The Art of Sign

American Sign Language is a beautiful language that is often forgotten because it cannot be heard. However, it is seen all over the United States. Many people ask me, "Is sign language the same every where?" It is not though actually it is different in every country due to the culture. Culture has a lot to do with the way sign language is put together and how the signs are formed. I have included a chart of the American Sign Language alphabet and as you can see just from this chart the many of the letters are similar to how the letters of our alphabet look.

There are many famous people who have been deaf such as Curtis Pride who is a current deaf professional baseball player and Juliette Low who is the woman who started girl scouts. ( http://www.start-american-sign-language.com/famous-deaf-people.html ) This is just a little taste of how accomplished people can become even with being deaf. As a person who is in love with sign language and hopes to be an interpreter in some way I have done an extensive amount of research on the subject.

Going along with the title of this blog please take the time to look beyond what you can see. The world is so full of beauty, but you have to work at seeing that beauty some times. Of course there will be those moments when rain falls and the glow of street lights catch your attention and help you remember the beauty in life, but there will be other times when a little smile or hug will remind you so much more of that beauty. Take the time to listen and research. I have included some links about sign language and just take the time to see what you think.

http://www.aslpro.com/
http://www.handspeak.com/
http://www.signingsavvy.com/

Seeing Real Beauty

If anyone has been paying attention to the news there is a little girl who has received plastic surgery. She is seven years old and had ears that stuck out, while one of the ears also was bent over. Her mom wanted to get her plastic surgery in order to stop the bullying she was receiving. How aweful it is that people must change themselves in order to be accepted by the public.

I was reading through the comments and found that there were many parents who would readily let their children get plastic surgery in order to help them fit in. What are we teaching our children if we are letting them change themselves just because someone is making fun of them? Each and every person is fearfully and wonderfully made, whether society thinks so or not. Instead of having children feel like they need to fit into the mold why are we not teaching them how to love others?

I was one of those children who was bullied mercilessly and there were certainly days I would come home and wonder, "What is wrong with me?" I remember a countless amount of times after stepping off a scale and studying the mirror wondering why I was so different and why others could not accept me for who I was. Granted I do not have to worry about my ears or something equivalent, but the point of this blog is to show that by broadcasting something like this to the public we are sending a message to our children that if they do not like the way they look or they are bullied that they can just get surgery to fix it.

I am happy that this little girl feels comfortable with herself now, but will there be other emotional issues that ensue because this problem was so easily fixed? Will she want to change the way she looks more when she is teased about something else? Only time will tell.