[sw-l] left-handed or right-handed?

Valerie Sutton sutton at SIGNWRITING.ORG
Mon Dec 6 17:21:47 UTC 2004


SignWriting List
December 6, 2004

Sandy Fleming wrote:
> Still hoping someone will notice that I've provided a solution which
> addresses all these issues...!

Hello Sandy and Everyone!
I am very sorry that I have not given your idea full focus, Sandy. I
really do appreciate all your ideas! And I am looking forward to seeing
your new web pages too...Once I finish the Belgian web pages, I have
around four message threads on the List that never got finished...

Ingvild Roald's question about palm facing
video transcription
spelling issues
IMWA...
new BSL web pages ;-))

plus I guess I need to study SMWL as well...smile...so I will get to it
when I can...meanwhile I can quickly give you all feedback on this
issue of right and left...

It all depends on if the dictionary entries are going to be used to
create sentences, in email, and text....and for translations...

If that is the case, then it is almost impossible to exclude the left
handed signing because there will be times when we want to discuss the
left handed signing, while signing right handed...

But if the dictionary is not being used to create sentences, then of
course cold, rock-solid entries into a dictionary can be just right
handed...but once again, it is not for me to force that idea on
anyone...because I have learned that some left-handed Deaf people are
really angry and hurt that they cannot write the way they sign...so who
am I to tell them how to do their dictionaries?...SignWriting itself is
flexible and technically can write anything...so I have no choice but
to leave the policies to each country and each project, as to how they
feel about these issues...

I actually had one Deaf staff member in tears once, over this issue,
because the person was a left handed signer and didn't want to write
right-handed...so you can see I am sensitive because of that
experience...

Val ;-)



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