Hello from Pennsylvania

DaveyRamone

DaveyRamone

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...or Hello from Pennsyltucky as some say (but that sounds like an insult to Kentucky!)

My name is David. I am 46-year old single male.

First off, I am not deaf or hoh. I am a mental health counselor with an undergrad degree in Behavioral and Addictions Counseling and am now working on my MA in Family Therapy. I am interested in working with the deaf and hoh populations especially in the substance abuse treatment setting. So, I joined this site to help me gain insight to the culture. Secondly, I will begin learning ASL soon so I hope to find some pals so we can practice together. Finally, I am simply interested in making new friends. I am NOT doing research, surveys, questionnaires, etc. but if we live near each other I might ask you to go bowling (I suck...)
:wave:
David
 
Hey David,

Welcome to AllDeaf! The description I've heard (and have noticed why on more than one occasion) is that Pennsylvania is

Pittsburgh on one side
Philadelphia on the other
and Utah in the middle.

Good luck with your ASL studies!
 
amylynne said:
Hey David,

Welcome to AllDeaf! The description I've heard (and have noticed why on more than one occasion) is that Pennsylvania is

Pittsburgh on one side
Philadelphia on the other
and Utah in the middle.

Good luck with your ASL studies!
Click to expand...

Pennsyltah? I haven't heard that one yet! It most definitely is Pittsburgh on one end and Philadelphia on the other end and something else here in the middle… I grew up in Ohio not too far from Pittsburgh, actually. Thanks for the welcome :)
 
Actually alot like the US demographic lays out east to middle to west now that I think of it. Interesting.
 
That's a good observation. I wonder if it follows that states are more liberal around their borders and more conservative in the middle? Fascinating concept! Thanks for engaging my brain this morning :) Are you originally from Pennsylvania?
 
Yeah, grew up less than an hour from here.

Wow, I have no idea about other states. I would bet it depends on locations of larger cities within them. They're usually to the left (politically) of rural areas. Overall, anyway.
 
Yes, very true about the populations in the larger cities. This would make an interesting project… I'm sure that all of the news outlets have some sort of map that already explains this. It's so very like me to come up with a great idea that someone else has been doing for years! Like I said before though, I had never heard Pennsylvania compared to Utah before. I have a friend from Utah and I'm sure she could shed some light onto that for me.

I've seen a lot of websites mentioned for learning ASL. Besides looking for a tutor I would like to utilize some of those resources. Can you recommend one or two? Thanks.

I grew up just outside of Warren, Ohio. That's about 90 minutes to Pittsburgh… Give or take a few minutes depending on traffic, weather, and the number of times I stop for, or due to, coffee.
 
There are the lessons on • ASL • American Sign Language
Once you've learned your fingerspelling alphabet and want to practice reception, you can try Dr. Bill Vicars' American Sign Language (ASL) Fingerspelling Practice Site
And similarly for numbers: American Sign Language ASL,
I mention these last two because it seems to be a common complaint that once you start trying to follow people's signing, catching their fingerspelling and numbers sometimes comes more slowly than the rest of the signing.
 
Fellow Pennsylvanian here ;) I'm from the "Utah" area haha. Welcome!!
 
:eek3: So far so good then :eek3:

I can't remember where I first heard it - lives in my brain now.
 
Ack! I wrote a reply and then i think it disappeared :-( For the purpose of this conversation I am in the "Utah" part of the state, also! I live just west of Allentown but used to live much closer to Philadelphia. Honestly I have trouble connecting with people around here… i have lived mostly in larger cities. My long hair, tattoos, and degree in addictions counseling has me feeling like I'm from another planet! Then again, maybe I am…
 
Oh wow a tribe. I've kind of given up on that. When I meet someone I get along with I'm sort of ecstatic. Happens maybe once every five years or so.

From the mountain of ASL-related books I've been consuming recently, I've been looking at one that starts discussing Deaf culture, but then backs up and starts looking at how we can understand cultures in general. One idea is that we look at what people from one culture make fun of in another. And that tells you more about the culture of the people making fun than it does about the people being made fun of. Anyway, they give an example of a culture (not Deaf Culture) differnt from American mainstream, making fun of the American mainstream. Now, I've never been a huge fan of mainstream American culture (even though I was born here and grew up here) but this particular set of jabs, well they just went after the things I hate most about our culture. And then the author went on to explain what we know about their culture, how they're different from your typical American, and everything they said made me feel like "oh god that's where I should be."

Unfortunately they're thousands of miles from me and I don't travel all that well. And if I tried to go immerse, I'd probably have as many problems there as anywhere. But it's nice to dream:)
 
I wonder if anyone who is aware that there is a "mainstream culture" would ever admit to being a fan of it? At this point, it's cool to be a nerd, dork, or angeek, and as John Lennon once said, "it's weird not to be weird". I seek out people who purposely do not associate with mainstream culture.

For my part, I get along with everyone but that doesn't mean I want to take them bowling :)
 
DaveyRamone said:
I wonder if anyone who is aware that there is a "mainstream culture" would ever admit to being a fan of it?
Click to expand...

Good point.

The people who I perceive to be living in it (as an enthusiastic part of it) don't seem to see it as such. That would suggest other ways of being, and they seem to see the rest of us as defective, nothing more complicated than that.
 
I see what you mean. There are times when I feel "lesser than" based on the way I perceive the people around me to be treating me. My Buddhist teachings would tell me to be aware that these are merely my perceptions and as such cannot be true. At the same time, I certainly have an opinion about people who live blindly in the mainstream culture seemingly led by a nose ring through the latest fashion, TV show, diet, etc. So in that regard I may see them as defective in someway also.

I am curious about what would be an ideal culture for you? Oh, and your profile said something about bikes and tools… Tell me about that! That sounds very interesting! But, to be honest, I am so very not mechanically inclined. So, you might have to explain what some of those tools are for…
 
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