Hello to all...I'm new to this list...

Sat Jul 23 09:06:51 UTC 2005

Hello Adam,

I found what you said on tactile signing really fascinating.  I am
conducting research on incorporating Sign Writing into mobile phones
specifically for text messaging. I told a friend of mine about the
research I am conducting and he mentioned something akin to what you
have said on devices that can be used by touch and vibration. I just
didn't know that it's already existing. I hope to create an application
that would allow people who know Sign Writing to write 'signs' using
mobile phones. 

Do you have any tips for me? Or maybe some internet links I may find
useful?

Cheers,
Aisha
PS
I am a postgraduate student studying for a MSc in Information Technology
at the University of Nottingham Malaysia campus.

>>> skoreapv83 at fuse.net 07/23/05 12:01 AM >>>
Val & others,

Many thanks for the acknowledgements.

My visual & tactile systems work very well together, so while I was
learning sign visually, every sign went into my tactile memory
simultaneously. I tried reading tactile signs for the first time on
Wednesday, February 26, 2003 @ 7:12PM & was STUNNED by the increase in
clarity. Also, tactile signing is NOT that different from visual
signing; only a few signs must be adjusted so they're easier to feel.
Usually it's the palm orientation parameter that is changed, but
absolutely ANY parameter of a sign may be modified to make it easier to
feel. Unfortunately, no, I do NOT have a video clip. Wished I had made
one when I was with the Deaf-Blind 2 years ago so you could watch how we
signed into each other's hands AND so everyone else I know could see for
themselves why I feel so LOVED by my Deaf-Blind friends.

Yes, I do believe SignWriting will help, because signing gives me a
sense of security, & writing or speaking words takes it right back away.

Yes, a tactile mobile device IS different from a regular one. One
example is a Braille notetaker, because one does NOT look @ it or listen
to it; he/she touches it & feels it. I think a mobile device with a
haptic screen would be able to display embossed SignWriting, but I'm NOT
sure. (FYI: many people are unfamiliar w/the word haptic; it means
tactile but has the extended meaning of describing a person who has a
strong predilection for his/her sense of touch.)

I did NOT believe SignWriting was that easy to program & was NOT
expecting immediate freedom from words by brand new tactile technology
employing SignWriting.

As for the translation issue, I just mentioned that because here in
Cincinnati the ignorance problem is only growing. I would love to see it
happen someday that signers & non-signers can communicate through an
assistive device until your SignWriting takes over & at least America,
if NOT the whole world, does away with spoken language. More & more
people are deeming spoken language unreliable for communication because
the words have several unrelated meanings & competing sounds are getting
louder & louder everywhere.

I definitely plan on staying up-to-date on the research regarding
SignWriting. Maybe I could submit some helpful information to
researchers to speed up the process of making the technology I'm
imagining. 

In the mean time, I'll continue looking for an organization who'd be
willing to buy Braille notetaker for me. Otherwise, I'll have to be out
of communications because my eyes get tired so fast & I have more
trouble speaking & understanding speech than writing words.

Later,

Adam Paul Valerius

-----Original Message-----
    From: "Valerie Sutton"<sutton at signwriting.org>
    Sent: 7/21/05 3:01:12 AM
    To: "sw-l at majordomo.valenciacc.edu"<sw-l at majordomo.valenciacc.edu>
    Cc: "skoreapv83 at fuse.net"<skoreapv83 at fuse.net>
    Subject: Re: [sw-l] Hello to all...I'm new to this list...

    SignWriting List
    July 20, 2005

    Dear Adam!
    Many thanks for this great message below...I am sorry I did not get 

    to answering sooner...I have been very nervous over setting up the  
    videophone to Brussels, Belgium...let us cross our fingers it will  
    work in an hour...We have worked 6 months in planning the
SignWriting  
    Symposium taking place in Brussels in the next two days, so it is  
    very exciting to think of all the people gathering there together  
    right now!

    >
    > My name is Adam Paul Valerius, & I'm from Cincinnati, Ohio, United

    > States.

    Happy to meet you, Adam!

    > I have mostly normal hearing & vision, but I communicate most  
    > comfortably when using tactile signing like the Deaf-Blind use.

    This is so interesting! How did you learn tactile signing? I have  
    very little knowledge of tactile signing...I am sorry about that.
But  
    I have watched some interpreting with Deaf Blind, and from a pure  
    movement point of view, the movement of touching the hands would be 

    written quite differently in SignWriting, than regular signing  
    would...do you have a video clip of tactile signing we could look
at,  
    to see how the movements could be written?

    > I've been fluent in Signed English for 8 1/2 years & fluent in ASL

    > for 4 years.

    Great!

    > Please DON'T mention family because I don't one due to having been

    > abused & neglected as a child & for the first 4 years of adulthood

    > (almost; I'm NOT yet 22).

    I am sorry to hear about this...but I admire your strength! And you 

    are still young...a good life ahead of you...smile...Maybe  
    SignWriting will help, who knows!? If nothing more, it is a creative

    project and it helps me when I am not well...to have something to  
    do...smile...

    > I learned sign in the first place because I have extreme
difficulty  
    > expressing myself verbally (using words). I speak w/the same type 

    > of speech impediment as the Deaf & Deaf-Blind who are able to  
    > speak. Also, knowing sign helps ME equally as much as other  
    > signers. My visual & tactile systems work well together, so I know

    > sign both visually & tactilely. If I lose my visual memory, I'll  
    > still remember sign language because it's still in my tactile  
    > memory, which I can't lose without getting some kind of seriously 

    > debilitating disease or dying.

    Wow...Isn't Sign Language wonderful? Beautiful languages...that is  
    why I love to write them!

    > I joined this list cuz I really like the idea of SignWriting.  
    > SignWriting on a tactile mobile device would really help me.

    Is a tactile mobile device different than other mobile devices? I am

    new to all mobile devices! ;-)

    > I'll NEVER write English again once that technology is available.

    SignWriting is not easy to program and I cannot imagine it being an 

    immediate possibility...Would you be interested in learning how to  
    add signs to our ASL dictionary on the web with software that is  
    already developed? I would be glad to teach you how...Go to:

    ASL SignPuddle
    http://www.SignBank.org/signpuddle/sgn-US

    or you can download other software for SignWriting...go to...

    SignWriting Downloads
    http://www.SignWriting.org/downloads

    > I understand some people may feel uncomfortable with it, but the  
    > courts in the United States insist on writing everything down to  
    > keep records of everything said, done, & ordered. If SignWriting  
    > became widely used in the United States, & mobile devices could  
    > translate between SW & English, no interpreters would be
necessary.  
    > Also, no signers would have to learn English, either, which would 

    > enable physically Deaf & physically Deaf-Blind signers to remain  
    > independent when telecommunicating WITHOUT knowing how to write  
    > English words in a syntax that resembles their signing.

    There are so many aspects to what you say above...It takes a long
and  
    complex answer...SignWriting itself is like an alphabet...the
symbols  
    can be used to write the movements of any signed language. But  
    developing translating programs between two languages is a different

    issue, and a different kind of software...for example, just because 

    we have a way to read and write French and English, does not mean  
    that translation software is so good that we never have to learn the

    other language...translation software does not understand the
grammar  
    of signed languages well enough to eliminate the other language
yet...

    Having said that, have you tried the translation software for  
    SignWriting, using English glosses?

    http://www.SignBank.org/signpuddle/sgn-US/translate.php

    Or send us an email written in SignWriting!

    >
    > I saw what some others said about "mainstream non-signers taking  
    > over ASL". I DON'T believe the mainstream non-signers would take  
    > over ASL. It's already a worldwide language with thousands of  
    > dialects anyway, so how could they do more than just make their
own  
    > written dialect, just like they already have their own signed
dialect?

    I am so busy that I didn't even see that comment about  
    mainstreaming...but I agree with you that there is nothing to worry 

    about...languages change continually anyway...English is constantly 

    changing too, so if ASL is influenced by this or that, that does not

    make it a bad language...it makes it a normal language! meanwhile we

    can write it, no matter what the dialect, and that is all that  
    matters to me -

    >
    > Deaf people already know the difference between the way they sign 

    > ASL & the way a hearing person signs it. That difference in
dialect  
    > is all I could think of that hearing people would do to it.

    Sure. You are absolutely correct!

    >
    > Whatever y'all do, please DON'T express any anger towards me. In  
    > Cincinnati, I seem to be the only person out of 740,000 people who

    > is smart, gentle, & emotionally stable. EVERYONE else seems to
LOVE  
    > aggression, irritability, & ignorance.

    Grin! I would never be angry at anyone...so that will not happen.
Our  
    SignWriting List is about learning SignWriting. I can tell you are  
    very very smart and I look forward to writing some ASL with you!

    > I probably am developing sensorineural Deaf-Blindness cuz I had  
    > surgery 4 years ago to correct a brain malformation I was born  
    > with. I just haven't been to the neurologist yet. I've been  
    > misdiagnosed with several mental illnesses & developmental  
    > disabilties for my whole life due to emotional extremes resulting 

    > from others' refusal to meet my communication needs.

    I am sorry to hear this, Adam, but it is great you have joined the  
    List and I think we all are communicating just fine together! So
now,  
    what sign in ASL would you like to write? I can show you how to add 

    it to the online ASL dictionary...smile...

    > Later,
    >
    > Adam Paul Valerius

    We have two Adams who know ASL on the List now...Adam Frost and Adam

    Valerius...very nice!

    Val ;-)

    .