Month: September 2023

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RESPECT

Respect is the due regard and acceptance of the feelings, wishes, rights, or traditions of others.
Gallaudet University held a history and reputation of promoting strength and independence for the deaf community, yet it was still choosing Hearing Presidents to represent the school. In March 1988, Gallaudet University was barricaded and shut down by the student protest Deaf President Now, with thousands of protesters marching on Capitol Hill.
After learning this history, I drew an image of Irving King Jordan, Gallaudet University’s First Deaf President, to show the ASL hand sign for Respect. With banners from the DPN protest behind him, my dictionary also includes a short bio of the 1988 protest with Jordan’s famous quote, “Deaf People Can Do Anything Except Hear.”
R hands move forward and up, like a salute of admiration or esteem.
#ASL #signlanguage #respect #DPN #deafpresidentnow #irvingkingjordan #cartoon #myasldictionary

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AUTUMN FALL

As Summer ends, the Trees become the Stars of the Fall Season as their leaves turn into a kaleidoscope of beautiful colours. This Autumn Equinox features My ASL Dictionary’s strong Lumberjack showing the ASL hand sign for Fall.
The 5 hand brushes past the elbow of the opposite tilted arm to show the visual of leaves falling from the Tree.

#ASL #signlanguage #autumn #fall #lumberjack #cartoon #dictionary #education #myasldictionary

Returning to this hand sign also showed an error in the dictionary text. My apologies. In the book, the Lumberjack poses with his 5 hand, but the text says the B hand brushes down (which is also a variant of this sign, with other variants using the 4 hand or flat hand). All versions are correct but different.

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ASL LANGUAGE

Happy International Day of Sign Languages!
To support this year’s 2023 Theme, “A World Where Deaf People Everywhere Can Sign Anywhere”, I’m acknowledging
William C. Stokoe. His work as a Linguist and Gallaudet University Professor led to a greater understanding of sign language as a genuine language, not pantomime. In 1957, Stokoe and his team began studies of filmed sign language to identify the elements of language, the results published in a 1960 research monograph and dissertation, “Sign Language Structure”. In 1965, Stokoe published “A Dictionary of American Sign Language On Linguistic Principles”. This publication drew public interest in ASL linguists, leading to American Sign Language’s title and status as a legitimate language (which it always was).
In my last ASL cartoon before submission for publication, a young William Stokoe holds one of the ASL Dictionaries he helped create as he shows the ASL hand sign for Advanced Signing, Skilled Signing, and Sign. I used animation to open the book to show the Fingerspelling and English.
The S hands quickly throw open into 5 hands, Once or Twice.
While Stokoe’s image is in My ASL Dictionary, there was no room for his story. I’m happy for the opportunity to post it here.
#ASL #signlanguage #advancedsigning #sign #skilledsigning #williamstokoe #internationaldayofsignlanguages2023 #cartoon #myasldictionary

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CLERC

For their roles in Deaf history, Clerc and Gallaudet make several appearances in my ASL dictionary, both as young pioneers and older wise leaders. To celebrate tomorrow’s International Day of Sign Languages 2023, the ASL Name Signs for Clerc and Gallaudet. For Clerc’s ASL Name Sign, I drew a handsome young Frenchman with facial scarring on his right cheek. The U hand strokes the right cheek twice to refer to the permanent scar he carried from a fireplace injury as a child. Louis Laurent Marie Clerc was a French Master Teacher at Paris’ Royal Institution for the Deaf who had trained under Abbe Sicard. When American Minister Thomas Gallaudet went to the School to learn sign language, Clerc became his teacher and over time, his close friend. Seeing the needs of the deaf community in the New World, Clerc agreed to leave France for three years to assist Thomas Gallaudet and Mason Cogswell in founding and maintaining the first American School for the Deaf in 1817. Clerc served more than 50 years in deaf instruction. His outstanding work for the deaf community as both teacher and mentor earned him the title ‘Apostle of the Deaf’. #ASL #signlanguage #clerc #laurentclerc #internationaldayofsignlanguages2023 #cartoon #myasldictionary
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GALLAUDET

For their contribution to Deaf Education and Sign Language, cartoon images of Gallaudet and Clerc appear more than once in my ASL Dictionary. In celebration of tomorrow’s International Day of Sign Languages 2023, the ASL Name Signs for these two teachers. For Gallaudet’s Name Sign, I gave him a ‘wilder appearance’ than his stoic portraits. Possibly a subconscious reference to the long trips Gallaudet took across land and sea to achieve his mission. The wide G hand by the side of the eye pulls back into a closed G, a descriptive reference to the educator’s glasses. The ASL hand sign is also the sign for GLASSES.
Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet was a minister and American educator whose work and dedication brought sign language and deaf education to the Western Hemisphere. He was an educational pioneer who co-founded, along with Laurent Clerc and Mason Cogswell, the first American School for the Deaf in 1817.
#ASL #signlanguage #gallaudet #glasses #internationaldayofsignlanguages2023 #cartoon #myasldictionary

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HOLD IT!

Another influential figure in American Cultural History is Mason Fitch Cogswell. Cogswell was the prestigious American Physician who supported his deaf daughter Alice and the deaf community by using his influence and resources to jointly establish the first American School for the Deaf in 1817. As Cogswell is mentioned in my dictionary but not shown, my new illustration of the ASL hand sign for HOLD and WAIT A MINUTE features him. Holding a wood carving of the LSF Alphabet brought back from France by Gallaudet and Clerc, a cartoon of Mason Cogswell illustrates the classic gesture of Wait a Minute by seriously thrusting his index finger forward.
#ASL #signlanguage #hold $waitaminute #masoncogswell #internationaldayofsignlanguages2023
#cartoon #myasldictionary

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CULTURE

Sign language is a visual communication that also reflects a culture. In the 18th Century, the Deaf were treated as second-hand citizens, seen as simple-minded and impossible to teach. Yet at 9 years old, a deaf Alice Cogswell demonstrated to Thomas Gallaudet a brilliant and inquisitive mind only lacking a school to learn in. She became the catalyst and inspiration for bringing deaf education from Europe to the States and starting the first American School of the Deaf, where she was the first pupil. With Gallaudet and Clerc making several appearances in my dictionary, I chose Alice as the character to illustrate the ASL hand signs for Culture. C hand circles around the opposite index finger to reference the area of social customs, values, and heritage of a particular group. The gloved hands behind her show another version of Culture, Condition, and Circumstance. Many photographs of Alice are in black and white, her statues a single tone. Descriptions of her hair have ranged from black curls, to brown to golden. I went with blonde hair for its more youthful appearance. #ASL #signlanguage #culture #condition #circumstance #alicecogswell #internationaldayofsignlanguages2023 #cartoon #myasldictionary
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SICARD SIGN IMPORTANCE

I made my ASL Dictionary with original cartoon ASL illustrations, but they are not all colourful clowns. For some words, I added visual references to history.
Commemorating the approaching International Day of Sign Languages, September 23, the following posts will feature my ASL illustrations of figures from deaf history. Some pieces are from my dictionary, while others are new additions.
Instead of a word, I’ll begin with a Name Sign, the Name Sign for Sicard. Abbe Sicard was a revolutionary priest, teacher, and director of the first school for the deaf in France. In a world focused on Oralism, his lessons and published works on deaf education would help introduce the 18th century to sign language.
A cartoon of a young Sicard brushes the base of the S hand against the opposite hand, rocking it back and forth (an upgrade to the dictionary’s description). The book flashing behind him, a Sicard publication.
#ASL #signlanguage #sicard #namesign #abbésicard #internationaldayofsignlanguages2023 #cartoon #myasldictionary

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PATIENCE

Known as a virtue,  Patience is the ability to keep calm and endure the wait. With only a few steps away from having My ASL Dictionary in the Library, I patiently wait for Tellwell Publishing to prepare my book for its eBook distribution.

My ASL DIctionary has a  cartoon Nurse to show the ASL hand sign for Patience, as this ability is a key quality for the job. An earlier illustration, she would have done better with a calm face instead of a quizzical one, as her expression does turn the word into a question, “Patience?”.

Thumbnail over the lips is dragged down the chin, like sealing your lips to stay quiet and wait.

#ASL #amerciansignlanguage #signlanguage #patience #bear #tolerant #tolerance #cartoon #myasldictionary

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SKIPPED THE DISHES

While alphabetically storing the completed ASL hand sign for DOWNLOAD, to my surprise, I noticed an unfinished ink drawing for Dish and Plate.
Taking the skipped illustration, I removed his moustache and spent the day adding colour and shadow to complete the hand sign for animation and storage. Wearing a shirt with a busy dish pattern (I’ve also seen on some wallpaper, yikes), my cartoon gentleman shows the ASL hand sign for DISH and PLATE.
The two L hands arc forward in front of the body as if holding and putting down a single plate.
#ASL #signlanguage #dish #plate #cartoon #myasldictionary