So I have decided, I am going to learn ASL, not only to help me better communicate with Mimi, but to hopefully be able to teach in the future to families who could benefit from it. I'm looking into taking courses online, since many of you know already, I am working on my MS in Chemistry and that's already enough for one person to handle. Trying to take courses at a school, would most likely be "overload" on my part. However, I won't begin the courses until either end of December or January. Mainly because I am still taking classes at UNCW for the graduate program and right now, that's my main focus. I've dedicated almost a year to the graduate program and I just can't let anything else get in the way. But until I take the courses, which there are 4 on the site I am looking at, I will be teaching myself (and of course Mimi and Kai). I went to Barnes and Nobles the other day and purchased: The Pocket Dictionary of Signing by Rod R. Butterworth and Mickey Flodin. It gives more than 600 signs of ASL and a few phrases. Gives me time to practice, so once I do start the courses in a few months, I won't be as lost. Also, I ordered Mimi, Signing Time DVDs, Series Two, Vol. 4-7. I will be ordering Vol. 1-3 in the next few days, if it's still available at a reasonable price on Amazon or Ebay. Vol. 4-7 focuses on the different seasons, going outside, sports, and the days of the week. Something Mimi has NO clue about, but I got a great deal. I really want Vol. 1-3, since it focuses on how to communicate with individuals when you meet them, birthdays, and moving your body phrases (dancing, walking, jumping, etc.).
With my hectic schedule, I admit, it's hard to fit in teaching myself ASL or even sitting down with Mimi. But I am going to work very hard on making it a priority everyday, for at least an hour a day. There's so much I can teach myself and Mimi in just an hour. Well, mainly me. It takes a great amount of time with Mimi, but all she needs is repetition and assistance, and I know she will get the hang of it all. What I would like to do is eventually teach ASL (not the whole ASL, because Lord knows, I probably will never get that far) to families who can benefit by using it to communicate with the children, whether they have special needs or not. Most importantly, I hope it will better help myself and Mimi, communicate a lot better, since at the moment, she's still not talking, but trust and believe, she gets her point out.
This week, I am working on teaching myself the manual alphabet. I know it pretty well, but there are times I get caught up and have no idea what I am doing with my fingers. It looks easy, but you have to be able to learn it well enough so the person reading it "knows" what you are attempting to spell to them. Eventually, I should be able to do the whole alphabet at a pretty steady speed, but right now, I am slowly taking my time. I am working on words in the book to fingerspell, since just knowing the alphabet from A to Z is not enough. You should know what sign "F" is right away, without thinking about it for 10 seconds. So, this is my working progress for the week. Also, learning the numbers and a few phrases. Hopefully by the end of the week, I have this down pretty well. I don't expect myself to go as fast as those who have been doing ASL for years, but feeling comfortable showing someone else is good enough. Also, I will gradually work on words in The Pocket Dictionary of Signing in which I feel Mimi can benefit from at the moment, while reviewing those she has already been introduced to.
So, this week is going to be an ADVENTURE of learning, if you ask me! :) And I'm READY!
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