At our monthly meeting held on Sept. 11 at RIPIN, our guest speaker was Dona Lombardi, Interpreter, who gave a presentation on basic American Sign Language. She taught us the alphabet in sign and had us all spell our names using sign. She went on to say that there are some short cuts to meanings. For instance, the sign for “S” is a closed fist. But when bent downwards and back again is also “YES”. The sign for “T” is a fist with the thumb sticking out between the first 2 fingers. When shaken, it means “I need to use the “TOILET”. She then had us all sign “My name is: and your name”.
She gave a brief history of sign b y saying that it first came to America in 1817 and was widely used on Martha’s Vineyard in in 1854. She spoke briefly about Helen Keller and her promoting sign as a way that the deaf and hard of hearing can communicate. She told us that there are about 5 types of sign with ASL being the most popular and also that sign is different in other countries.
All in attendance thoroughly enjoyed the presentation and hope she can return and teach us more.
Oct 2nd, we are at the Warwick Public Library presenting on Computer Basics and Facebook.