New Hearing person here, with a dilemma.

avalon76

avalon76

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My name is Jennifer, and it's a pleasure to meet you. :wave:

If this isn't the proper forum for such a question, please let me know and I'll delete it.

My problem:

Ever since I was a little girl, I've loved sign language. I even went to college with it in mind, though I got a little sidetracked by my advisor (should've stuck with Deaf Studies / ASL instead of Speech-Lang Path). These days I want to explore the possiblities of using ASL / SEE for non-verbal children, as in some cases of autism, etc. I get butterflies when I think of it; a long-lost love come back to me. There are certificate and AAS programs for this; only problem is, I can't seem to find any that are distance learning / online. The closest ones are for ASL interpreters, which I don't want to be. Does anyone have any ideas in which direction I should head?

Thank you. :aw:
 
that's a toughie.

In my very first job I worked with non-verbal developmentally delayed (aka mentally retarded) kids/adults- both hearing and deaf (it was so strange working with deaf/MR adults who were of the Rubella baby bulge- 1 is 2 weeks older than I am). Anyway... My degree was in ECE but I think they hired me more because of my 1 year in grad school and that I am deaf and knew ASL... With that job it was more of fly by the seat of my pants on how to work with this group in teaching sign language...

That said- best bet is to talk to the colleges/programs that do offer the AAS/certification and ask if they do offer or COULD offer online/distance classes. More and more universities & colleges are heading in that direction these days.

Good luck! :)
 
best bet is to talk to the colleges/programs that do offer the AAS/certification and ask if they do offer or COULD offer online/distance classes. More and more universities & colleges are heading in that direction these days
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Thanks DeafDucky! I appreciate it. That will probably be my next step. :)
 
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Hi Avalon76! I'm new to this site too. I'm a hearing person trying to learn ASL. Where I live in Tennessee there are no ASL classes. So I'm just using books and some websites. We have a college that offers ASL, but with 2 daughters in college,I cannot afford to go to college right now. Also my brother had severe Autism. He was non verbal. He was diagnosed at Vanderbilt Bill Wilkerson center as deaf in 1979. He wasn't deaf,he just was autistic. Sadly my brother died at age 10. The school he was living at,left a door open,and he wandered out at night and fell into a pond and drowned in 1987. My mother sued the state of Tennessee and lost. Basically the judge sided with the state and to sum it up,stated my mother knew the risks she was taking by having my brother live at a state run school. Part of the lawsuit is available to read on google, Jeraldine Jordan Vs state of Tennessee. In the lawsuit or whatever that I read on google,they describe my brother as mentally retarded,when in fact he was diagnosed by like 10 doctors with severe autism. I'm not sure what direction you should head in,but maybe someone on this board can answer your question.
 
avalon76 said:
My name is Jennifer, and it's a pleasure to meet you. :wave:

If this isn't the proper forum for such a question, please let me know and I'll delete it.

My problem:

Ever since I was a little girl, I've loved sign language. I even went to college with it in mind, though I got a little sidetracked by my advisor (should've stuck with Deaf Studies / ASL instead of Speech-Lang Path). These days I want to explore the possiblities of using ASL / SEE for non-verbal children, as in some cases of autism, etc. I get butterflies when I think of it; a long-lost love come back to me. There are certificate and AAS programs for this; only problem is, I can't seem to find any that are distance learning / online. The closest ones are for ASL interpreters, which I don't want to be. Does anyone have any ideas in which direction I should head?

Thank you. :aw:
Click to expand...

the trouble is, you really can't use ASL/SEE with that population...they can use Sign, but they can't use it as a LANGUAGE...they use it as an augmentive and alternative communcation tool....
 
I see you listed your location as NY. Not sure where you are, but there are many places you can go to learn. You could go to a local deaf club/events and just try to make freinds. There is nothing like learning on the go. They even have night classes at local colleges and boces. Its at a fraction of a cost instead of paying by the part time credits.
 
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