My Husband is an ASL Champ!

Posted by Traci at 10:16 PM

The sign for "champ" which means what it sounds like it means (kinda).

Also, just fyi, Michael Phelps rulz suckas!!!

If you want to learn sign language there’s only two things you need to know – how to say what you want to say (expressive language) and how to understand what people say to you (receptive language). Okay, that’s a little simplistic, but it’s true that expressing yourself and understanding other people are two very different things.

I’ve spent the last twenty years around ASL, and by the grace of God my receptive skills have always been pretty good. It’s rare that I meet a Deaf person I don’t understand, though occasionally I'll meet someone with a particular accent I haven’t seen and it takes my eyes awhile to settle in.

My expressive ASL is…different. People frequently hear me voice interpret (say what someone else is signing) and make the very, very wrong assumption that I have beautiful, flowing, ASL. I don’t. My ASL is choppy and sloppy and the opposite of pretty. I realize I can work on it, but I’m an accountant by trade and by nature, and in my experience the more right-brained a person, the less-pretty their ASL.

My husband has none of these hang-ups. The son of deaf parents, he signed long before he spoke. When Chip signs, especially when he’s preaching The Great Stories of history, his hands are art in motion. It moves me, and I am not an easily-movable person. His mother was an ASL poet, and it’s clear he inherited her artistry. Thank God!

The other week I came home from work and the kids were running all over the house, which is not unusual, but this time they looked like they were running with purpose. Apparently they were playing “which room” with Dad. Chip would give them the sign for a particular room, like “kitchen” or "Rosalee's room", and whoever ran to that room first won. So creative! Monday night I was folding clothes and heard horrible bowling-ball-playing sounds coming from upstairs. This time they were playing “which move”. Chip would sign a verb, like “run” or “crawl” or "spin" and they would all have to do whatever he signed down the hallway and back. They loved it!

I’m so thankful E, Trey & Rosalee have such a creative, involved Dad. True work.

* A helpful hint in teaching language: Synonyms are the my friend, but let the first word sink in first. A friend told me this, and it's def true. T&R know the phrase "I'm finished", and they usually sign it after they're done eating. I always sign it back to them, but I've recently added the sign "that's enough". Once they learn one word, build on with other/similar phrases.

Funny things Trey is signing, 5 months in (because I know I'll forget):

“Where is it?” and “Look for it”, always with the cutest furrowed brow. Teaching kids with zero exposure to language how to ask a question, or even what a question is, hard stuff! Thankful God led me to E's' old book, Bedtime Peekaboo. They love looking for the hidden animal friends.
“Hurt” or "Boo boo". Again with the furrowed brow.
"Deer"/"Cat"/"Brush your teeth". The three names he has for his most prized posession, the Yoda doll Dad bought him. Deer and cat I'll give him, but I have no idea where the other name came from.
“Book”. Usually followed by “Sit down” (he won’t sit down though).
He really enjoys signing the number 5 using the Melissa & Doug number puzzle Dad got them. He can sign 1 thru 4 but apparently they aren’t as much fun as 5. Or as he says, 5!!!.
“Birds!”. Chip put a bird feeder right outside the kitchen window. The kids freak out every time they see a bird, which is a lot.
“Oh I see”. He signs this after he tells me about the birds. I guess that's what I say to him. Alot.
“Motorcycle”. Nannie got Trey & Rosalee a big vocabulary book with pictures of over 100 different things. Trey always skips to the page with the motorcycle and signs it, complete with vroom noises.
"Hey" or "I want to talk to you". In Deaf culture, there are polite ways to get someone's attention. Shockingly, these do not include slamming the table, stomping, drilling into someon's shoulder repeatedly, or yelling. Both kids have made great progress in this area.

Funny things Rosalee is signing, 5 months in:

“No, no, no, no, no”, always shaking her head, always a million times. She has the cutest pursed lips when she does it.

“Fish!”. While on the potty, looking at her poopy. She only did this once but it cracked me up. When I told her it was poopy she told me no, no, no, no, no, no, “fish!”. Ok, it's a fish.

Just this week she signed all her colors, without any prompting from me. These were: red, yellow, pink, blue, green, purple, brown, white, black, orange. (Google it, that's alot of links).

"Thank you". They are both very good at this now, and most of the time do it without any prompting from me. Rosalee will occasionally sign it with just her middle finger, not all four fingers, but I’m pretty sure it's purposeful, because she gives me a sideways glance when she does it that way.

“I want apple juice”. She is at times sloppy with her signs (she will grow out of it, unlike me) but she’s always very clear with this one.

“Nannie and Papa”, Chip made up the sweetest signs for my parents. “Nannie” is bouncing the middle finger on the chin, palm in. “Papa” is bouncing the middle finger on the forehead, palm in. Both kids now use these signs when they see Nannie and Papa.

"Leave it". This is probably the second most signed phrase in the house, right after "more food". Trey has a strange obsession with shutting doors. Eli and Rosalee have an obsession with Trey NOT shutting doors.