Overwhelmed

EmmaraV

EmmaraV

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I've been trying to figure out where to start but the more information I find the more overwhelmed and confused I become. Can someonw break down the differences for me in SEE, PSE, baby sign language, and ASL? I know that ASL is it's own language, but is PSE separate from that or just another form of it? Also...as a hearing person who is trying to learn so I can communicate with my child as she gets older is ASL what I need to learn first or do I learn PSE as most websites suggest for people who do hear? Should I learn and use baby sign language with her? (She is almost 5, but is more like a one yearold in size and mentality.

My post is rambling...but tia! :)
 
Ok. So here's the deal with ASL, SEE and PSE.

ASL. American Sign Language. This is a language in unto itself. It has grammar and vocabulary. It is a visual language used by Deaf people. It is difficult to learn as a hearing person because you'll keep trying to force ASL to fit into English. And it just won't. ASL is the goal for most people learning to sign. My recommendation is to always keep ASL as the goal. As a hearing person you'll probably end up somewhere between ASL and PSE. It's just what happens. But strive to learn ASL. That way you'll be able to sign with ASL signers and PSE signers. If you only learn PSE, ASL is going to be confusing.

SEE. Signed Exact English. This is a visual representation of English. It has signs or fingerspelling for all words in English. It is sometimes used to teach native signers English. If you said s sentence in English you would be able to sign that exact sentence using SEE. It is not, however, used by many Deaf people unless they were raised in s household or school that used it. I would not recommend learning it for any reason other than to recognize it in others. It's complicated and signing it is slow. Most Deaf people do not use it to communicate.

PSE. Pidgin Sign English. This is ASL and English's bastard love child. It's essentially ASL signs in English grammar. It tends to omit a lot of unnecessary words like ASL does, but it's not in the grammar structure of ASL. This is where many hearing people will spend much of their time while learning ASL. Mostly because you'll be learning vocabulary but won't yet be comfortable with ASL grammar. It's ok to be here. There are a lot of Deaf people who sign in PSE. Many Deaf people will code switch for you to facilitate understanding even if they're fluent in ASL. As I said up above, keep ASL as the goal, but you'll spend a lot of time in PSE and that is normal for hearing people learning ASL.

Hope that helps a little.
 
Yes, do ASL. Also for expressive look into augmentive and alterntive comunnication like PECS, switches etc for kids with complex communication disorders.
 
Thanks so much! When her audiologists told me she told me to look into baby sign language then her pediatrician suggested to look at ASL and skip baby sign language. The more I delved into it the more my brain just went...there is so much I didn't realize about deaf language. These replies were so helpful!
 
I recommend ASL and if possible, extensive speech therapy at your local Children's Hospital if you have insurance.
 
Welcome EmmaraV to the alldeaf.com! Thank you for sharing your struggles with us. I get it what you mean! I am myself deaf. The best way to learn sign language is to use ASL. Lysander is right about the differences between ASL, PSE and SEE. ASL is the best visual language and most deaf people use it. It's so much easier to understand since deaf people's primary langauge is ASL where secondary language is English.
I recently watched on Facebook where it shows the difference between ASL, PSE and SEE. Here is the link. http://www.alldeaf.com/threads/overwhelmed.130084/#post-2522699. You might want to watch it a few times to catch the differences.
Hope this helps. I'm here if you would like to talk more about it. Just take one step at a time and learn what you can. Smile
God's blessings
 
Beckell said:
Welcome EmmaraV to the alldeaf.com! Thank you for sharing your struggles with us. I get it what you mean! I am myself deaf. The best way to learn sign language is to use ASL. Lysander is right about the differences between ASL, PSE and SEE. ASL is the best visual language and most deaf people use it. It's so much easier to understand since deaf people's primary langauge is ASL where secondary language is English.
I recently watched on Facebook where it shows the difference between ASL, PSE and SEE. Here is the link. http://www.alldeaf.com/threads/overwhelmed.130084/#post-2522699. You might want to watch it a few times to catch the differences.
Hope this helps. I'm here if you would like to talk more about it. Just take one step at a time and learn what you can. Smile
God's blessings
Click to expand...

Link doesn't work.
 
Oh the description of the house is one I hadn't seen before... another great one!
 
EmmaraV said:
I've been trying to figure out where to start but the more information I find the more overwhelmed and confused I become. Can someonw break down the differences for me in SEE, PSE, baby sign language, and ASL? I know that ASL is it's own language, but is PSE separate from that or just another form of it? Also...as a hearing person who is trying to learn so I can communicate with my child as she gets older is ASL what I need to learn first or do I learn PSE as most websites suggest for people who do hear? Should I learn and use baby sign language with her? (She is almost 5, but is more like a one yearold in size and mentality.

My post is rambling...but tia! :)
Click to expand...

Hello! I just wanted to say you are not alone. I am teaching my deaf daughter ASL too and also feel overwhelmed sometimes. My daughter is only 5 months old so she can’t quite sign back to me yet but I have definitely started signing little things. My advice would be to just start trying with everyday words. Download an ASL dictionary on your phone and look up relevant words as you encounter them throughout the day. Some words we use daily are cup, Phone, milk, gentle, no, thirsty,hungry, banana,apple, diaper, mama dada and beautiful.
 
Hello and Welcome! It is good that you are learning sign language for your daughter. I wish you luck.
 
Hello EmarraV

Great that you are learning ASL for your kid. The things Moms'll do for their kids never end.

I obviously don't know you or your child, but having 2 boys with Autism who are non-verbal, let me give you one word of wisdom - for what it's worth. You said your child is 5, but more like a 1 year old. That may be so - but it may also just appear that way because he/she can't express answers to questions you and your doctors ask them - even if they know the answer. When my kids got a little older - in their teens - I found (which my wife always told me) that they understand much more than we give them credit for. They just can't tell us. I found that if you give them a command and wait several seconds, they usually surprise you. Also - give them small tasks/responsibilities and try not to do anything for them that they can't do for themselves. They'll find a way, They'll love you and surprise you. and take out the trash and wipe off the table and feel useful and love you even more when you praise them for it.

Good luck on your paths (your's and your child's).

Angelo

PS - I'm on SKYPE if you ever want to SIGN - or chat. Search for Angelo Michel Houma (quite a few Angelo Michels) I'm just learning to sign and could use the practice.
 
Lysander said:
Ok. So here's the deal with ASL, SEE and PSE.

ASL. American Sign Language. This is a language in unto itself. It has grammar and vocabulary. It is a visual language used by Deaf people. It is difficult to learn as a hearing person because you'll keep trying to force ASL to fit into English. And it just won't. ASL is the goal for most people learning to sign. My recommendation is to always keep ASL as the goal. As a hearing person you'll probably end up somewhere between ASL and PSE. It's just what happens. But strive to learn ASL. That way you'll be able to sign with ASL signers and PSE signers. If you only learn PSE, ASL is going to be confusing.

SEE. Signed Exact English. This is a visual representation of English. It has signs or fingerspelling for all words in English. It is sometimes used to teach native signers English. If you said s sentence in English you would be able to sign that exact sentence using SEE. It is not, however, used by many Deaf people unless they were raised in s household or school that used it. I would not recommend learning it for any reason other than to recognize it in others. It's complicated and signing it is slow. Most Deaf people do not use it to communicate.

PSE. Pidgin Sign English. This is ASL and English's bastard love child. It's essentially ASL signs in English grammar. It tends to omit a lot of unnecessary words like ASL does, but it's not in the grammar structure of ASL. This is where many hearing people will spend much of their time while learning ASL. Mostly because you'll be learning vocabulary but won't yet be comfortable with ASL grammar. It's ok to be here. There are a lot of Deaf people who sign in PSE. Many Deaf people will code switch for you to facilitate understanding even if they're fluent in ASL. As I said up above, keep ASL as the goal, but you'll spend a lot of time in PSE and that is normal for hearing people learning ASL.

Hope that helps a little.
Click to expand...
Hi! My name I'd Sean and I am hard of hearing. I lost the hearing in my right ear as a result of menengitis at 3 monts of age. I now have significant hearing loss in my left ear as a dual result of severe ear infections in my left ear some 16 years ago and as a result-- I beleive-- if drug use ( ototoxical). I wear hearing aids but they don't make much of a difference for me. My audiologist says I am a good candidate for cochlear implant but I feel the surgery has too many risks and am sqeemish about it -- it seems a bit invasive.
Anyway, I have been trying to learn ASL for sometime-- online-- but with little to show for it. I thought SEE would be a good alternative and tried seeking out courses in SEE but cannot find much of any use. There is an ASL course here in my town--it's offered at the community college-- but everyone I've talked to about it at the Deaf ministry at my church says it's geared toward hearing ppl who want to learn ASL as a second language! I don't know what to do..I saw your post about the importance of striving to learn ASL rather than SEE..it makes sense..My question to you is this: What's the best online course for ASL that has Closed Captioning for Hard of Hearing ppl? I plan to get in contact with the NorCal center for the Deaf and Hard of hearing-- hopefully they'll be able to help. My fiancee is hearing and I going to help me get in contact with NorCal ( can't hear on the phone)...I am asking alot if questions of ppl who might be able to help me and give me one useful advice.
Any advice or suggestions you might have for me would bro greatly appreciated. Thanks
 
Sean James said:
Hi! My name I'd Sean and I am hard of hearing. I lost the hearing in my right ear as a result of menengitis at 3 monts of age. I now have significant hearing loss in my left ear as a dual result of severe ear infections in my left ear some 16 years ago and as a result-- I beleive-- if drug use ( ototoxical). I wear hearing aids but they don't make much of a difference for me. My audiologist says I am a good candidate for cochlear implant but I feel the surgery has too many risks and am sqeemish about it -- it seems a bit invasive.
Anyway, I have been trying to learn ASL for sometime-- online-- but with little to show for it. I thought SEE would be a good alternative and tried seeking out courses in SEE but cannot find much of any use. There is an ASL course here in my town--it's offered at the community college-- but everyone I've talked to about it at the Deaf ministry at my church says it's geared toward hearing ppl who want to learn ASL as a second language! I don't know what to do..I saw your post about the importance of striving to learn ASL rather than SEE..it makes sense..My question to you is this: What's the best online course for ASL that has Closed Captioning for Hard of Hearing ppl? I plan to get in contact with the NorCal center for the Deaf and Hard of hearing-- hopefully they'll be able to help. My fiancee is hearing and I going to help me get in contact with NorCal ( can't hear on the phone)...I am asking alot if questions of ppl who might be able to help me and give me one useful advice.
Any advice or suggestions you might have for me would bro greatly appreciated. Thanks
Click to expand...
I've found that lifeprint.com is really good. Their Facebook group and YouTube videos are taught by a deaf man to a hearing class. So he uses a lot of visual cues with his instruction. And they CC their videos if they're too complex. I also used startasl.com and I found that useful.
 
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