4 Rules for Having an ASL Conversation | Hearing and Deaf

Join Meredith and Sarah as they dive into the critical rules of engaging in American Sign Language conversations. Whether you're a beginner or looking to polish your skills, this video provides clear, practical tips and real-life examples to help you communicate effectively using ASL. These are great rules to follow when going into an ASL conversation with the Deaf.
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NAVIGATION
0:00 - Intro
0:20 - The appropriate ways to get attention of Deaf
1:24 - Rule 1: What not to do when getting attention of Deaf
2:11 - Sarah's preferences of people getting her attention
4:49 - Rule 2: Look at persons eyes when having ASL conversation
6:12 - Rule 3: Give feedback with facial expressions (non-manuals)
8:37 - Rule 4: Don't look away in the middle of the ASL conversation
11:34 - Encouragement
#asl #learnasl #learnhowtosign

[@BennieKennedy-qh5vi]

I am a retired Firefighter from Valdosta Ga. I had a situation where I encountered a deaf person on a medical call and I felt helpless because I had no idea how to help. I could tell the lady was desperately trying to explain what the issue was. I promised that I would be active in learning ASL. I’m just starting and very clumsy but I’m trying. Thanks for all you do!

[@Danielle-db9cy]

Hello. I'm deaf. I remember that my ex who is hearing always tap my shoulder so hard. I keep told him do not tap my shoulder so hard. Take easy tap on shoulder. He not listen sometimes. Same as my daughter who is hearing tap my shoulder so hard. I told her do not so hard. Take easy tap, or hand wave or switch light and stomp floor not too often. When I feel from floor. She stop tap my shoulder so hard. Thank God! LOL i would be mad and yelled if whoever tap my shoulder so hard. Its hurt and disrespect to deaf. Now we used stomp floor, switch light and hand wave. I'm very sensitive from light. If I sleep my kids turn my light from my bedroom or hallway. I just woke up fast or look at my kids what they want to say.

[@ldmassey]

I'm a hearing person, knew a few signs from childhood but just recently starting to learn ASL. I don't know anyone else who signs, so I have a question- I prefer not to shoulder tap, just because I feel like it's kind of intrusive and I'm scared to scare people... so im going to try not to if I ever do communicate with a deaf person... but is that wierd too? Like should I learn to just be okay with that and get out of my comfort zone? I mean eye contact is something I had to work on a lot, so im not opposed to fixing my mannerisms, but if it's not too inconvenient for the other person, I'd rather just not tap at all.

[@smiling4u2]

I always gave facial expression and feedback but I did stare at the hands trying to understand and not miss anything especially in social settings where everybody is signing fast and maybe using signs that I am not familiar with . I had a deaf instructor laugh at me one time and teased me that my eyes look like marbles trying to keep up! Lol

[@LearnHowtoSign]

lol that is a good one.

[@gardeniagirl1374]

We do what we need to do to learn the skill we want to acquire. I'm sorry you got laughed at.

[@nerysghemor5781]

Was it friendly teasing or no? Always hard to be sure in text what’s meant.

[@Anthony-ym8vf]

More conversations with a person who is deaf please. I live on the other side of the world, and we use a different sign language. However, the president of our Deaf Association often attends meetings with American Signers, and she needs all the help she can get. By watching videos like this, I am able to pick up a few signs and can then practice with the associations president, who is also deaf. PS - We live in Kiribati and would love to learn more ASL

[@gardeniagirl1374]

Sarah said don't make it hard on yourself / hurt yourself trying to get the attention of Deaf. That is helpful advice because sometimes hearing people are hesitant to communicate with Deaf because they don't know how to get their attention. Sarah's advice may help reduce the hesitantcy. Hello to Sarah's dogs Remington, Tombe, and I forgot the other name.

[@scottbrockman5883]

Just watched this on KZbin for the second time. First off, since I'm still learning

[@jboogy197]

As new signer, it's hard for me to look at the eyes during a conversation with a deaf person. I'm so concentrated on their hands just to be sure I don't miss anything.😬 I am happy that the group I meet up with are patient with me 😊

[@Z_Israel]

Same here, it's frustrating to me because I do not want to be disrespectful however, I really want to learn the signs.

[@susanhenley8240]

Just had my first conversation with a deaf person at our church last weekend.

[@LearnHowtoSign]

Yay!!!!

[@susanhenley8240]

@@LearnHowtoSign It's hard not to look at their hands when trying to learn.

[@gardeniagirl1374]

Deaf people I know appreciate that you communicate with them, and they are helpful, too. I hope you learn something from each other.

[@benbrown8258]

Thank you, thank you, thank you. I don't want to be rude or give the impression my hearing experience is the standard of what is a 'civilized' human. For me also, sound can at times be a painful startling experience. I've explained when something interrupts me, but wasn't sure this was right or not. I don't feel so... wrong now, but, boy do i still have a lot to learn. I'm glad my Deaf friends are patient. I have to stay committed to getting better in conversations.

[@neilmandelin3589]

Thank you so much. This is very helpful because I don't know anyone deaf so I am not sure what is appropriate yet. I'm sure I will still make mistakes. But your awesome videos should help me at least understand better. I'm having so much fun learning ASL. Thanks for all your your hard work and willingness to share!

[@LearnHowtoSign]

Glad it was helpful!

[@the_aerowolf]

Absolutely love these videos and this Is a very important one! thank you

[@LearnHowtoSign]

So glad!

[@leahpalmer4030]

I like this video but it's too fast. I'm just learning to sign and I can't keep up with the conversation. Could you please slow down a little when you're instructing? I really appreciate these videos. They're extremely helpful. Thank you so much for making them! I'm signed up on the website too and registered for the webinar on the 18th. I'm excited about learning this language. Warm regards, Leah 😊

[@flowerlove11]

You can acutally slow down the video yourself, when you need it slower (that's what I do!). You can go to settings (the little "gear-wheel" icon on lower right of youtube video), & choose "playback speed," & then select 0.75 or 0.5, depending on how slow you want. Hope this works for you.

[@jackgoldberg7340]

Some of the best things I've learned on you channel are right here.

[@ashnasoosan18]

Amazing video Thank you for posting!!

[@Evanthebat15]

This was very useful, the facial expressions are particularly hard for me. I've got Autism and struggle the most with expression.Would love more of these type of video where the two of you are conversing since it helps me learn the signs and put it to use.

[@Passion84GodAlways]

Thank you in advance!!! 💎 ✍🏾📝

[@destinypowers1146]

thank you Sarah and Meredith. this is so helpful. I'm living in the culture. slowly going deaf and its really good to learn this. i know my sister taught me things but I enjoy your videos

[@LearnHowtoSign]

You're so welcome!

[@scottbrockman5883]

Just watched this on KZbin for the second time today. First off, since I'm still learning ASL, what I don't like is waving back and forth, just up and down, banging instead of lightly tapping the table and turning on & off the lights. There are some people who have or have a history of flashing lights or being sensitive to lights. 2nd, deaf people aren't blind, they're deaf or hard of hearing. Blind people are blind and I have helped a blind person in the past, but by being their eyes when they can't see, even if they are color blind. That's why some flashing lights are called strobes and they're bright, for example shining on a disco ball or on emergency vehicles, police 🚔, fire 🔥 and medical, even burglar or fire alarms. Some buildings or schools have fire alarms i.e. speaker or horn/strobes that are pitched at a higher volume, like 1000 or 1600 htz as opposed to lower at 800 htz or 86 decibels. Lastly, some who is deaf or hard of hearing in a building or wouldn't hear anything or know how to react in an emergency or if there was a fire 🔥, burning toast or popcorn or if it's just a practice drill, until someone taps on the table or their shoulder, points it out to them like for example "All right, popcorn is ready (All right popcorn ready, eat). Hey, that's the fire alarm (Look, listen that (loud) fire 🔥 alarm (red and white flashing light). We'd better get out of here (we go (walk) out here)." That's actually from an episode of the cartoon TV show The Simpsons 🙂🙏✝️💒👍🤟.

[@smiling4u2]

Thank you both for this video. I remember years ago before certified sign language interpreters we're available and required by law, I was interpreting for a couple and I was already comfortable with the wife but when I was asked to interpret for the husband, they forgot to mention that he had tunnel vision!? 🤦‍♀️ Thankfully, his wife was interpreting what I was signing to him, but I just couldn't understand why he didn't understand me when she and I had many conversations. Anyways, lesson learned and nowadays like in church situations and other, those things are taken in consideration, as far as being seen clearly when signing for groups. A lot of places have monitors as well. I am not a certified interpreter and I don't have anyone to sign with , but I have always loved the language . 😊

[@LearnHowtoSign]

Interpreting for low vision or even tactile signing takes a lot of additional training. So glad you had support there.

[@michellechouinard4958]

I remember when I was in school and one of my friends thought it was the coolest thing that she could bang on the lunch table to get her deaf friends' attention. She definitely overdid it... lol. This makes me laugh and cringe at the same time just thinking about it. This information is honestly so, so helpful.

[@Adam-vb3gi]

Great videos guys! I can't wait until the next one!

[@LearnHowtoSign]

We can’t wait either.

[@christianjorgensen7192]

Excellent. Thank you.

[@glennahavey3163]

Once I went to an ASL social and being mobility challenged and using a rollator-walker, I lost my balance coming into the room. To catch myself from falling, I grabbed onto the shoulder of the nearest person seated. It was a deaf guy with his back to the door. I think I frightened him so much, and I kept signing, "Sorry! Sorry!! Sorry!!!" He has forgiven me, I think, and we are still friends!

[@barbbraendlein1223]

Fascinating!!!

[@Senju_kyomi]

This is so awsome

[@SolomonKankam]

I'm actually a sign language interpreter in Ghana, I wish I can get in touch with any deaf person or interpreter from the side of the world 🌍🌍

[@Acorn905]

Ngl some of these stress me out beacause i'm autistic so keeping eye contact and having expressive faces is kind of hard sometimes (especially when im tired) but i feel like it could alsow become easier to do if i try hard but alsow stay patient with myself if i practise, ill try my best ^^

[@savannahhutcheson8909]

Hi! I am hearing and am wanting to learn ASL. I have ADHD, and get distracted easily and struggle to make eye contact when I talk, not when listening though. Do you have any advice or tips on this?

[@vanessaparr4524]

I know a little bit of sign lauguage but not a lot of it so I need to ketchup on my sign langauge people that are deaf and with specail needs too

[@SohiTheTinyKittenHuman]

So I’m HOH and deaf without my aids but also autistic. I have a really hard time with eye contact and when speaking with hearing people I lipread. I always feel embarrassed that I can’t make eye contact when talking to a deaf person but in the case of talking to hearing or deaf people if I focus on eye contact I end up missing a lot of what’s said because it takes so much dedicated concentration to do so. My deaf friends know I’m autistic but if I don’t know the deaf person I’m signing with how should I proceed? Should I just say “Hello my name is Sohi. Nice to meet you! I am autistic so I have a hard time with eye contact, so please know I do not intend to be rude.” Or something ?

[@nerysghemor5781]

I was wondering something similar as someone with the combo of ADHD and full hearing (distractions, distractions EVERYWHERE!), about whether the other person would need to know about that in advance. (Though maybe it would also help to say I will not be offended if I need an occasional reminder? Like…I want to be fully attentive but I realize I might need a little help?)

[@Jervey_San_Andres]

What if the person I'm talking to doesn't use ASL? What is a good way for us to understand each other?(He uses Filipino Sign Language)

[@gardeniagirl1374]

Keep in mind that the Filipino alphabet consists of 3 more letters than the American alphabet does. Naturally, signs will be different because the alphabet is different. You may be able to pick up some similarities between signs in Filipino Sign Language (FSL) and ASL, but use discernment because some FSL means different things in ASL. For example, the letter W in FSL looks like the number 3 in ASL. 🇵🇭

[@Jervey_San_Andres]

@@gardeniagirl1374 thank you so much for that info.🤟🏼

[@AprilTeniente-eu1mj]

I only know American Sign Language in the US. People used different sign languages in different countries

[@led4131]

Any fellow autistic people here that are failing at facial expressions and eye contact? Hardest part of signing for me cause I basically only have one expression. I try, but I’m a robot

[@secretc1076]

Yeah I'm deaf trying to hear again but it's hard

[@SolomonKankam]

Don't try to hear again but understand better the sign language

[@unicorn3025]

Hi sarah and Meredith Its sara l❤ve the name lol Question 1 do you have friends that are both deaf/blind Any tips please 🙏 Question 2 do you know youtube channel His name is bill vicars Question 3 i 🤟🏼🤟🏼🤟🏼🤟🏼🤟🏼 both your channels I watch both channels But my question is which one do i follow I hope makes sense 💔 I 🤟🏼🤟🏼🤟🏼🤟🏼🤟🏼🤟🏼🤟🏼 sign language Beautiful language Thanks u so much ❤ Sorry if its too long 💔😔

[@destinypowers1146]

Sarah do you have a youtube channel, facebook or Instagram?