DBInews April 2005 * A publication of DeafBlindInfo.org. Sponsored by Minnesota Department of Human Services Deaf and Hard of Hearing Services Division. To subscribe, e-mail DBInews-subscribe@yahoogroups.com * Contents. - Tactile Sign Language, Really?: John Lee Clark. - Georgia Griffith: Adrean Clark. - Get Paid For Writing Articles! - Post Your Announcements For Free. * TACTILE SIGN LANGUAGE, REALLY? John Lee Clark. I want to set the record straight about what is often mistakenly called "tactile sign language." I know that it needs clarification because I have encountered several deaf-blind people who are, in their quest for becoming culturally DeafBlind, keen on learning American Sign Language (ASL) but who are confused by the contradictory information they get about łtactile sign language.˛ First of all, there is no such thing as tactile sign language. There are only American Sign Language and other sign languages of the world. Then there is how you listen to it. Most people listen with their eyes. But one can listen by hand. Sometimes what one means by łtactile sign language˛ is one of any number of special methods especially developed for deaf-blind people, like fingerspelling with a lot of contractions, which Helen Keller used, or print-on-palm, or the alphabet glove, or... None of them are languages in and of themselves, but merely communication systems through which English, or any other written language, is conveyed. So let us be clear: There is listening to ASL tactually or there is this or that communication system with its own specific name. A great bulk of misinformation about ASL must be blamed on the popular view, held by most ASL instructors, that it is a visual language. Yes, ASL is visual in that it can be seen, and most signers do use their eyes to listen to it, but it is not exclusively visual. In fact, ASL wouldnąt be visual at all if it werenąt for its tactile qualities. This is simple: ASL is visual because it is tactile first. If it wasnąt tactile first, there would be nothing to see. In their awe of the visual aspects of ASL, however, instructors forget the most basic fact about ASL: Its very expression is tactile--the body moves to communicate. In overlooking this, many ASL teachers are at a loss when they meet a deaf-blind person wanting to learn ASL. I know quite a few deaf-blind people who were denied admission into an ASL class. Some were admitted, but denied relay interpreting or one-on-one accommodations. They are urged to use whatever vision they have left to learn ASL by watching. When the deaf-blind student doesnąt have enough vision and suggests that she learn by łfeeling˛ the signing, ASL teachers often insist that it is best to learn visually first before trying anything tactile. I beg to differ: It is always best to learn by feeling the signs. And this goes even for sighted students! Often sighted students develop bad habits, such as signing with the wrists at the wrong angle, because they have never felt how the signs are properly done. As any sighted person knows, the eye does play tricks on you. This in mind, it is even more crucial that people with any degree of blindness learn ASL tactually. One of the best hearing signers I know is a man who was born blind and learned ASL from his sighted Deaf girlfriend. He did an excellent job interpreting for me while we were together for a weeklong camp one summer in North Carolina: he signed what he heard while I listened to him tactually, and, listening to me tactually, he signed what I spoke. The arrangement was only slightly different when he interpreted for sighted Deaf campers: they didnąt listen to his signing tactually, but watched him. No problem. But last time I met him, he was still in search for an interpreter training program willing to accept him. So, please: Let us not abandon a whole world of potential signers in deaf-blind and hearing blind people. * GEORGIA GRIFFITH. Adrean Clark. Born during the Great Depression, Georgia Griffith was at first blind, then later became deaf. After a time at the Ohio School for the Blind, she graduated cum laude in 1954 from Capital University in Columbus, Ohio with a degree in music education. Griffith was the first blind student at that university, her graduation with Phi Beta Kappa honors. She returned home to Lancaster, teaching blind students in public school in addition to giving private music lessons. By the 1960's her hearing had deteriorated enough to cause Griffith to consider a second career. In 1970, she began proofreading Braille music for the Library of Congress, earning the top certification. In her spare time during that period, she also proofread all nine Beethoven symphonies, because, according to an account, she felt blind people needed to have the experience of playing Beethoven. While working for the Library of Congress, Griffith taught herself ten different languages (German, French, Russian, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Swedish, Danish, Slovak, and Greek) as she corresponded with people from different countries. This feat bloomed out of a small venture helping one of her friends write a Braille music dictionary. Funding for her proofreading job was cut in 1981, plunging Georgia Griffiths in an endeavour that would bring her much fame... Read the rest of Georgia Griffith's biography at: http://www.deafblindinfo.org/people.asp#ggriffith * GET PAID FOR WRITING ARTICLES! DeafBlindInfo.org is looking for contributors to monthly editions of DBInews. 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