I figure we all live in a bubble. There are boundaries to everyone's existence. Isn't that supposed to be a sign of intelligence, realizing how ignorant you are? That's why coming across something new and completely delightful kind of makes your day. There is achievement to gaining a new knowledge of something. I always tend to think of zipping around the net as a waste of time, considering the long and never ending list of demands here in my "real" world. So today I feel my time was well spent following the discovery of SLOPE American Sign Language Special Edition .
Poetry and sign language. Both very familiar to me (at least conceptually), but together they are an entrancing combination. Some of the video's on the site are accompanied by verbal words, but others, like the first place winner, are without the sounded cues that I require. I kept thinking to myself as I watched the artistry of words in motion why don't they have sound so I know what he is saying? I realized there was probably a point there. A kind of, how does it feel?
I am only vaguely familiar with sign language as Will and I have a repertoire of about 30-40 signs. I love the notion of having a way to communicate with a guy who's intellectual abilities are beyond his speech abilities. It was only last night I was speaking to a mom who's daughter was fluent in sign language going into kindergarten, but as her speech evolved her reliance on signing decreased. "Ahh" said the mom "but it's use lives on". She said this as she signed a reprimand/reminder to her daughter to use her manners from across the room. THAT was cool. "Oh, ya", she went on, "we can have knockdown, drag out arguments in a very public place and no one hears a word." That is a revelation any parent would love to imagine.
Anyway, I urge you to see some of the winning poems at Slope and see something completely new.
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