How long does it take to learn?

[Valerie Sutton]

SignWriting List
December 15, 2006

Jason Hopkins wrote:
> Does anyone leave coworkers notes in SW?  Look around your  
> computer, on a bulletin board or on your fridge, do you have notes  
> to yourself or others in SW?  I'd really like to know how the deaf  
> Deaf are using SW on a daily basis.

I have seen six-year olds who know how to sign already, reading  
SignWriting within a half hour...of course that is not learning in  
depth, but reading is easier in SignWriting than learning how to read  
English for hearing people...

Have you seen this cool notepad designed by two of our SW Listers,  
Stuart Thiessen and Philippe Galant? It encourages Deaf people to  
write notes...it got great interest at the NAD conference last summer...

There are thousands of people who use SignWriting daily, Jason, but  
the problem is, we have never taken a census...why would a Deaf  
person care to tell us if they are using it or not anyway? what  
matters is that is works for them...

a survey or a census has to be left to the politicians or  
researchers, as you say...

But that is also why Stuart and Philippe would like to focus more on  
handwriting now, and so do others on our List...I know Kim and Stefan  
too, have obviously been interested...everyone is really...Kim does a  
lot of handwriting, as we have seen!

yes, I know of Deaf people writing notes to each other in  
SignWriting, but I have no statistics for you, I am sorry - but it  
does happen and we really do have a writing system... by hand or by  
computer...Val ;-)


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