ASL - Sign It, Write It, Read It, Keep It!
Video Review by Marjorie Arbuckle (Deaf) and Deborah Morris (Deaf) © 1999
Lessons in SignWriting: Introduction to SignWriting
Publisher: The Deaf Action Committee for SignWriting®
Two VHS videos and a booklet
Sponsor: The Center for Sutton Movement Writing, Inc., a non-profit, 501 (c)(3) educational organization.
SignWriting® was first invented by Valerie Sutton in 1974.
Available through:
The Deaf Action Committee for SignWriting®
P.O. Box 517, La Jolla, CA 92038-0517 USA
TTY: 858.456.0010 Voice: 858.456.0098 FAX: 858.456.0020
E-mail: DAC@SignWriting.org
URL: www.SignWriting.org
SignWriting is a great idea! With SignWriting, we Deaf people can write our language of sign. This ability increases independence in communication. SignWriting gives us another way to communicate across great distances without relying on interpreters, relay operators, or telecommunication/video equipment. If our Deaf friends who live in other states (or other countries) learn SignWriting, then we will be able to write back and forth and send signed messages in our own language. Sometimes we would rather not translate our thoughts and feelings to English, as translation can be so frustrating. SignWriting is the answer - it puts signs on paper!
Drawings of signs are hard to understand, but SignWriting clearly shows the hand shapes and motions of sign language. Once learned, it is easy to use and gives Deaf people a sense of freedom, allowing us to express ourselves in sign and communicate our ideas precisely. This is a breakthrough for people who prefer sign communication.
Deaf artists may use SignWriting to record their stories, poetry and other artworks on paper. In this way, signed artworks can be saved and appreciated by future generations.
Now that we have discovered SignWriting with these introductory videos, we are very interested in learning more. We hope our friends and associates will learn this valuable skill, too. In fact, we strongly recommend that every Deaf person learn SignWriting!
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