Si5s.org and its Relation to Deaf Education

Hello everyone,

The following is a video I made several months ago. I decided to post it under the "ASL Vlogs" tab, and the following is a translation in English. 

I’m curious... has anyone in this group seen the book ASL Write? I think that’s the name... well the website is si5s.org. A Deaf man invented a writing system that matches ASL. I checked out the website, and it was pretty cool. 

I work in deaf ed, so I approached my boss and showed her the website. She looked it over and agreed that the school should order the book. I’m still waiting for it to arrive. My plan/goal is to read through all of it when it gets here. I want to know if it really matches up with ASL. 

If it does, I want to know if other Deaf people have looked it over or if any of you have. My gut feeling is that it’s truly important for deaf education to have an ASL writing system. Currently Deaf around the world have no writing system and kids don’t know of one. But if they knew, if they could learn it, then wow... ASL, signed language, that would feel more, really - no, that’s the wrong sign - LEGITIMATE. 

The proof would be right there. Just like with spoken language, English speaking and writing, Spanish speaking and writing, German speaking - and well, writing, and signing and writing... they would be equal. I feel that would be a good self-esteem booster for Deaf people. That would be one thing. The second thing would be more media access through writing. It would be possible for them. 

Let me think of other things. Well really, I know that in American deaf education, there’s a huge focus on learning to read and write English. It’s important, but English is really a second language for Deaf people and not the first one. So, I know some Deaf people who have spot on English reading and writing skills, but most that I know, whether they are children or adults, reading and writing skills in English are shaky at best. So my thought is that if Deaf people have a writing system of their own that matches ASL, well wow... they would have a fully accessible writing system. For Deaf people, there’s limited to no access to spoken language, and therefore access to its writing system is limited to none, as well. 

It makes me feel like this - how can we expect them to learn to read and write a language without full access to it? But writing in ASL would provide full access. That means that learning to write a fully accessible language first would allow skills to be transferred to the second written language, and wouldn’t that mean more successful results for the second one? 

My theory is yes, if there is a strong foundation in reading and writing ASL, then there would be an improvement in reading and writing English, too. They would both benefit. What do you guys think?

R. M. 

An Update and a Call for Written ASL

It's been some time since I posted last. Life can keep you busy at times, and no one is immune. However, I did want to acknowledge that there will be very few book reviews until sometime in August, when the Global E-Book award winners are announced. Most, if not all, of my reading over the last few months have been ebook submissions on which I am judging. I am currently judging in the categories of poetry, short stories, horror fiction, and fantasy (set before the 1940's). I have read 8 submissions so far and working on the ninth. In a few more days any further entries will have been submitted, so who knows how many more there may be for me to read. The awards people have asked that no jusge posts a review of any kind until the award winners are announced. It's something I agree with because it could have an influence on other judges and therefore effect outcomes unfairly. Suffice to say that when August comes, there will be a plethora of reviews for me to post.

As far as my next book is concerned, it is coming along well. I have completed writing about one third of it and am plugging away. I think when the writing itself is done, it will be the editing that shall be the most painstaking and agonizingly long part of the process. I still hope to have it ready by sometime in the fall, and if not, by years end.

That's it for updates. One thing I have been thinking about lately is signed languages across the world, whether it's ASL, LSF, BSL, MSL, or any other signed language in the world. Historically, none of them have ever had a written form of the language. My personal opinion on the reason for why is this; they never had an opportunity to get to an academic level. As for today, many signed languages are being used at academic levels, but because of its larger society's use of spoken langauge, the theory is that if a deaf person does not learn to communicate and get by in a hearing world, their chances for success are dismal. Somehow in all of this, Deaf cultures across the world haven't really developed any system of writing based on their signed languages. I find this to be highly detrimental in helping deaf children to learn to read and write. They don't even have one of their own.

I have seen one developed based on ASL, but it has never really caught on within the Deaf community. I'm not entirely sure of the reasons for this, but I do believe one thing. Without an arbitrary system for reading and writing in ASL, deaf children in bilingual education are still at a disadvantage in learning their second language of written English. If ASL had a written format, then deaf children could learn it as we learn to read and write English. I think it's fair to say that if a child can read in one language, learning to read in another becomes exponentially easier to do. I could list a million examples of this to back it up, but I want to keep this relatively short.

I really want to stress how important it is for ASL to have a written form. Deaf people could argue that written ASL would be boring, especially in the technological age we are in right now. Ok, fine. But guess what? So are written versions of spoken languages. Is it any wonder why movies are so much more popular than books? Written language can still be beautiful however, and it seems to me that if ASL had a written version, more educators, doctors, and people in general would take American Sign Language more seriously. It would do much to further its legitimacy in the eyes of those who commit acts of Audism based on their notions of superiority. Why shouldn't Deaf people level the playing field a bit more? If American deaf children could read and write in their own language, and that led to improved literacy in English, I would think this would be a huge win-win for Deaf people, culture, and their community. I'm not speaking for Deaf people here, this is just my observation.

Should anyone wish to question this or have any opinion whatsoever about it, the comment box is open.

R. M.