Nepali friend was there!
> > Best,
> > Erika
> >
> > On Sun, Oct 3, 2010 at 12:33 PM, Valerie Sutton <sutton at signwriting.org>
> > wrote:
> >> SignWriting List
> >> October 3, 2010
> >>
> >> Hello Charles and everyone!
> >>
> >> I am sooo glad you enjoyed the TISLR! And that you saw so many people -
> >> terrific! And I am really impressed and happy with the poster presentation
> >> on SignTyp and SignWriting that was presented at TISLR by you and Rachel
> >> Channon from the University of Connecticut. Thank you to you both for your
> >> hard work on that project.
> >>
> >> Yes, typing fingerspelling in vertical columns would be a wonderful
> >> feature in any computer program. The old SignWriter DOS program can only
> >> type fingerspelling from left to right like English...
> >>
> >> Regarding the older program....Anyone is welcome to use SignWriter DOS
> >> right now...just use DOS BOX on either Mac or Windows, and SignWriter DOS
> >> works on modern computers...You can download it for free on the internet.
> >>
> >> Richard Gleaves and I worked hard on the development of SignWriter and
> >> certainly loved the keyboarding we developed together, but there was never
> >> any mouse action in SignWriter - there is literally NO capability to use a
> >> mouse in any SignWriter program, whether it was SignWriter DOS, SignWriter
> >> Java or the old SignWriter for the Apple //e and //c.
> >>
> >> When we switch countries in SignWriter DOS, it is always done through the
> >> keyboard...the entire thing is keyboarded, with NO mouse.
> >>
> >> The reason I do not personally use SignWriter DOS any longer? Because
> >> Lucinda O'Grady Batch and other Deaf people who are members of our Deaf
> >> Action Committee (DAC) requested that we write down in vertical columns, and
> >> that is what we have with SignPuddle software by Steve Slevinski, and with
> >> other programs such as the new SignWriter Studio by Jonathan Duncan, that is
> >> not ready yet but is coming...I know Steve would love to add keyboarding to
> >> SignPuddle someday...it is just a big job to program that, and meanwhile
> >> some people love using a mouse to drag and drop - not everyone loved
> >> keyboarding, by the way...only some people do - I used to get complaints
> >> from some people that they didn't want to learn to type and preferred a
> >> mouse, back before SignPuddle was developed...so since people think and work
> >> differently it would be nice to have BOTH options...
> >>
> >> So what we really need is to combine the old with the new...we need the
> >> keyboarding of SignWriter DOS and Java, with the vertical columns of
> >> SignPuddle - and then we are set - ha!
> >>
> >> Meanwhile, if you want to use SignWriter DOS or Java right now, I can help
> >> you set it up on your computer so you can keyboard again if you prefer...it
> >> doesn't use the up-to-date symbols of course - that is another drawback,
> >> darn it...
> >>
> >> Welcome home, Charles - smile -
> >>
> >> Val ;-)
> >>
> >> ----------
> >>
> >>
> >> On Oct 3, 2010, at 9:10 AM, Charles Butler wrote:
> >>
> >>> TISLR was fantastic, I just wish I had not been so antsy and having to
> >>> get back so early.
> >>>
> >>> Shane Gilchrist
> >>> Ronice Quadros
> >>> Lucinda Batch O-Grady
> >>> Charles Butler
> >>> Eyasu Tamene
> >>>
> >>> These were the people I recognized immediately by face from on line. It
> >>> was so good to be among so many people that are using sign writing even in
> >>> the face of opposition.  I met one professor (name gone) whose doctoral
> >>> student is doing a project on keyboarding SignWriting, which I really
> >>> believe would be a good thing.  I used the SignWriter program in Brazil.
> >>>
> >>>
> >>> There were so many things that one could do on the old SignWriter program
> >>> that are awkward to do at best.
> >>>
> >>> Fingerspelling is one, you can't simply TYPE and get fingerspelling, you
> >>> have to look up each sign individually.  The old interface was better as you
> >>> could learn to type a sign in at speed without thinking.  A mouse you have
> >>> to look for everything all the time.
> >>>
> >>> We need to really look at all the developments that are happening in
> >>> processing and find our way back in new computer languages to our old
> >>> capabilities.
> >>>
> >>> Before, with a swipe of a mouse I could change from English to ASL (or
> >>> other language) fingerspelling, substitute vocabulary in English sentence
> >>> phrase by phrase and eventually end with an ASL sentence in proper
> >>> grammatical order.
> >>>
> >>> Can't do that on the computer anymore, everything is mouse-mouse-mouse,
> >>> and no interaction between two writing systems.  We do it in space, and on
> >>> paper, we need to be able to do the same thing on computer.
> >>>
> >>> Charles
> >>>
> >>>
> >>> From: Shane K. Gilchrist <shane.gilchrist at GMAIL.COM>
> >>> To: SW-L at LISTSERV.VALENCIACC.EDU
> >>> Sent: Mon, September 27, 2010 1:40:16 AM
> >>> Subject: Re: SignWorkshop OASLTA
> >>>
> >>> Don't worry Charles
> >>>
> >>> I used to be one of the skeptics until Belgium's Kathleen & Sara
> >>> discreetly introduced me to SW.
> >>>
> >>> The rest is history.
> >>>
> >>> Sent from my iPad
> >>>
> >>> On 26 Sep 2010, at 20:45, "Valerie Sutton" <sutton at SIGNWRITING.ORG>
> >>> wrote:
> >>>
> >>> > SignWriting List
> >>> > September 26, 2010
> >>> >
> >>> > Hello Charles!
> >>> >
> >>> > First of all, a big hug from me, and a big THANK YOU for being so brave
> >>> > to present at any conference - It takes courage to present in front of a
> >>> > skeptical audience (if that was what they were...they may not have been)...
> >>> >
> >>> > I am sure you did an excellent job and please do not be hard on
> >>> > yourself...
> >>> >
> >>> > All presentations help SignWriting, no matter what the reaction,
> >>> > because people become interested later. Even if they express some doubts
> >>> > right now, it is because it is the first time they have heard of it and we
> >>> > all are skeptical about new ideas - but then later, they hear about it a
> >>> > second time from someone else, and they remember the discussions with you
> >>> > the first time they heard about it, and they decide to look into it because
> >>> > now their interest has been stimulated a second time -
> >>> >
> >>> > So you have really helped SignWriting no matter what -
> >>> >
> >>> > Thank you for telling us about the presentation so quickly after it
> >>> > happened -
> >>> >
> >>> > And Kelly Jo was there? Wow - that is so great!
> >>> >
> >>> > So is there more time at the conference now? It will give you a chance
> >>> > to talk to some of the people with questions - don't worry, Charles, this
> >>> > was a real blessing -
> >>> >
> >>> > Val ;-)
> >>> >
> >>> > -----
> >>> >
> >>> >
> >>> > On Sep 26, 2010, at 5:33 PM, Charles Butler wrote:
> >>> >
> >>> >> Well, I presented the workshop but I felt that I fell on my face for
> >>> >> the following reasons:
> >>> >>
> >>> >> 1) Too much information, too little time.
> >>> >> 2) Lack of vocabulary, all of the attendees were interpreters AND
> >>> >> teachers of the deaf, and my vocabulary was inadequate to the task.  I
> >>> >> should have asked for help from KJ or another interpreter at the beginning.
> >>> >> 3) I got positive responses from a couple of people, but the most
> >>> >> common one was "how many people IN OHIO are using this system", "why should
> >>> >> MY students have to learn anything else?"  Half of them maybe "got it" but
> >>> >> the others just kept with questions.
> >>> >> 4) I should have simply linked to the website and gone from there as
> >>> >> the website is informative, answers most of the common questions, and I
> >>> >> could have had a Deaf Advocate actually talking to the group.
> >>> >>
> >>> >> Lessons learned, but I feel very small and inadequate right now.
> >>> >>
> >>> >> Charles Butler
> >>> >>
> >>> >>
> >>> >
> >>>
> >>
> >>
> >
> >
> >
> > --
> > Erika Hoffmann-Dilloway
> > Assistant Professor of Anthropology
> > Oberlin College
> >
> >
> 
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