Deaf/HoH divers and ASL signers

[mwhities]

This is very intriging to me. I've always wanted to learn sign but, I may have one issue. I only have one-arm and I see that quite a bit of signing requires two arms. I know I could spell everything out but, I'd like to know if there is a "special" way to sign with one-hand/arm. To many times at other places I've worked, deaf people would come in and they had to write things down and they read my lips. (That crazy cool too.) I get so upset that I can't accomidate them with sign. Any info on it would be great.

Michael

 

[JodiBB]

Michael....you can sign with one arm without much difficulty...especially numbers and letters as well as many signs have one "active" hand and one "base" hand. The active hand is the one that demonstrates the sign, hence most signed can be "deciphered" even if you're only using one hand!

 

[mwhities]

That's cool. I've been teaching myself the alphabet signs. I need to get my dive buddy to learn them and then we could utilize it underwater too. My main goal will be for the real deaf people I meet in the world.

Michael

 

[RaixenViper]

WOW!!

Never would have expected to be that many Deaf/HoH divers around here! I am very flattered!

I currently reside in South California, 5 miles from Disneyland. PM me whenever you want to meet with me or/and dive with me. Again, this thread amazes me. Thank you for starting this thread!!

Looking forward to meet some of you soon!

 

[Sunset_Diver]

So, it seems there are more Deaf/HoH American divers than Canada. We wish there were more so it would be a lot of fun to dive with them that sign. I'm sure lots of other hearing divers like to sign, too.

 

[LindaBluedolphin]

I have been singing for years, since college, I even taught basic Sign Language at one time. I wish more divers did sign it would make communication so much easier. Personally I think a community college class through extension would is something to consider, you can pick up a pretty good basic vocabulary in the course.

 

[Dragon Eye]

I'm glad I found this thread! I'm hearing, but am fluent in ASL. I tried to teach my husband and dive buddy a few signs, but he just won't budge- It would definitely be much faster than writing, and way more convenient!

As far as air limits, we just use singular numbers, as it's easier to see with big gloves on. Point to computer to ask dive buddy, wait for his number, then sign my number. (I always have more air )

 

[devinesigns]

Yeah! I am so happy I finally found this thread.

I'm a hearing ASL/English interpreter. I love to dive almost as much as I love ASL, but truly ASL is the 2nd love of my life, after my husband!

We got our OW and AOW certifications in June 2008 and made our first dives after certification on the Great Barrier Reef! It was awesome! Since we had 22 hours of flight time to get there, my husband was able to learn the entire manual alphabet and tons of signs. He learned even more from me while we were underwater. After all these years of me signing and him taking no interest, he finally wants to learn ASL fluently because it's so much fun to be able to communicate freely underwater!

We're in central NJ but don't plan to do much local diving. No viz here and Australia gave us a taste for tropical diving. If anyone ever knows of a Deaf dive trip or anything like that, please post- we would love to go on a dive trip with other people who sign. ASL makes every aspect of life better, especially underwater!

 

[ScubaJW]

Yeah! I am so happy I finally found this thread.

I'm a hearing ASL/English interpreter. I love to dive almost as much as I love ASL, but truly ASL is the 2nd love of my life, after my husband!

We got our OW and AOW certifications in June 2008 and made our first dives after certification on the Great Barrier Reef! It was awesome! Since we had 22 hours of flight time to get there, my husband was able to learn the entire manual alphabet and tons of signs. He learned even more from me while we were underwater. After all these years of me signing and him taking no interest, he finally wants to learn ASL fluently because it's so much fun to be able to communicate freely underwater!

We're in central NJ but don't plan to do much local diving. No viz here and Australia gave us a taste for tropical diving. If anyone ever knows of a Deaf dive trip or anything like that, please post- we would love to go on a dive trip with other people who sign. ASL makes every aspect of life better, especially underwater!

Now you have found this thread... You can see our user name in this thread, so pay attention to our user name anywhere on this board. If you find that deaf person is going, then it will be a great opportunity to go!

 

[NAIBdiver1]

It was nice to see this thread listed on the homepage of Scubaboard ! There's a great trip coming up in Sept '09 for Deaf/HoH and Hearing divers to Komodo National Park - check it out !

Deaf diving Thailand Liveaboard – scuba diving courses and liveaboard diving with deaf instructor on liveaboard dive boat

The last email I received the other day, Naomi said there were still some spots left.