“Connect”
In ASL, many individual signs like the one pictured above can be used in several ways. Here, the movement from open hands to linked index fingers and thumbs means “connect.” It also means “relationship” when it’s moved slightly between us. And it is an option for “harmony” when moved in a circle in front of the signer. I also use it when I talk about how ASL can “bridge the gap” between two spoken languages or two cultures.
When my children began to sign as babies, we were able to connect in a uniquely intimate way. We could all hear, but the sign allowed my children to also “speak” – and provided us with a silent language if the moment called for it. When a client’s toddler began to speak to her Dad while signing, she recognized that bridge ASL formed between English and Spanish, bringing the family closer. When my young son was able to explain to me some of the conversation in ASL he witnessed between a hearing mother and her Deaf child, I realized the natural connection he had to the Deaf community. In kindergarten he was able to understand a friend’s signs – a hearing child who could not walk or speak, but was able to communicate with her typical peers through technology and sign language, thereby developing relationships.
As a high school senior, I was awarded a small performing arts scholarship to the college I attended after auditioning with a monologue from Children of a Lesser God in both English and ASL. Throughout the monologue was the above sign for “relationships.” As a college senior, I studied music in Deaf culture…I wrote and directed a short musical play and members of the local Deaf community joined the cast. It was a significant part of my circle of life, so to speak, developing relationships and making important connections through ASL.
Quite clearly I’m an advocate of sign language – for people with and without hearing. But more importantly, I’m an advocate for communication and empowerment. For me, for my family, and in my work, ASL has played a precious role in communication – empowering self-expression – creating harmony in our lives and bridging the gap between differences.
