American Sign Language

Hello!

I am so happy to be teaching ASL 3 this year. I have been signing since I was 9. I have a B.A. from Samford University and a M.Ed from The University of South Alabama. I have taken additional ASL classes from The University of Tennessee- Knoxville, William Woods University, and Gallaudet University. I currently have a national professional certification from the American Sign Language Teacher's Association and an Educational Interpreter's Certification.

Previously, I worked as a sign language interpreter in kindergarten through Master's degree programs. My most exciting time was as a free lance interpreter in the Washington D.C. area. I worked at NASA, Quantico, and multiple government facilities. While living in Alabama, I have also worked as an exceptional education teacher. My husband, Rick, and I have one big, black, cat named Butterfingers. I have one daughter, Lauren, who is a magazine editor and contract publicist. She lives in Hoover with her husband, Thomas, and my beautiful three-year-old granddaughter, Monroe.

My goal is to make your student successful in learning to love the beautiful language of ASL.

ASL 1, please go ahead and learn the manual alphabet. Your first assignment will be to know the alphabet and be able to spell your entire name and common fingerspelled words.

ASL 2, I hope you have been signing over the summer. Practice introducing yourself to a new person and telling them 3 things you have done this summer. Make sure you can ask and answer questions and remember your vocabulary from last year.

ASL 3, Tell someone a story about what you have done this summer. Use past tense, absent referents, and CORRECT pronouns. Also, practice fingerspelling entire sentences to help with your fluency.

"Deaf people... are unique in being the only linguistic group to have a community in every country in the world."

Paddy Ladd, Understanding Deafhood