Deaf opposition to SW

[Valerie Sutton]

SignWriting List
July 20, 2005

On Jul 20, 2005, at 10:42 AM, Adam Frost wrote:
I have actually done a research on this topic for a paper in school.  
I found that most Deaf didn't like the idea of SW not mainly because  
they feel that it can't capture the full aspect of the language  
(although it is a strong argument that some have), but that SW would  
cause hearing people to have a lessened view of ASL as a language,  
and it would also separate Deaf from hearing people even more. I  
personally don't agree with any of that (of course, or I wouldn't be  
here now would I. LOL!)
-----------------

Adam and Everyone -

They are talking out of ignorance, Adam! I believe it is a weak  
argument. They obviously have not tried to learn SignWriting, and  
they are against the new idea, without really learning it first. We  
can write sooo much detail and capture the nuances of ASL far more  
than either the IPA or written English captures spoken English...and  
we are not hurting ASL to write it, only enhancing it...

The only criticism that I care about, are from those people who  
really have taken the time to learn and use SignWriting - your  
opinions matter because you know what you are talking about...but  
anyone can criticize something they do not know, to avoid having to  
take the trouble of learning it...There are still people who talk  
against using computers, afterall, and it has been decades since  
computers have come into everyday life here -

And I know some smokers, who still argue there is no proof that it  
can hurt your health...so some people do not like change and they are  
afraid of it...

An article to read about this issue...

http://signwriting.org/about/questions/quest021.html


Val ;-)