I recieve this email from Ross. Before you read this below, we told our Social group that we will no longer distribution invite mailing list. Instead of invite, we will post right here on our blog if anything changes other than going to Omega every Wedneday.  For now, we will be at Omega every Wednesday. Feel free to stop by and find us signing visibly.

Now read this warmth email from Ross:

Hey there Dean!

I saw your email about the Open Hand Social and wanted to send you a letter of Thanks.  Over a year ago I randomly met you in JR’s and through your graciousness and friendship my life has been significantly changed and enriched by You, David, and my exposure to the Deaf Community. When I met you and started learning sign, I remember having my first dinner with Ant, all nervous of how I would be able to communicate and him telling me over and over to just relax. Through you I have made many a deaf friend, been exposed to your culture and perception, been the only Heary in a car full of bar hopping Deafies, learned to communicate with deaf people, joke with deaf people, be friends with deaf people,  and be completely comfortable around the Deaf Community. Sometimes I forget that many of my other friends have never encountered a deaf person before and to see their stressed out reactions is starting to be strange to me. Now I am at Gallaudet taking ASL classes, wandering the campus, and I am excited about where this will take me. I have you to thank for this. I truly appreciate the opportunity you have given me, and the help, time, & patients you have shown while, out of the generosity of your heart, taught me sign. Before meeting you the entire thought of this occurring NEVER crossed my mind. Thank you for helping me grow in such a profound and enlightening way. Your friendship is cherished and I will spend the rest of my life knowing that you were responsible for opening a new and exciting chapter in my life.

-Ross

Congrats, Ross, for taking a next level of learning ASL.  Gallaudet University is a good place to start with learning ASL.  After all, it is a Deaf university.  We look forward to see your growth of knowledge in ASL and join us for future Social gatherings.

In the meantime, we will try to maintain a blog in a timely manner.  Like we said in our mailing list distribution that maintaining a blog is not easy and it takes so much of our time invest in this blog, but we can make it a great educational place for ASL learners across the United States of America.

Keep your eyes peels for new updates… if you want be distributed for new updates, you can either add the RSS can be found on the the first sidebar on the top.  Or if you want to be emailed, just email me at dean2004 (at) gmail dot com.

Have a great day.

Joey Teets was one of a very few people who comes to the practice then social almost regularly.  And he has learned a lot since then, and still does not give up.  In fact, he still learns new sign words once in a while.  He also helps us teach new learners once in a while.  We appreciate you for being part of us today. 

So I asked Joey to tell a bit about himself, why he does want to learn, what motivates him to learn ASL, and lastly what tips he would suggest for New ASL learners.

I am a 52 year old divorced father of three adult children ( boy, girl, boy).  I was originally raised outside of Pittsburgh PA but moved to Virginia 25 years ago.  I currently live in Manassas but hope to move to DC by Sept 09.

I am learning sign because it’s about time I did.  As a child my brother and I were fascinated with the manual alphabet.  In high school my girlfriend taught me a few signs; my favorite was I Love You.  When my nephew was born with downs syndrome I learned a few signs that his teachers taught him.  At work I had a deaf colleague who held a few ASL training sessions that I attended.  A couple years ago I met a nice fellow at Omega who is deaf.  I could only sign my name but he was patient and we visited for a little while passing notes back and forth.  He soon left with his deaf friends and I figured I’d never see Toby again………

Now my best friend, David, is dating Dean and I don’t want to lose my best friend just because I can’t keep up with the conversation.  I am enjoying learning a new skill although I find it much harder to learn things now that alcohol has killed off my best brain cells.

I strongly encourage new learners to come regularly so you can quickly use the new signs.  The more you use them the easier it gets. I found I could actually sign a short conversation (with a patient person) after just a few months.