Trans Signs 101 | Trans Awareness Week

Take a Break

Sources: SigningSavvy, Lifeprint, ASLDeafined

[Image ID:

Break in American Sign Language. Both hands in 5 handshape. Dominant hand palm down. Base hand palm towards signer. Dominant hand taps the space between the fingers on base hand. Movement is illustrated by arms that are translucent green and blue in different stages of the sign.

End ID]

it's a little early for this but could we get a happy Halloween if you haven't already?

Sure, it's close enough

Halloween

Sources: SigningSavvy, Lifeprint, ASLDeafined

[Image ID:

Halloween in American Sign Language. Both hands in bent B handshape rotate to cover the eyes. Movement is illustrated by arms that are translucent purple and orange. Eyes and fangs are purple.

End ID]

Today, in “I’ll take any good news I can find”:

A production of Romeo and Juliet with Deaf actors signing their lines has been referred to as bilingual! Not just “accessible” or “diverse” but also BILINGUAL!

This makes me happy because the general idea of ASL (and other signed languages) is that they’re just a manual version of the spoken language. By that logic, Norwegian is just a higher-latitude version of German. Signed languages are languages of their own! With unique vocabulary, grammar, and dialects!

Journal Sentinel

Deaf actors make this 'Romeo & Juliet' a truly bilingual love story

In American Players Theatre's new "Romeo & Juliet," Deaf characters and American Sign Language are a normal part of daily life in that world

I just watched The Eight: Reindeer Monologues.

It is fully in ASL with English voice over and closed captions.

I thought the writing was great, the acting was phenomenal (idk about the voice acting. My computer was on mute), and the editing...but overall, it was a good show. It's not for everyone; it's a story about sexual assault. It explores the different way people respond to allegations: from active support and passive support, to dismissal and denial, to guilt and shame. I was hesitant to watch it because it was advertised as a dark comedy about sexual harassment, but I'm glad I did. I thought they handled the challenging themes well despite the inherent goofiness of the characters and settings they chose to tell their story with.

[Image ID:

Poster has art of a cussing reindeer in sunglasses. Alternating green, red, and brown text says:

Deaf Austin Theatre presents The Eight: Reindeer Monologues. Staring the DAT board of directors.

A dark, dark Christmas comedy written by Jeff Goode. Virtually streamed through Stellar Dec 21-28. Get virtual tickets today! www.deafaustintheatre.org

Poster designed by Melinda Schallau The Eight: Reindeer Monologues is presented by arrangement with Concord Theatricals on behalf of Samuel French, Inc. www.concordtheatricals.com

Recommend for ages 18 and up

End ID]

🖐

My favorite cheeses are Belavitano(basically any variation but Merlot if I have to chose), Talegio, Stilton with blueberries, smoked Mozzarella, and Mimolette.

Cheese

Sources: SigningSavvy, Lifeprint, ASLDeafined

[Image ID: the sign for cheese in American Sign Language. Both hands are horizontal, palms touching in B handshape. Dominant hand on top twists back and forth. Hands are designed to resemble various cheeses. End ID]

Anyway I'm watching Deafula

so I'm deaf, and I get new hearing aids every 4-5 years. every time I do this, the sound is different, and I have to take some time to relearn sounds. my most recent pair is a very different brand from what I've previously had, meaning that the sound is very different as well. this, of course, means extra word to relearn sounds. this is absolutely exhausting.

I just find it strange that, while I am relearning a sense, I can't realistically take time off of school. I still have so many assignments and stuff that I have to do, all while feeling like a toddler that's been up too long.

basically, I should be allowed to have a break when I get new hearing aids without having to do 12 billion catch up assignments afterwards

Plane

Sources: SigningSavvy, Lifeprint, ASLDeafined

[Image ID:

Plane in American Sign Language. Hand in the ILY handshape with index and pinky fingers bent forward. Hand bounces forward slightly.

End ID]

Support

Sources: SigningSavvy, Lifeprint, ASLDeafined

[Image ID:

Support in American Sign Language. Both hands in S handshape. Base hand moves up so pinky side of dominant hand rests on knuckles of base hand. Movement is illustrated by arms that are translucent blue and pink in different stages of the sign. Background is transparent.

End ID]

Yes this. Because ASL is a full language, but not the one being used to tell the story, only the meaning rather than the form is kept.

However, I think Sara Novik's way of showing ASL dialogue in True Biz is cool and represents how space is used in ASL. I don't have the book so I can't post a picture but I wrote about it for a paper.

[Image ID: Screenshot of an essay. the paragraphs each have their own column. The first on the left, the second on the right, and the third in the middle.

The POV characters dialogue was in one area of the page,

And the other characters dialogue was in a different area.

If there were multiple characters in a conversation they would get their own space as they entered the conversation.

End ID]

Something I get mildly annoyed about in writing (mostly in fanfics, since I haven’t encountered a published book with this), is when sign language is depicted identical to speaking. Like, commas, contractions, stuttering, etc.

When I was taught ASL in high school, we were told there was a way to write down sign, but it’s not like how you’d write a spoken English sentence. Words are typically in all caps, lack any -ing/-ed, and have a different grammatical structure.

For example: “I went to school today” would be made into something like “TODAY SCHOOL I GO TO”

Obviously, I’m not someone who’s remotely fluent in ASL, and high school classes do not give me the right to winge and criticize on behalf of those who do speak it. I just found it odd that I’ve never seen Glossing used at all in writing, and it bugged me that signs were used essentially like spoken dialogue (how does one stutter in sign language?), when there’s a uniqueness to the language that gets erased in the process.