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From: Fran.O'Gorman@f94.n272.z1.fidonet.org (Fran O'Gorman)
Newsgroups: misc.handicap
Subject: Re: ASL as a Conceptual Language
Message-ID: <15777@handicap.news>
Date: 23 May 91 19:28:16 GMT
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[This is from the Silent Talk Conference]

Hi James,
     I can see what your saying, and while as you say, ASL depends
on concrete things at times, so does spoken English, and thus we
have so many figures of speech, metaphors and the like.  I don't
think that either prevent one from being able to express abstract
ideas.
     I know that even when speaking when presenting a lesson where
I am trying to convey a difficult concept, the more visuals,
graphics, and even gestures I can get into it, the more the
students seem to 'get it'.
     And you're right, there IS alot of ambiguity in English.
     I recently got a book published by Gallaudet that has school
words and gets into ALOT of very specific terminology, scientific
and the other disciplines as well... the signs do exist.

--Fran

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