babyhandsandkoko

This is the baby fad of the moment. Everybody wants to have the smartest kid and teaching them to communicate before the baby can even talk is very impressive . . . and very IN. And, there is some good scientific basis behind it. Children of Deaf parents, who have sign as a first language have been know to sign thier first word at a few months old! And yes, if practiced, it works for hearing infants, too. The problem, as I see it, is that according to my cousin who was teaching it to her baby ,the main author of this idea has their own system of signs and making your own. If this is true, that kind of annoys me. When (If) I grow-up (hee hee!) and have kids, I WILL teach my kiddos sign for sure . . . but why not use ASL or at least modified ASL? Then it is a real 2nd language later in life rather than just silly motions that mean nothing to anyone but Mommy and Baby. Anyway check it out.

The idea is that when you are under the water and can't talk you use a couple of basic signs to communicate. Cool, huh? Not usually the whole language, but a few words like REST, FISH, COME, LOOK, UP, YES, NO, WHERE, HELP, and others like that are very useful and can be learned by non-ASL people in a few minuets. I tried this a bit when I was snorkeling in Huanama Bay on Oahu (I went to BYU-Hawaii and lived in Laie, the nifty little town on Oahu where the Polynesian Cultural Center and LDS "Hawaii Temple" (but should really be called the Laie Temple since the dedication of the Kona Temple, while I was there!) is. I love Laie! Go Seasiders!!!). It was a great idea, except that my friend didn't know any signs I was using! Should of thought of this idea BEFORE! Hee hee! So check out Underwater Signing Communication!

As an animal lover, I think this is just plain awesome!!! If you could undertand what a gorilla or monkey said what would you say to it? I think the idea is absolutley fascinating! Koko is adorable, too, with her little cat. I just love it! Here are sites you should really check out to learn more!

Chimpanzee and Human Communication Institute

The Gorilla Foundation/Koko.org

I love Koko! I wish I could meet an ape in a zoo or something and hold a conversation with him! That would rock. It would be like Ape and George (of the Jungle) Tee hee hee hee! (I have a crush on Brendan Fraser) Oooh! Or that old 80's flick, "Project X" with Mathew Brodrick (who I ALSO used to have a crush on! Hee hee!)

The difficulty with American Sign Language is that it is NOT a written language, and it is difficult to convey certain things in ASL in written English. One way this is handled is with "transcription symbols;" various cues about how a sign is done, and the "gloss;" the word for the sign in caps. But it is confusing, and it can not capture all that real ASL portrays. And it is still written English. Well, there is a school of thought that has been trying to figure out a way to WRITE signed languages such as ASL. While I don't know how ractical these ideas are, it is an intriging goal. To me, "Sign Writing" is not an effective way to "write sign" because the symbols are too time consuming to write once learned, and impractical, as not enough people will use them. And it is to be reembered that written English is a valuable second language for the deaf, as it is yet what closed cationing as well as much of their interaction with the hearing majority will be done in. However, I do think this Sign Writting is definatley something to check out, and a fascinating theory.