Miss-Delectable
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Cleveland Daily Banner - Do deaf people joke around
At Panera Bread on a recent Saturday, I got to meet some of East Tennessee’s more esteemed speakers of American Sign Language.
It was a wonderful mixture of interpreters, teachers, social workers, students and plain Janes such as me.
When I lost my hearing in a car wreck nearly 20 years ago, I casually learned to read lips but for the past three years I’ve been seriously learning American Sign Language, or ASL. However, compared to those accomplished “signers” in attendance, I’m still a novice.
I know I shouldn’t compare my capabilities to all the experts or to my fellow students at Lee University with their quick, young minds … but, I still do.
Anyway, I dearly loved watching everyone’s facial expressions as their swirling hands danced through whole conversations. It’s such a beautiful language … the fourth-most spoken language in North America.
One gentleman, who inspired us all, was Tommy Lee Bedwell, president of the Tennessee Deaf-Blind Association. Bedwell has acquired all the commutative tools a deaf/blind person needs to be totally independent in earth-walking and the fast world of cyberspace.
I regretted being incapable of signing with him as others did. Why? Well, for one of many reason, I’d like to know if he has an accent or if such a thing exists in the deaf world?
Because I’d like to retain my Southern accent while signing, I’d like to learn how to color coat my hand-words with the warm, honeysuckle voice of the South.
Additionally, I would like to know how to translate spoken jokes into signed jokes. More specifically, how can I share a good Southern yarn in American Sign Language without annihilating the punch line?
I would’ve given Bedwell a simple example: In the South, we say to a pouting child, “Who licked the red off your candy?” But when I sign the same euphemism in ASL, my hands say, “Candy. Licked red. Who?” and the punch fizzles.
Oh well, not to worry about producing laughter, because I’ve noticed that expert “signers” get a kick out of how my signing is progressing … my stubby hands don’t gracefully flow; they look more like a Sumo wrestler attempting pirouettes in Carnegie Hall.
Until I become more proficient in navigating the demonstrative swamp of ASL’s hand gestures, I’m guessing it’ll be a long time before I can effortlessly sign with Southern pride or share a good joke.
I also guess the next time I meet Bedwell he’s going to explain that ASL is like all foreign languages … it’s virtually impossible to maintain the integrity of good ol’ country yarns and sayin’s in the translation.
If he offers that insight, I’m gonna ask, “Well then, how do deaf people joke around with blind people? I want to know because the ‘Joy of the Lord is my strength’ and I love to make people smile … in any language.”
Read more: Cleveland Daily Banner - Do deaf people joke around
At Panera Bread on a recent Saturday, I got to meet some of East Tennessee’s more esteemed speakers of American Sign Language.
It was a wonderful mixture of interpreters, teachers, social workers, students and plain Janes such as me.
When I lost my hearing in a car wreck nearly 20 years ago, I casually learned to read lips but for the past three years I’ve been seriously learning American Sign Language, or ASL. However, compared to those accomplished “signers” in attendance, I’m still a novice.
I know I shouldn’t compare my capabilities to all the experts or to my fellow students at Lee University with their quick, young minds … but, I still do.
Anyway, I dearly loved watching everyone’s facial expressions as their swirling hands danced through whole conversations. It’s such a beautiful language … the fourth-most spoken language in North America.
One gentleman, who inspired us all, was Tommy Lee Bedwell, president of the Tennessee Deaf-Blind Association. Bedwell has acquired all the commutative tools a deaf/blind person needs to be totally independent in earth-walking and the fast world of cyberspace.
I regretted being incapable of signing with him as others did. Why? Well, for one of many reason, I’d like to know if he has an accent or if such a thing exists in the deaf world?
Because I’d like to retain my Southern accent while signing, I’d like to learn how to color coat my hand-words with the warm, honeysuckle voice of the South.
Additionally, I would like to know how to translate spoken jokes into signed jokes. More specifically, how can I share a good Southern yarn in American Sign Language without annihilating the punch line?
I would’ve given Bedwell a simple example: In the South, we say to a pouting child, “Who licked the red off your candy?” But when I sign the same euphemism in ASL, my hands say, “Candy. Licked red. Who?” and the punch fizzles.
Oh well, not to worry about producing laughter, because I’ve noticed that expert “signers” get a kick out of how my signing is progressing … my stubby hands don’t gracefully flow; they look more like a Sumo wrestler attempting pirouettes in Carnegie Hall.
Until I become more proficient in navigating the demonstrative swamp of ASL’s hand gestures, I’m guessing it’ll be a long time before I can effortlessly sign with Southern pride or share a good joke.
I also guess the next time I meet Bedwell he’s going to explain that ASL is like all foreign languages … it’s virtually impossible to maintain the integrity of good ol’ country yarns and sayin’s in the translation.
If he offers that insight, I’m gonna ask, “Well then, how do deaf people joke around with blind people? I want to know because the ‘Joy of the Lord is my strength’ and I love to make people smile … in any language.”
Read more: Cleveland Daily Banner - Do deaf people joke around