As a volunteer at Schlegel Villages, The Village of Riverside Glen, everyone I met could tell how excited I was about American Sign Language. In 2013 my ASL studies at the University of Guelph led to me starting work on an ASL dictionary. 2013 was also when the management asked me if I teach sign language to the working staff. I declined as I had just started my lessons again. Without a teacher’s license, bachelor’s degree in ASL, or deaf education, I didn’t have the knowledge, experience, or the right to teach anyone. The compromise I offered was to make a poster for reference. I asked the staff to list 33 words used in a long-term care environment. I designed a large 20 x 16-inch poster with the teacher-approved ASL drawings from my collection. The staff could then attend courses in American Sign Language and return to work to have the alphabetical words on the poster as a helpful reminder. Everyone was happy with the final piece. Visiting staff members from other locations asked for copies. The first poster had to be reprinted, as it disappeared twice, and the following year it was printed again to be displayed at the Riverside Glen Art Show. It was great to see my work up on the wall and even better to see it help educate fellow students.
