by Alisabeth Hopper | Apr 27, 2017 | Resources, Tips & Tricks, Videos
Hello All!
This week for our signing video I decided to change it up and do my best attempt at an ASL cover of “How Far I’ll Go” from Moana. This is very different from the other videos that I do in many ways. The most evident is that I am signing in real time and in ASL.
I am usually focusing my energy on signed English which is signing the sign for each word within an English sentence structure. So you might be wondering… then what is ASL? ASL or American Sign Language is its own language, which means that it operates under its own sentence and lingual structure.
In ASL you may sign only a few words in an entire sentence. But where they don’t use as many words they make up for in visual elements. You can see in the video below that I create a place where the ocean is in my visual field and I use it as a frame of reference and to develop the story. So the following lyrics…
Every road I take
Every trail I track
Every path I make
Every road leads back
Becomes
Road/path (gesturing to ocean)
Walk (gesturing to ocean)
Road/path (gesturing to ocean)
Go (gesturing to ocean)
It may be simplified in word count but the content and imagery is vivid in ASL and in many ways I think it is a more comprehensive and expressive language than any other.
by Alisabeth Hopper | Apr 20, 2017 | Resources, Tips & Tricks, Videos
Welcome back to Sign Language & Music!
Today I took a little time to go through our signs for 1-31. Now that might seem like an odd set of numbers but I use them mostly to express the days of the month which, as you know, go from 1-31. That beings said, I also use number signs for counting and to express age. For most of my clients number signs can be difficult and frustrating because there are so many of them and there isn’t a consistent and set pattern that they follow. You will notice that the signs 20-30 look quite a bit different from 10-20. So take your time with it. I recommend starting with the signs for 1-5. Then once you get comfortable add five more, and so on. If you feel secure in your signs then your clients will feel secure in the signs you teach them!
by Alisabeth Hopper | Apr 6, 2017 | MTC
This may not be the most pleasant signs but they are so very important! Whether you’re a Music Therapist working with clients, patients, and students who may be nonverbal, deaf, or hard of hearing, or if you are a parent who wants to give your little one the ability to express their aches and pains. These are incredible useful signs for all!
In the video you will learn signs for stomach ache, tooth ache, sick, and even dizzy! These are descriptive and very helpful in trying to understand an individuals behavior or emotional distress. Having the ability to say “I feel dizzy” or “I have a stomach ache” are priceless skills for all of us regardless of our age or abilities.
by Alisabeth Hopper | Feb 20, 2017 | MTC
Hey all!
This week in Sign Language & Music we explored numbers 1-10 in sign language. I mentioned that I often use number signs 1-31 in calendar time for many of my sessions. The numbers 1-10 are a great start to learning all of those number signs!
So heres the big question… Do I use signed numbers, or standard finger counting?
This really depends on what your classroom, students, or clients are using. If they have been using and gaining understanding with standard counting then that might be the most appropriate counting measure to use. Many of my classrooms use signed numbers so I use those to reiterate the method that is already being used in the classroom. At the end of the day I am always in search of the most efficient and effective means to the end. Check out this weeks video below, and have a wonderful week!
-AH
by Alisabeth Hopper | Feb 13, 2017 | Tips & Tricks, Videos
This week in Sign Language & Music I shared with you one of my favorite animal songs “Down on Grandpa’s Farm”. Its fun and not the same old farm song you hear every day. I hope you all can enjoy it as much as I do. That being said, you probably also noticed that my voice is almost gone, truly almost gone. It has been fading away slowly since about last Saturday…but I was ready.
This is one of the amazing benefits of utilizing sign language in my work. All of us could benefit from signing at one time or another and today, it was me! I was able to use sign language to engage my clients in alternative ways, communicate with them, and maintain the same efficacy in the session without using my voice at all!
How can you use sign language today?
