facial expressions

[Valerie Sutton]

SignWriting List
July 8, 2006

Hello Shane -
Thanks for this message...

> we dont need any "the deaf' people's biggest friends" - youre one of
> us :-) - you have done so much for our signed languages by giving us
> the written form.

Wow. Thank you. That is an honor, Shane...I am giving you a big hug  
through cyberspace right now!


> dont worry about ur ASL - there are many deafies whose ASL is worse
> than your ASL - and I was impressed with your ASL - u didnt use the
> wrong signs etc for instance you signed the "mailing list" the right
> way - many deafies wont do it the right way - they would sign it as
> "post-it shopping-list", you know? :-)


Ha! Really? Well sure, if a Deaf person went to an oral school and  
never met other Deaf people who sign...I guess our ASL would be about  
equal...you are right! smile...I have to remember that when I can't  
read someone's fingerspelling - ha!

smile...

The one problem I have is that my reading of fingerspelling is not  
good...the American Deaf fingerspell at very very fast speeds, and  
unfortunately, I still am weak in this area...If I could read  
fingerspelling at speed, I could do voice interpreting...but because  
of that weakness, I would never dare...

I have thought about getting specialized training in reading  
fingerspelling - I know there are videos that teach people like me!  
and I really enjoyed signing in Europe years ago because  
fingerspelling wasn't as prevalent in Danish Sign Language, for  
instance...

But ASL...they fingerspell like lightning...


> Yes, this lady teacher - im not surprised - i did see your signwriting
> years ago but I wasnt convinced by this - until I met Kathleen and
> Sara in Dublin and they gave me their email address in English/Dutch
> and Sign-Writing (I thought Kathleen was deaf, Sara hearing!) - and I
> was puzzled by the sign-writing - and they explained - they caught my
> imagination since then :-)

That's interesting..so you saw SignWriting before but you were  
skeptical at first?

That is quite common. That is why I am so grateful for both the  
Maastricht and ESWS last summer...because both events indirectly  
influenced others in the US...isn't that amazing how interconnected  
we all are now?...

An ASL Deaf teacher was impressed by it, when she realized they used  
SignWriting in Germany...smile...I love that!


> If it wasnt for Kathleen and Sara, ESWO won't be born that day :-)

Wonderful! Isn't that something, when you think about it...

>
> And other things wont happen - for instance, Thierry won't be
> convinced that SW is of some benefits.

YES! That I believe was a direct influence of the First European  
SignWriting Symposium in Brussels, 2005! Congrats, Shane!

smile...

How are things going in Northern Ireland by the way?

Val ;-)