American Sign Language

Sign language...hmmm...another way of communicating for many people, not only for people who are hearing impaired but for many children/people who are non verbal, some people who have autism use American Sign Language, others who have C.P. have found it helpful and so many others.
Hailey uses her Dynavox V at school to help her communicate and they are also teaching her a bit of sign language as well. Last year my husband and I decided to have someone come to the house once a week to teach us sign language so that we would be could keep up with Hailey. This year for Christmas we got our family an IPAD so that Hailey could use the proloquo2go app. Some people in the special needs world are referring to this app as “a miracle device.” I think it is important for us to have many different ways of communicating with Hailey if not with words.
Because we did not actually use the sign language steadily and regularly, I have already forgotten some of my signs. :( A couple of months ago my local library had the Program Director of the ASL Academy come in and teach some basic signs, I thought this would be a great opportunity for me to take a refresher course. I attended this workshop and struck up a conversation with The Director about the Academy. He told me a bit about his program and also offers a course on line. For so many families out there, finding the time to commit to a class seems nearly impossible. Taking the online class may be the answer for your family. I hope you find this helpful.

The American Sign Language Academy offers classes in American Sign Language in Pawtucket, RI, with over 90 students attending regularly. In addition, to accommodate those who would like to take classes but may be too far away or have scheduling conflicts, ASLA will be offering an on-line course starting in April.

The course utilizes 21st century technology with the benefit of teacher feedback. The idea is called the Blended Classroom. The cost for level 1 on-line is $125.00.

After registering for the course, students will be sent their course materials. They will go to the website and use are a password for the first of nine weekly lessons. They will see a video with detailed instruction. At the end of the lesson, students will need to set aside time to practice. After seven weeks, students will meet with the teacher (Manuel Martin) via webcam and do their first presentation. They will receive feedback from the teacher. In the ninth week, they will do their second presentation. After the teacher indicates the two presentations are successful, students will be mailed a certificate of completion and they will be eligible to go on to level 2.

Students will be able to access each lesson for the assigned week. If they miss a week, they will be allowed to go back to that lesson as a make up. Only one lesson may be repeated in this way during the course.

More than one student may use the course. However, each additional student will be charged $25.00 if they want to do their presentations for the teacher, receive feedback and receive a certificate at the end of the course.

In a few weeks, when the program is ready to be launched, information will be posted on the website. Contact us with any questions you may have.

Manuel Martin
ASL Academy
401 722 1022
http://www.aslacademy.org
http://www.facebook.com/pages/American-Sign-Language-Academy/219507895413