Hello!!:)

[AspieSis]

Hi, everyone! I am new to this board and want to get to know other fellow Aspies.
I am an adult Aspie who loves learning about the world around me, just not historically! (History is not my forte.) Anyways, I have a huge question if anyone out there could answer in any way.
I had a huge mental breakdown at my job last week and I could've been fired, but was saved by kind managers. After the breakdown, I made a decision that I want to learn and communicate in ASL to my customers who are deaf and have a much harder time than I do, and my 2 co-worker buddies!
I just started picking up the ASL fingerspelling yesterday. I feel like my voice is still present, but with the way I grew up with meltdowns, exploding at home from school with so many sensory issues and teasing, etc. I want to express my self through Sign Language. Like any Aspie, I have a very soft spoken voice, and where I work, I am pressured to use it during the day...I also read that children today who may be autistic use sign language to help them with socially expressing themselves.
I may be late on the boat, but I feel as though I can conquer so many barriers that I still face in my adult life. Did anyone grow up autistic but in a family that excepted them to use their voice?
I love my family, yet it took my parents a while to realize what was going on with me, and my mother of all people; wanted me to grow up not knowing about being autistic. All I knew as a kid, was that I was slow yet very creative. Okay, sorry for the long tangents..
Many thanks!!

 

[Tom]

Hi & Welcome!
I am not familiar with ASL at all, but just wanted to say this does not seem like something it is too late for. We are talking about experimenting, learning skills, etc, and that can continue at any age, if the person is motivated to.

 

[EdR]

Welcome Aspie Sis.

I'm am glad to hear that your managers were kind enough to overlook your meltdown.

Best wishes with sign language.

 

[Rocco]

Welcome aboard

 

[tree]

http://www.aslpro.com/cgi-bin/aslpro/aslpro.cgi

This place has video dictionary.
I like to be able to see the signs in action, not
just a still image/picture of a hand...with stages of the sign, but
static/non-moving.

I used the link above to check out how it worked.
I looked at the sign for CAT.
Click on the word cat in the box at the left.
Then the woman signs it.
You can repeat. See it more than once.

 

[Omega]

Welcome and good luck!

 

[Vinca]

Hi AspieSis and welcome I've often wondered if using sign language would suit me better than talking. Do lets us know your experiences and how you get on with it.

This place has video dictionary.
I like to be able to see the signs in action, not
just a still image/picture of a hand...with stages of the sign, but
static/non-moving.

I used the link above to check out how it worked.
I looked at the sign for CAT.
Click on the word cat in the box at the left.
Then the woman signs it.
You can repeat. See it more than once.

When watching a video of a person signing, like the ones in the link you posted, should the viewer (me) mirror the action of the lady in the video (so my left hand is making a mirror version of her right hand) or should my right hand move as her right hand moves?

 

[tree]

Hi AspieSis and welcome I've often wondered if using sign language would suit me better than talking. Do lets us know your experiences and how you get on with it.



When watching a video of a person signing, like the ones in the link you posted, should the viewer (me) mirror the action of the lady in the video (so my left hand is making a mirror version of her right hand) or should my right hand move as her right hand moves?

Oh...now you are moving into alien land talking to tree about right & left...lol sad lol.*
BUT I can say do the same as she does.
She = right hand. You = right.

*I am aware that I am as likely to use
the opposite word for what I mean, so when
I need to tell a person left or right, I don't use
the word. I use the hand and gesture...that direction.

 

[Progster]

Hi, and welcome to the forum

 

[StephF]

Hi there

 

[grommet]

I majored in ASL (American Sign Language)/ Deaf Culture. I think to communicate effectively you must learn Deaf culture. Using the language without understanding the culture it is based on can lead to poor communication. I really think it's essential.

Most of the time I wish I could sign instead of speak but nobody knows ASL and because I am not Deaf I think it would lead to even more questions for me to answer but still, it's something I think about everyday. I have tried to get the people in my life to learn just a little but they won't. It could help so many autistic people so much. I think it would change my life if I didn't have to speak.

Good luck with your learning and if you can, watch a program called Deaf Mosaic and as many programs made by and for Deaf people. You will learn a lot about Deaf culture and how people who are Deaf actually sign, which is different than how it is in books and instructional videos but, if you learn sign you can still communicate just not as well.

I think it's lovely you have such nice bosses. I wish I had the courage .. maybe one day I will have the courage to start using sign instead of speaking. It's something I may have to do because the stress of making myself speak can be very very difficult.

 

[wyverary]

Welcome! It is so good you have kind and understanding supervisors...I remember those days! Sigh. lol

It sounds like you are trying to get something positive out of your experiences.

Glad to have you here.

wyv

 

[Harpagornis_X]

Welcome to the forum AspieSis. Good question, not so sure with my family at all but thats me for you.