<html><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html charset=us-ascii"></head><body style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space;" class="">SignWriting List<div class="">March 30, 2016</div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">Hello Stefan!</div><div class="">Thank you for this question and for reading the transcript of the interviews with Patty Duke and William Schallert from 1985. I agree it would be great to place the old 1985 video "Learn Signing with SignWriting" on our SignWriting YouTube Channel. My memory is that it was hard to convert it from the old 1985 VHS and 1 inch tapes, into our modern digital formats and I had trouble doing it well...I may have to hire someone to help me with the conversion. Also the old video had Bernard Bragg (a famous Deaf actor) in it, which was fun and we grabbed that segment (with professional help) and inserted it inside another video on our SignWriting YouTube channel, called "Deaf Perspectives on SignWriting, Video 2: How SignWriting Changed", and in that clip Bernard and I show the old way that SignWriting used to be written, Receptive and with full stick figures. So the old 1985 video never got completely converted to the digital formats of today. That was why I put the transcript of my interviews with Bill and Patty up on the web. For those interested, here is the transcript pasted below...</div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">And yes, Stefan, to answer your question...in the first photo...Bill is starting the sign for HAPPY, I am finishing the sign for MEET and Patty is pointing YOU ;-)</div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">Interviews with Patty Duke and William (Bill) Schallert</div><div class=""><div class=""><a href="http://www.signwriting.org/forums/sponsors/help005.html" class="">http://www.signwriting.org/forums/sponsors/help005.html</a></div></div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class=""><table width="535" border="2" align="center" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="4" bordercolor="#6699FF" bgcolor="#FFFFFF" class=""><tbody class=""><tr class=""><td width="523" valign="top" bordercolor="#99CCCC" bgcolor="#FFFFFF" class=""><div align="center" class=""><table width="500" height="4134" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="2" class=""><tbody class=""><tr class=""><td width="100%" valign="top" class=""><p align="center" style="font-family: -webkit-standard;" class="">Supporters of the<br class=""><a href="http://www.signwriting.org/forums/sponsors/help006.html" target="_self" class="">SignWriting Literacy Project</a></p><div style="font-family: -webkit-standard;" class=""><br class="webkit-block-placeholder"></div><center style="font-family: -webkit-standard;" class=""><br class=""><b class=""><font size="+1" class="">Interviews with Patty Duke & William Schallert<br class=""></font></b>Common Questions About Deafness, Sign Language & SignWriting </center><div style="font-family: -webkit-standard;" class=""><br class="webkit-block-placeholder"></div><div style="font-family: -webkit-standard;" class=""><br class="webkit-block-placeholder"></div><center style="font-family: -webkit-standard;" class=""><b class=""><img width="409" height="288" align="BOTTOM" border="1" naturalsizeflag="3" apple-inline="yes" id="A498CDF9-8E5A-4DF0-96FE-AE7C33000664" apple-width="yes" apple-height="yes" src="cid:A5505116-A6BC-4036-8779-F5E53DB78F1A" class=""></b></center><div style="font-family: -webkit-standard;" class=""><br class="webkit-block-placeholder"></div><div style="font-family: -webkit-standard;" class=""><br class="webkit-block-placeholder"></div><center style="font-family: -webkit-standard;" class=""><font size="-1" class="">1985: On the set of the video"Learn Signing With SignWriting".<br class="">Left,William Schallert, center Valerie Sutton, right Patty Duke.<br class=""></font></center><div style="font-family: -webkit-standard;" class=""><br class="webkit-block-placeholder"></div><blockquote style="font-family: -webkit-standard;" class=""><p class=""><b class="">Introduction:</b> In 1985, actors Patty Duke & William (Bill) Schallert contributed their time by making a video in support of SignWriting. Patty Duke, who is well-known for her Broadway role as Helen Keller in the play, <b class="">The Miracle Worker</b>, and who has been a supporter of Deaf education ever since, generously opened her home to the camera and crew so that portions of the video could be filmed in her living room!</p><p class="">Patty Duke and William Schallert acted together in the Patty Duke Show, which aired on American television for years. Bill was Patty's father on the show. Bill became a Board Member of the nonprofit organization that sponsors SignWriting, the <a href="http://www.signwriting.org/forums/sponsors/help001.html" target="_self" class="">Center For Sutton Movement Writing</a>, in 1982.</p><div class=""><br class="webkit-block-placeholder"></div><hr align="LEFT" class=""><br class=""><div class=""><br class="webkit-block-placeholder"></div><p class=""><font color="#007f00" class="">Patty Duke & Valerie Sutton</font><b class=""><font color="#007f00" size="+1" class=""><br class="">Video Interview, 1985<br class=""><br class=""></font><font color="#007f00" class="">Patty:</font><font color="#007f00" size="+1" class=""> </font></b>Now Valerie...Sign Language is so expressive. It uses body movement. Now...as I understand it...your invention writes body movement?<br class=""><br class=""><b class=""><font color="#007f00" class="">Valerie:</font><font color="#007f00" size="+1" class=""> </font></b>Yes. That's right. It provides a "movement alphabet". SignWriting can write any signed language in the world.</p><p class=""><b class=""><font color="#007f00" class="">Patty:</font><font color="#007f00" size="+1" class=""> </font></b>There is more than one Sign Language?</p><p class=""><b class=""><font color="#007f00" class="">Valerie:</font><font color="#007f00" size="+1" class=""> </font></b>Yes. Lots of people don't realize that, but actually each country has its own signed language, in fact some countries have more than one. Each signed language developed naturally, just like spoken languages did.</p><div class=""><br class="webkit-block-placeholder"></div><center class=""><b class=""><img width="338" height="219" align="BOTTOM" border="1" naturalsizeflag="3" apple-inline="yes" id="AC95AAB6-9D7F-408C-A044-B270B518720B" apple-width="yes" apple-height="yes" src="cid:D59EF10C-2536-4F32-9C63-4ED351491565" class=""><br class=""><br class=""></b><font size="-1" class="">1985: At a fund raising event in Los Angeles.<br class="">Left, Patty Duke, center Valerie Sutton, right Patty's son Sean.<br class="">In the back, left John Astin and right, William Schallert.</font></center><div class=""><br class="webkit-block-placeholder"></div><p class=""><b class=""><font color="#007f00" class=""><br class="">Patty:</font><font color="#007f00" size="+1" class=""> </font></b>Well...a lot of us were under the impression that there is only one Sign Language and that it is international!</p><p class=""><b class=""><font color="#007f00" class="">Valerie:</font><font color="#007f00" size="+1" class=""> </font></b>A lot of people think that, but actually each Sign Language is unique with its own grammar, its own vocabulary, and its own folklore. Let me give you an example...The sign for "<b class="">interpret</b>" in Denmark, means to "<b class="">cook</b>" in the United States. So you can see that the same movements can have entirely different meanings in different countries.</p><p class=""><b class=""><font color="#007f00" class="">Patty:</font><font color="#007f00" size="+1" class=""> </font></b>So...if Sign Language isn't international, then what is?</p><p class=""><b class=""><font color="#007f00" class="">Valerie:</font><font color="#007f00" size="+1" class=""> </font></b>Well...some alphabets are international. The same abc's that we use to write English are also used to write Danish. And the same SignWriting symbols we use to write signs in the United States are also used to write signs in Denmark.</p><p class=""><b class=""><font color="#007f00" class="">Patty:</font><font color="#007f00" size="+1" class=""> </font></b>So...Sign Languages are not international, but the SignWriting symbols are.</p><p class=""><b class=""><font color="#007f00" class="">Valerie:</font><font color="#007f00" size="+1" class=""> </font></b>Exactly!</p><p class=""><b class=""><font color="#007f00" class="">Patty:</font><font color="#007f00" size="+1" class=""> </font></b>Do people ever ask you "Why Sign Language?" "Why not just use English?"</p><p class=""><b class=""><font color="#007f00" class="">Valerie:</font><font color="#007f00" size="+1" class=""> </font></b>Yes. Hearing people do ask that question, but that's because they don't realize that some Deaf people are born into Deaf families and those Deaf families use Sign Language as their first native language. English is a second language for them, and imagine trying to learn your second language and you can't even hear it!</p><p class=""><b class=""><font color="#007f00" class="">Patty:</font><font color="#007f00" size="+1" class=""> </font></b>So lip reading is probably not all that effective for everyone?</p><p class=""><b class=""><font color="#007f00" class="">Valerie:</font><font color="#007f00" size="+1" class=""> </font></b>No. Not for everybody. Some researchers say that lip reading only gives about 30% understanding. That would mean around 70% of the words are guessed at. Now, for hearing people who become deaf later in their lives, they of course, tend to learn to lip read, mainly because they already know English and they never had another language before they became deaf...and they don't know Sign Language. But for Deaf children, there are different trends in education. One of those trends is called Total Communication, which uses every tool and technique to help Deaf children learn to communicate.</p></blockquote><div style="font-family: -webkit-standard;" class=""><br class="webkit-block-placeholder"></div><center style="font-family: -webkit-standard;" class=""><b class=""><img width="326" height="209" align="BOTTOM" border="1" naturalsizeflag="3" apple-inline="yes" id="73135C68-024D-4266-A57A-F2A629B28E1F" apple-width="yes" apple-height="yes" src="cid:2F62817D-241F-4718-B747-97A145127B09" class=""><br class=""><br class=""></b><font size="-1" class="">Back row left, actor John Astin, from the Adams Family TV Show.<br class="">Back row right, William Schallert.<br class="">Front row left, Patty Duke and right, Valerie Sutton.</font></center><div style="font-family: -webkit-standard;" class=""><br class="webkit-block-placeholder"></div><div style="font-family: -webkit-standard;" class=""><br class="webkit-block-placeholder"></div><center style="font-family: -webkit-standard;" class=""> </center><div style="font-family: -webkit-standard;" class=""><br class="webkit-block-placeholder"></div><blockquote style="font-family: -webkit-standard;" class=""><p class=""><font color="#007f00" class="">William Schallert & Valerie Sutton</font><b class=""><font color="#007f00" size="+1" class=""><br class="">Video Interview, 1985</font></b></p><p class=""><b class=""><font color="#007f00" class="">Bill:</font><font color="#007f00" size="+1" class=""> </font></b>Valerie...the question is often asked..."If people can see, why can't they read?"<br class=""><br class=""><b class=""><font color="#007f00" class="">Valerie:</font><font color="#007f00" size="+1" class=""> </font></b>Just because you can see, doesn't mean you can automatically read a language. For example, just because you can see Russian or Japanese, doesn't mean you know how to read that!</p><p class=""><b class=""><font color="#007f00" class="">Bill:</font><font color="#007f00" size="+1" class=""> </font></b>I'll say!</p><p class=""><b class=""><font color="#007f00" class="">Valerie:</font><font color="#007f00" size="+1" class=""> </font></b>I can see Arabic but I don't know how to read Arabic!</p><p class=""><b class=""><font color="#007f00" class="">Bill:</font><font color="#007f00" size="+1" class=""> </font></b>Sure. And neither do I. So in other words, you have to know a language in order to read it.</p><p class=""><b class=""><font color="#007f00" class="">Valerie:</font><font color="#007f00" size="+1" class=""> </font></b>That's right. And it helps to be able to hear a spoken language to be able to speak it. For example, hearing babies come home from the hospital and their hearing parents speak to them in the crib. And those hearing parents help that child learn how to speak, so by the time the child is 6 years old and goes to school, the child can speak English, and then simply learns how to sound out words like "c o m e" and "b o y", so they can then read a language they already know how to speak.</p><p class=""><b class=""><font color="#007f00" class="">Bill:</font><font color="#007f00" size="+1" class=""> </font></b>So the child has heard the language and learned it that way, but a Deaf child doesn't have that opportunity.</p><p class=""><b class=""><font color="#007f00" class="">Valerie:</font><font color="#007f00" size="+1" class=""> </font></b>That's right. It is a little like being born into a glass cage, if you are born deaf. There you are, in your glass cage, with people "mouthing" at you outside, and you can't hear what they are saying and you don't necessarily know English.</p><p class=""><b class=""><font color="#007f00" class="">Bill:</font><font color="#007f00" size="+1" class=""> </font></b>No. So how does a deaf child learn a language?</p><p class=""><b class=""><font color="#007f00" class="">Valerie:</font><font color="#007f00" size="+1" class=""> </font></b>Well, of course circumstances are different within every family. But in the case of a Deaf child born into a Deaf family, the child is brought home from the hospital, and the child is "signed to" instead of "spoken to", as in the hearng family. That happens when Deaf children are born into native signing families - those are Deaf families that use Sign Language. And they have normal language development because they learn signs at the same rate, or even faster than a hearing child would learn words. They claim there are about 2 million American people who use Sign Language on a daily basis.</p><p class=""><b class=""><font color="#007f00" class="">Bill:</font><font color="#007f00" size="+1" class=""> </font></b>Is there more than one kind of Sign Language in America?</p><p class=""><b class=""><font color="#007f00" class="">Valerie:</font><font color="#007f00" size="+1" class=""> </font></b>Yes. There are several kinds. There is American Sign Language, or ASL, that has a separate grammar and structure from English. And then some people sign in English word order. Signed English is one of those systems.</p><p class=""><b class=""><font color="#007f00" class="">Bill:</font><font color="#007f00" size="+1" class=""> </font></b>And that is in a different order than in ASL. Is there anything else?</p><p class=""><b class=""><font color="#007f00" class="">Valerie:</font><font color="#007f00" size="+1" class=""> </font></b>Yes. There is also PSE, which stands for Pidgen Sign English. It is a Pidgen, where the grammars of ASL and English are blended.</p><p class="">...and the video continues...</p></blockquote><div style="font-family: -webkit-standard;" class=""><br class="webkit-block-placeholder"></div><center style="font-family: -webkit-standard;" class=""><font size="-1" class=""><img width="249" height="180" align="BOTTOM" border="1" naturalsizeflag="3" apple-inline="yes" id="84D138A7-D84F-43DE-9496-B19D3D05C3C1" apple-width="yes" apple-height="yes" src="cid:FE429593-BE02-4839-892C-58D5A00D856C" class=""><br class=""><br class="">Bill and Patty wave goodbye at the end of the video!</font></center><div style="font-family: -webkit-standard;" class=""><br class="webkit-block-placeholder"></div><div style="font-family: -webkit-standard;" class=""><br class="webkit-block-placeholder"></div><center style="font-family: -webkit-standard;" class=""><br class="">For more information, write to:<br class=""><b class=""><a href="mailto:DAC@SignWriting.org" target="_self" class="">DAC@SignWriting.org</a></b></center><div style="font-family: -webkit-standard;" class=""><br class="webkit-block-placeholder"></div><div style="font-family: -webkit-standard;" class=""><br class="webkit-block-placeholder"></div><br class="Apple-interchange-newline"></td></tr></tbody></table></div></td></tr></tbody></table><div class=""><br class=""></div></div></body></html>________________________________________________
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