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HOSPICE: The American Sign Language (ASL) sign for "hospice"

 
A version of the sign for "hospice" was coined in Minnesota in 1989 and is well documented in the "Minnesota Oral History Project" during an interview of Barbara Schmidt (or "Barb") by Teika Pakains. This project recorded the stories of Deaf, Deafblind, and/or hard of hearing advocates in formal oral-visual history interviews sponsored by the Commission of Deaf, Deafblind and Hard of Hearing Minnesotans (MNCDHH) during 2010 and 2011.

This version is done by tapping the pinkie side of an "H" hand near the non-dominant shoulder with the fingers pointing toward the shoulder. 
Note: This is "a" version of the sign and while it has a rich and solid legacy -- whenever Barb and/or her associates did workshops in other states she was quick to point out that it was just "their" sign and that Deaf in other areas were welcome to come up with and use some other sign for "hospice." 

At one point Barb and other Deaf in the hospice field were using the sign for "help" initialized with an "H" handshape as the sign for hospice but later, after reading a "heart centered" poem about providing consolation they decided to sign hospice on the heart area to reflect "heart-centered" service.

 




 



 

Notes: 

Reference:
Schmidt, Barbara (June 7, 2011) "Barbara Schmidt - Legacy Oral-Visual History Interview" https://youtu.be/JQbxra-oVks?t=360 (published Published on Aug 8, 2018).  (Note: The sign for "hospice is shown and discussed at the 6 minute mark.)


Note: Here is the poem from which Barb quotes in her interview:


Blessed are the Sorrowing: They Shall Be Consoled

And what does it mean to mourn? I asked the multitude.
An old man stepped forward

To mourn, he said, is to be given a second heart.
It is to care so deeply
that you show your ache in person

To mourn is to be unashamed of tears.
It is to be healed
and broken
and built-up
all in the same moment.

Blessed are you if you can minister to others
with a heart that feels
with a heart that hurts
with a heart that loves
and blessed are you if you can minister to others
with a heart that serves
and a heart that sees the need
before it's spoken.

To mourn is to forget yourself for a moment
and get lost in someone else's pain
and then,
to find yourself
in the very act of getting lost.

To mourn is to be an expert
in the miracle of being careful with another's pain.

It is to be full of the willingness
of forever reaching out to
and picking up
and holding carefully
those who hurt.

To mourn is to sing with the dying
and to be healed
by the song
and the death.

— Marciana Wiederkehr, OSB

 


Reference: Wiedrkehr, Marciana (Oct. 26, 2008) "Blessed are the sorrowing," Wanderlust, retrieved 11/17/2020 from https://deacmegmeg.wordpress.com/2008/10/26/blessed-are-the-sorrowing/
 




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