I belong to a deaf-blind listserv where we try to help one another find sollutions to problems. We also tell one another about unusual places we get to go or things we get to do which are out of the ordinary for us.
Some people I love very much invited me to ride to Kansas City, Mo. with them for a Greek Festival. It is a time for Greek-American families to meet and share news, time, and traditions. It is also a fundraiser for the Greek Orthodox Church in Kansas City.
I will rewrite this experience for a post. I over explained to some on the deaf-blind listserv, I know. And for others, I hope what I said made sense.
If a person grows up nearly deaf it is Much harder to learn to read. Why? Because phonics, the sounds letters make are irrelevant.
If you grow up speaking American Sign Language, (ASL) then you grow up Not speaking English. Small nonessential words are not included in ASL. Also, the syntax of the two languages is different. In English you might go to a brown house. In ASL it would be the Subject of the idea first, House, then describing words, Brown. Sometimes I have to think a little to understand the writing of my deaf-blind friends on the listserv. This is because Only the Important ideas are communicated, leaving out all of what I've come to think of as the Filler words in English out. Also, a person speaking a Visual language like ASL must do some translating to convert a sign which conveys an entire concept or picture (ocean waves rolling in fast, on a beach) into words used in English. One or two fluid movements might convey this concept in ASL, but look at how many words I had to use to translate it into easily understood ""correct" English.
So I will do a bit of re-working of my E-mail to the listserv and post about the Greek Festival, which I Thouroughly enjoyed, tomorrow.
Good night
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