Sign Language Sytems

Sign language is very necessary for many people to communicate. Sometimes people who are not even deaf use it. I have used it with toddlers who do not begin speaking verbally after starting therapy. Their parents and caregivers can then understand their wants and needs without becoming frustrated because no one understands their pointing or grunts. I have also used it during therapy following strokes for patients who need to let others know their wants and needs if they are cognitively able to handle it.

It is much like learning a foreign language. I myself have a vocabulary of a three to four year old child and can make some signs faster than others. It's like the old adage "use it or loose it". I find myself even studying before therapy sessions with some of my youngsters because they have already learned more than I have and it's me who has to keep up.

A lot of frustration for those of us who need to use signs to communicate with others is "what language are you speaking?" when we first meet strangers who sign. Just like languages used verbally, non-verbal sign languages are numerous in number. There is American Sign Language, Signed Exact English, Signed Exact English Two, "Pigeon", etc. They can be as different as French is to Arabic verbally. American Sign Language for example communicates a whole idea with just one or two signs, whereas Signed Exact English is grammatically and syntactically a lot like sentences we say when we speak. You sign the words and even word endings such as past tense verbs (-ed, such as walk/walked) forms word for word the way you would say them in sentences.

A lot of people even invent their own signs for words or an idea. That is great for them when they try to communicate with people who know them and their "word", but if they use it with a stranger, the stranger can be greatly confused. I have to say that I too have been guilty of this, however, when a person may have limited physical/cognitive mobility, the easiest means to the end becomes necessary.

There are pros and cons to all of them but American Sign Language (ASL) is the most universally used both across America and other countries. Most people who use sign language use this system. I am partial to Signed Exact English (SEE) forms, however, because they teach not only vocabulary but proper syntax and grammar that are important in helping people learn to read, write and spell correctly thus functioning better in the "hearing world".

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