What do you call signing that was made up or invented for use in the home?
On a YouTube thread, Travis writes:
I'm a metalhead, and someone who has a stutter sometimes. I've decided to pick
up ASL for whenever my stuttering gets really bad, or I lose my hearing due to
the music that I listen to. When I was younger, I didn't talk till I was about 2
years old, so my parents started teaching me ASL, and even made up their own
signs for me so I understand that the stove was hot etc. I still have my
hearing, but I figured I'd learn this language in the event I lose it partially
or completely. And it'll also be a second language I feel like. Do you have any
tips on explaining that you have your own sign for a specific word or phrase?
Like if you've used a gesture for a specific word or phrase, is it okay to use
that phrase even though it might be used for a completely different word and or
phrase inside ASL, or is it okay to use the sign that you're more comfortable
with using. The motion I'm referring to is the motion in which you push your
hands out in front of you (fingers extended and spread out with spaces
in-between (think just high fives but releasing and then retracting)). My mother
taught me this gesture to teach me that the stove was hot whenever I was a kid.
It's how I learned when not to touch something. But I don't know if that gesture
is used for a different sign, and I don't want people thinking I mean something
completely different when I'm referring to the word "hot". But at the same time,
it's just my way of saying something his hot if I have to sign it. I was just
curious if that's okay to use that sign for that, or if I should use the proper
sign for the word "hot" so I don't confuse people who know ASL, or people who're
learning ASL, but aren't well versed, and I confuse them. Thanks for these
videos. I've visited these videos a few times over the years. Just wanted to
thank you for these. Hopefully I explained things well.
-Travis
Response:
Hello Travis!
You are referring to what is known in the Deaf Community as "home signs."
Home signs are signs that were made up and used in the home.
Many Deaf adults grew up with home-signs and then later learned American Sign
Language in school or through association with signers in the Deaf Community.
I recommend you go ahead and learn the ASL and replace your former "home" signs
with ASL versions.
The good news is that if you someday interact with a Deaf person (probably a
child) who doesn't know ASL yet -- because of your background you will have a
wider range of signing tools in your toolbox and be able to pull out (of your
signing toolbox) a more depictive version of a sign (one of your home signs) and
use it to bridge the communication gap before showing a more formally recognized
sign.
So the way I see it, your background can become a "plus" or a "gain."
You don't need to worry about unlearning your former signs but rather now focus
on learning (and practicing) additional, more common versions of signs that will
be recognized more quickly (and with less ambiguity) by skilled signers.
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