Anonymous asked: I have always been fascinated by the beauty of American Sign Language. I love the gracefulness of the language and would love to learn to communicate through it. However, there are unfortunately no places close to where I live that offer courses in ASL. Could you direct me to some sites online that will help me to understand deaf culture, as well as ASL and it's grammar and syntax? Thank you!

I’m so happy to hear that you love ASL! And I understand- finding ASL classes can be a challenge for sure.

(not to brag) but I think this blog does a pretty good job with ASL and deaf culture… but I also have a helpful links page with lots of stuff on websites and books that I recommend. 

so check it out here:  http://weloveasl.tumblr.com/helpfullinks

if you need more, just come and ask!  :) 

ramblin-girl asked: As a Hoh person myself, something I recommend people do, for a day long experience is to put pull some cotton balls apart and gentle nestle them in the concave of the ear. Some may use medical tape to hold it in. It's helped a lot of people understand in my experience, (especially as an RA)

Interesting idea!

What is it like to be hard of hearing?

Here’s how to learn in a few easy steps.

1. Turn your television on and put it at a normal, comfortable volume for you. For example’s sake let’s say it goes from 0-40 and your comfort zone is 20 for the volume controls.

2. Put it on 10.

3. Every time someone turns away from the screen and you can’t see their face, mute the TV.

4. When someone has a thick accent or mustache, drop the volume to 5.

5. If someone makes a noise behind you or there is loud noise coming from outside, mute the television again.

Welcome to the world of an HOH person. :)

Source: http://deafpeopleproblems123.tumblr.com/

Learning ASL at home

Learning ASL at home has been very enjoyable for me and my two kids. We have relied upon the awesome video series put out by certified ASL expert Sunny Ayala. You can check out her website http://www.thesignvideos.com.

There are some great YouTube video samples on the site to see if her teaching style is right for you. It was very right for us. And all of her stuff is available as a download or hard copy DVD so you can get your videos instantly. Very good series. You can click here to go to her website.