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From:
The Watsons Date: Thu May 21, 1998 1:55 pm Subject: Re: Introductions? | |
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Ben Karlin wrote:- > Alright, I stood up and told about myself. How about some of the rest >of you taking your turns? Maybe Valerie should go next and the rest of >you would follow suit. It isn't like we can just look around the room >here or ask a friend to introduce us to each other. So far you all seem >like charming people INCLUDING you non-prescriptive linguists. > >Ben Karlin / St Louis, MO USA > > It's been really great reading all about the talented people on this list. I'm afraid I'm not one of them! However, I'll tell you who I am anyway. I was born and brought up (quite well) in Scotland and immigrated to Canada in 1989. I have three sons (12, 6 and 2 1/2), the older two are hearing and our youngest is deaf. We have been learning ASL for a year (badly) but our son is doing extremely well, far better than us. This morning he made a four word phrase, and I was pretty excited! ("eat more waffle syrup" - he knows all the really important things!) My most important achievement is definitely my family, but apart from that, I trained as a speech pathologist in Scotland, and I was particularly interested in working with children with developmental disabilities. I had a little exposure to British Sign Language, but mostly to a sign system called Makaton, developed specifically for children with disabilities. I haven't yet found anyone here who is familiar with it, but it was a much simpler language than BSL and worked very well with these kids allowing them to communicate everyday needs. Before we adopted our youngest a year ago (ie. when I used to have spare time) I was a volunteer with the Victoria Order of Nurses, visiting hospice patients in their homes. It sounds weird, but I really enjoyed it. I also worked extensively with the local theatre group - I've done everything! I go on stage, I work behind the scenes (I"m rather partial to running the sound system) and I've been on the exec more times than I care to think about. Over and above everything else (except my boys) I have a deep love for language and the written word. I speak French, German and a tiny bit of Spanish, though I would like to learn properly. I am fascinated by ASL and it's conceptual form. I wish I had more access to native speakers so I could practise. Talking to a 2 yr-old is not quite the same! I try very hard to use facial expression as I notice when watching some non-deaf users that it is liking listening to English in a monotone. It's much harder to grasp meaning too. I got into SignWriting because I was searching the web for as much info as possible on ASL. I feel it is a basic right for my child to learn to write in his own language. So that's who I am. Not an expert academically speaking, but I need to become an expert of sorts to help my son become all he needs to be. Cheers! Shiona. Shiona M Watson Acton, Ontario |
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