Research on if ASL should be written

[Valerie Sutton]

SignWriting List
December 14, 2003

Adam Frost wrote:
I have just finished my research that I mentioned a few months ago
about if
ASL should be written or not. I found the results of the Deaf community
rather intresting. (Partly because they were different from my views,
and I
am Deaf!) Once I get that report back from my teacher and format it so
that
I can send it via email, I will do so.

---------

Hello Adam, and SW List members -
Thank you, Adam, for telling us about your research...As you know,
hundreds of people are writing ASL now, on a regular basis, so ASL is
being written, whether those whom you interviewed realize it or not...I
can imagine they were surprised - ha!

So your research is not whether ASL "should be written", but whether
the Deaf Community knows about the fact, that ASL is now being written
by some signers, on a regular basis...

It takes around three times, before a person accepts SignWriting. The
first time they hear of it, they are against it. The second time they
hear of it, they say "maybe...but not for me!" and the third time, they
really try to read it, and as soon as they do that, they usually become
interested...

That has been our experiences...

It is a little like computers...If you ask ten 80-year-old-people, if
they feel computers are necessary...most of them will say "no" because
they never used one in their lifetime...but if you ask the same
question of kids age 15...they will say..."how can there be a world
without computers?"....and of course the 15 year-olds use computers
daily...

So the real reason your Deaf friends never heard or used SignWriting is
because they did not learn it in school..if they had, they would take
it for granted...

Smile...My two cents ;-)

Val ;-)