Gallaudet met and became friends with a young deaf girl named Alice in the early 1800s. Seeing Gallaudet successfully teach Alice a few words inspired him to become involved in establishing education for deaf people. He traveled to Europe to learn sign language and methods of deaf education. Upon returning, he co-founded the first school for deaf students in America, which later became Gallaudet University.

1. Instructor: Billie J0 Hammell
Experience: 30+ years Signing (C.O.D.A.)

3. American Sign Language
• ASL is a visually perceived, gesture-based language.That means it is a
language that is expressed through the hands and face and is perceived
through the eyes. It is not just waving your hands in the air. If you furrow
your eyebrows, tilt your head, glance in a certain direction, twist your
body a certain way, puff your cheeks, or any number of other “inflections”
you are adding or changing meaning in ASL.
• It is a visual-gestural language that carries just as much information as an
oral/aural (mouth/ear) language.

4.  AGAIN/repeat/re-/over
 DEAF
 HEARING
(culturally)/speak/say/public
 LEARN
 LIKE (emotion)
 MEANING
 MEET
 NAME
 NICE/clean
 NO
 SIGN (as in “signing”)
 SLOW
 STUDENT
 TEACHER
 THANK-you
 UNDERSTAND
 WHAT
 WHERE
 WHO
 WHY
INDEXING:
Just point at the person or thing: HE/SHE/IT/ME/YOU/THIS
Use a sweeping movement:THEY/THEM/THOSE/YOU-ALL/WE/US

5. AGAIN
Handshape: Right hand =
"bent-hand" Left hand = "flat
hand“
Location: Neutral signing area
in front of the body
Palm Orientation:
Right hand = starts facing up or
at a "10 o'clock" position
Left hand = varies: palm up,
palm right, or "neutral 2 o'clock
position"
Movement: Right hand moves
in an arc until the fingertips
touch the left palm.
Non-Manual Marker: neutral
To sign again, flatten out your leading hand. Bend
your second hand at a right angle, then tap it
against the middle of the palm of your first hand.

6. DEAF
Handshape: index finger
Location:
• Starting location: In general
it starts on the cheek near the
ear but occasionally you will
see it start near the mouth
(on the cheek).
• Ending location: On the
cheek near the mouth.
Orientation: If done with the
right hand, the right palm can
face either left or somewhat
forward.
Movement: Small arc.
Variation: If you do this sign
while puffing out the cheek, with
a larger arc it means, "Deaf, and
proud of it!“
Description:Touch your finger on
your cheek near your ear, then
move your finger in a small arch
and touch it near the mouth.
Remember, start and end the sign
on the cheek. Do not do it on the
ear or mouth, but rather near
them.
To sign deaf, using your index finger point to your
hear and with a slight arch move down towards your
mouth

7. HEARING-(PHYSICAL)
(EXAMPLE: I AM LOSING MY HEARING)
IFYOU WANTTO DISCUSS "PHYSICAL" HEARING, JUST
TAPYOUR EARTWICE.
HEARING (CULTURALLY)
SINCE HEARING PEOPLE TEND TO "SPEAK," DEAF PEOPLE REFER TO "HEARING PEOPLE" BY
USING A SIGN THAT LOOKS LIKE WORDS TUMBLING FROM THE MOUTH.
THE MOVEMENT IS A SMALL ROTATION. UP, FORWARD,
DOWN, AND BACK. REPEATTWICE.THINK OF WORDS
TUMBLING FORTH FROMTHE MOUTH.
The right sign for "hearing" depends on whether you are discussing "a person who can hear" or if you are referring to the physical ability to hear.

8. LEARN
Memory hint: Think
of grabbing
information from a
book or piece of
paper and placing it in
your head.
To sign learn, place your flat right palm upward. Use your
left had as if you are grabbing something up and raise it to
your head.

9. LIKE
(emotion)
To sign like, start the sign palm
against your chest. Start pulling
your hand slightly away from
your chest with the middle
finger and thumb pointing back
toward the chest (but not
touching either my chest or
each other), then move the
hand forward while bringing
the index and thumb together.
Note: this sign doesn't mean "similar" or "same as."

10. MEANING
To sign meaning, place right
palm facing left hand, left hand
V tapping the palm of the right
palm twice, second tap turning
slightly.
When done with furrowed
eyebrows this sign is used to
ask "What does that mean?" or
"What is the meaning of
_______?"
The sign for MEANING can also be used to mean "purpose"
or "intent."

11. MEET
To sign meet, Hand are
separated with Index fingers
up. Held erect both hands
come together, knuckles meet.
Note: imagine each index finger is a person and
they come together to meet

12. NAME
Handshape: "H" handshape on
both hands.
Movement: Tends to be a
double movement
(but a single
movement is also
common).
Non-Manual Marker: In
general this uses a
neutral facial
expression. In the
sentence "What is
your name?"
signed as NAME
YOU? (Wh-question
expression) you
furrow the eyebrows
and tilt the head
forward a bit.
Inflections: NAMED (verb)
(When he was a
puppy I named my
dog Fido) [Note: For
the verb version of
this sign, I use a
single movement.]
To sign name, tap the ‘H’ hands twice

13. NICE
(clean)
The concepts:
• "clean up"
• "to clean"
• "cleaning“
use what I call "the process"
form of the sign wherein you
use extra movement to show a
process is taking place.
So, if you want to sign "clean-
up" as in "clean up your
bedroom" you would use a
double motion.
(Repeat the sign to mean:
"cleaning, or clean-up.")
Sign nice by laying your non-dominant hand flat with your
palm up, and wiping across the hand with your dominant
hand.

14. NO
A firm, solid "no" as in a
command. Uses one motion.
Another variation of no uses a
double motion and a negative
headshake.
Is done similar to the normal
sign for "no" except that it
starts off toward the right and
moves in toward your body.
The sign for no is like that scolding teacher in high school
that always says no to everything.The sign looks like a
mouth saying no.Take your index finger together with your
middle finger and tap them together with your thumb.

15. SIGN
(as in “signing”)
NOTE: Being able to ask for the
sign for something allows you to
expand your vocabulary faster.
The sign for "sign" as in "a
roadway sign" or a billboard is
different from "sign" as in
"American Sign Language."
Form both hands into "1" hand
shapes. Then draw a couple of
large circles in the air with the tip
of each index finger. The
movement for each hand is: up,
back, down, forward, and so on in
an alternating circular movement.
As if pedaling a bicycle
backwards. Both hands move at
the same time. When the right
hand is up, the left hand is down.
When the right hand is forward,
the left hand is back.
T0 sign the word “sign”, extend your two index fingers
and rotate them around each other.

16. SLOW
NOTE: If you do this sign very
fast, it means "very slow." If
you start the sign and hold it in
place for a moment, then roll
your eyes and then finish it
quickly it means very, very
slow.
To sign "slow," slide the dominant hand (right hand if you
are right handed) up the non-dominant forearm a short
distance--starting at the back of the base (left) hand.You
only need to go a few inches.

17. STUDENT
Notes:
The more "casually" you do the
sign STUDENT, the more the
sign looks as if you are throwing
away a piece of paper.
Note: When signing "STUDENT"
your non-dominant hand should
stay down near your torso and
not move up toward your head
when you move the dominant
hand upward.We want to avoid
looking as if we are combining
the signs STUDENT and
TEACHER.
The sign for "student" is a combination of the sign "learn" and the
non-initialized sign for "person." Hold your "non-dominant") hand
out flat, palm facing upward. Take your dominant hand and grab
some imaginary information off of your palm. Lift that information
up and stick it in your head. Then show the person sign.

18. TEACHER
Memory aid: Take information
from your head and put it in the
other person's head.
Note: The casual version of the
sign "teacher" is done lower.
Down closer to the chest and
shoulders.
The signTEACHER starts with both hands held up near the head in somewhat
"flattened O" handshapes.Then both hands move forward about six inches.Then
they change into "flat hands" (like "B" handshapes with the thumb alongside--
not draped over the palm) and move downward to show a version of the
PERSON sign. Thus you have a combination ofTEACH + PERSON = teacher

19. THANK
(you)
Memory aid: Imagine blowing
a kiss to the person you are
thanking. (Don't pucker up --
unless you'd like to get to know
him better.)
Usage: The thank you sign is a
great gentle introduction to
manners. It is great to get older
babies in the habit of saying
thank you when given
something.The thank you sign
is also a great way to remind
older kids to be polite when out
in public without being
overbearing or embarrassing
them.
NOTE: The sign "THANKYOU"
can also be interpreted to mean
"good." (Especially if you are
holding a sandwich in one
hand.)
To sign thank you, extend your fingers and thumb.Touch you
fingers to your chin and bring your fingers forward. It is
almost like you are blowing a kiss out, to thank the person –
but the sign is a bit lower.

20. UNDERSTAND
Memory aid: Think of a "light
bulb" turning on in your head.
DON'T-UNDERSTAND:
Often students ask me "How do
you sign 'don't'?" I always have to
ask them what is the rest of the
sentence in which they want to
use the concept of "don't."The
reason I need to know the rest of
the sentence is because there
isn't just "one" sign for "don't."
There are dozens of ways to
express the concept of "don't" in
ASL. Most of the time the
concept is "incorporated" into the
movement of the sign and the
facial expressions or shaking of
the head.
For example, in the sign "don't
understand" you express the
concept of "don't" by using a
negative headshake:
Hold your hand up near your forehead.Your index finger is
bent and the tip of the index finger is touching the pad of
your thumb (your thumbprint). Then flick your index finger
so that it points up.

21. WHAT
There is a facial expression that
is sometimes called a "wh-q"
expression. It is the type of
facial expression you should
use when asking questions that
have an answer other than yes
or no. Generally these
questions start with the letters
"wh" as do the signsWHO,
WHAT,WHEN,WHERE,
WHY...so you can see why we
call this expression a "wh"
question expression.
Expressing the concept of
"WHAT" has more to do with
your facial expression than your
hands. For example, if I
pointed to my watch and used
the "wh-q" facial expression it
would mean that I'm asking
you "What time is it?" You've
probably already used this sign
many times in your life.
In the picture below I'm doing a general gesture for "what" while using
theWHAT facial expression. Hold your relaxed "5" hands in front of you.
Hunch your shoulders a bit. Jut your head forward a bit. Use aWH-Q
(wh-question) facial expression.The hands move slightly forward and to
the sides.

22. WHERE
NOTE: "furrow the eyebrows"
They are part of the sign.
When asking questions you use
"furrowed eyebrows" for all of
the "wh-" question types:
WHO, WHEN,WHERE,WHY,
WHICH, FOR-FOR=(what-for).
However, if you are asking a
yes/no question (a question
that can be answered with a
yes or no) your eyebrows
should be up.
Remember: Eyebrows up for
"yes/no" questions.
Eyebrows down
for "wh" questions.
The sign for "where" is made using your index finger. Hold your hand
in front of you and "waggle" the finger side to side a couple of times.
Imagine yourself looking at a map on the wall. You put your finger on
the map and move your fingertip a bit to the left then a bit to the right
as you try to finger out "where" you are on the map.

23. WHO
Memory aid: Imagine that the
reason your finger is fluttering
is because of the air that flows
from your mouth when you say
"who."
The way to sign ‘who’ is to place the tip of your thumb on
your chin with your index finger extended. Bend your
index finger twice.

24. WHY
NOTE: "furrow the eyebrows"
They are part of the sign.
When asking questions you use
"furrowed eyebrows" for all of
the "wh-" question types:
WHO, WHEN,WHERE,WHY,
WHICH, FOR-FOR=(what-for).
The sign for "why" is made by touching (or coming near) your
forehead with the fingers of your dominant hand then while
bringing your hand forward and down , change it to the letter
"y," keeping your palm facing you.

25. ASL way: “You Name?”

26. ASL way: “Deaf You?”

27. ASL way: “Student you?”

28. ASL way: “Your teacher name, what?”

29. ASL way: “You understand he/she?
InASL to indicate HE, SHE, or IT, you just point at the person or thing to which you are referring.
If the person has exited the area, then you point to where the person was recently.
If the person hasn't been in the area then you pick a vacant spot off to the right (if you are right handed, or off to the left if
you are left handed) and point into the air in that direction. Then each time you point in that direction for the duration of
that conversation it will refer to "HE / HIM or SHE / HER"
Note: You can use your "eye gaze" to help identify the person you are talking about.
It is common to glance over toward the person to whom you are referring.

30. ASL way: “who he/she?”

31. ASL way: “Again, name you?

32. ASL WAY: “S/he student s/he?”

33. ASL way: “this your?”

34. ASL way: “Where (___?___)?”

35. ASL way: “Nice meet”

36. ASL way: “Hearing you?”

37. ASL way: “ASL teacher , you?”

38. ASL way: “you learn sign, where?”

39. ASL way: “you learn sign, why?”

40. ASL way: “how do you sign ‘thanks’?”

41. ASL way: “Student, he/she?”

42. ASL way: “they learn sign?

43. ASL way: “your teacher, who?

44. ASL way: “you like learn sign?”

45. YES NO THERE

46. In sentences like: “do you understand him/her?
The eyebrows are raised to indicate it is a
question
Sample Sentence: Do you like to meet Deaf people?
ASL WAY: you like meet deaf?

47. Hi, I John Smith [spell first & last name].
Nice meet you.
I hearing. [or whatever you are]
I student [spell name of your school]
I learn learn sign (repeating sign learn is same as learning)
Teacher name [spell the name of your teacher]
He/she Deaf/HH (use the label that fits your instructor:
Deaf/HH/Hearing)
He/she teach good
I understand he/she
I like he/she
NOTE: Students should practice the story until they can sign it from memory in
front of a class or video recorder
This story is similar to something you may sign when meeting a Deaf person.

48. In the early 1800’s,Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet, a hearing minister and a graduate
ofYale University met and became friends with a young deaf girl named Alice.
Gallaudet took an interest in teaching the girl and succeeded at teaching her a few
words.The girl’s father, Dr. Mason Cogswell, encouraged Gallaudet to become
involved with the establishment of a school for the Deaf.
So, in 1815 Gallaudet headed for Europe in Search for teaching the Deaf.
While in England, Gallaudet met up with the director of a Paris school for the Deaf,
a man by the name of Sicard.
Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet & AliceCogswell

49. Continued…
Sicard was there with two of his Deaf pupils, Jean Massieu and Laurent Clerc, who were
also teachers at the school in Paris.They were in England giving demonstrations on how
to teach the Deaf by using sign language.The Paris school, which had been founded by
the Abbe Charles Michel de L’Epee in 1771, was using French Sign Language in
combination with a set of methodically developed signs.
Gallaudet persuaded Clerc to return with him to the States and in 1817 the first
American school for the Deaf was established in the city of Hartford, Connecticut.
Over time, the sign used at that school, plus the signs that were already being used by
Deaf people in America evolved into what we now know as ASL.
Roch-Ambroise Cucurron Sicard Jean Massieu & Laurent Clerc

50. Continued…
It is important to note that sign language was being
used here in America before Gallaudet and Clerc set up
the school. One example (than you may want to
research more) took place in Martha’sVineyard. At
one time many Deaf people lived there and all or
almost all of the townsfolk knew how to sign whether
or not they were Deaf.

51. You will often see the term “Deaf” spelled with a capital “D” throughout the
lessons.Generally, a capitalized form of the word “Deaf” will be used when
talking about those who are “culturally Deaf.”When referring to those are
physically deaf a lowercase “d” will be used.While it is true that in general
“Deaf” people are physically deaf, that is not always the case.The case could
be made that some hearing children of Deaf parents are culturally Deaf. If it
becomes important to indicate that a person is both physically and culturally
Deaf the label “d/Deaf” will be made.
People who feel that being Deaf is about “language, culture, and a visual
orientation to life” subscribe to the “cultural model” of Deafness.

52. Continued…
In general, members of the American Deaf Community do not think of themselves to
be disabled.They do not see or label themselves as impaired versions of hearing
people.They see themselves as a cultural group bonded together by a common
language. Members of the Deaf Community do not want to be “h/hearing.” If given a
choice, many of them would choose to remain DEAF.
There are indeed many deaf people in the U.S. who consider themselves to be
disabled. Such individuals are generally not fluent in ASL and do not consider
themselves to be members of the core (culturally) Deaf Community. So, most of the
time when the term “Deaf Community,” We are discussing people who are culturally
Deaf.

53. Continued…
People who feel that “deafness is a problem to be solved” subscribe to the
“pathological model” or the “medical model” of deafness and are not culturally Deaf.
It may help to realize it is not our “deafness” that we value, rather it is our “Deafhood.”