ASL sign language U/W?

[northernone]

Curious why we have our own limited and barbaric hand signals when there are systems already developed for clear communication.

Anyone actively learning sign language for their dive team? Slates are pretty hard to read in comparison.

Would anytime have a collection of the most relevant to scuba signs cheat sheet that would help me learning them?


Ironically a solo diver,
Cameron

 

[simcoediver]

My dive buddies and I are deaf and all of us are extremely fluent in ASL. It is certainly a tremendous advantage for us as divers It is not an easy language to learn because the brain needs to shift from auditory to visual communication.. Theres a website called Seasigns .SeaSigns - Silent Communication

 

[northernone]

My dive buddies and I are deaf and all of us are extremely fluent in ASL. It is certainly a tremendous advantage for us as divers It is not an easy language to learn because the brain needs to shift from auditory to visual communication.. Theres a website called Seasigns .SeaSigns - Silent Communication

Pleasure to meet you ! Thanks for the link , I'll spend some time on learning the language . Had a childhood friend but haven't used ASL in years .

 

[MaxBottomtime]

 

[AfterDark]

I've heard this idea before and like it very much. So much of diving is SOP, to have a universal set of signal derived from a standard set of signals familiar to not only divers but non-divers as well seems very practical to me. As divers we'd only need to learn a minimum number of signals. I don't know about anyone else but I don't go diving to have a conversation underwater!
I guess certain signals like the OOA signal should probably be retained but others could be replaced by ASL and IMO would be an improvement.

As to why diving developed it's own set of signals when ASL as been around for 200 is beyond me.
My guess would be when diving was young those that dived were not deaf and had never "heard" of ASL. Sorry had to throw that pun in there.

ASL is thought to have originated in the American School for the Deaf (ASD), founded in Hartford, Connecticut in 1817. Originally known as The American Asylum, At Hartford, For The Education And Instruction Of The Deaf And Dumb, the school was founded by the Yale graduate and divinity student Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet.

 

[Charles2]

When taking my original certification course with NAUI, I was taught to use ASL for counting. It was very convenient to only need one hand for the task. Of course, the only numbers that we used were time and depth - nobody had an SPG.

 

[archer1960]

I'm sure the reason SCUBA came up with their own is that they want to be to convey certain important messages with a minimum amount of movement, and in a minimum time. Spelling out "deco obligation" is a lot longer than using the two symbols that convey the same thought.

 

[turnburglar]

ASL only seems like a good idea if you already know ASL. I have a feeling it's not as efficient as our specialized signs for our very specialized tasks. Anything I can't send via hand signals gets written on a slate.

 

[MelasLithos]

I see another advantage to having our own scuba hand signal.

Please correct me if I'm wrong (I am not very familiar with this issue), but as far as I know, sign language is different for different languages around the world. France, USA, etc. all have their own sign language.

Scuba hand signals are (moslty) universal, and can be used everywhere around the world by divers. It's nice to have a "common language" while travelling and diving, and not having the additional task to "translate" while under water.

 

[kelemvor]

I see another advantage to having our own scuba hand signal.

Please correct me if I'm wrong (I am not very familiar with this issue), but as far as I know, sign language is different for different languages around the world. France, USA, etc. all have their own sign language.

Scuba hand signals are (moslty) universal, and can be used everywhere around the world by divers. It's nice to have a "common language" while travelling and diving, and not having the additional task to "translate" while under water.

I asked about sign language in OW class, and this is what the instructor told me was the problem with "regular" sign language.