What is the real difference between:
ASL (American Sign Language)
PSE (Pidgin Signed English)
SEE (Signing Exact English)
It's always an interesting topic to try to understand.
From our experience at Gallaudet University 1990-1993, and current Deaf community, most USA 'generational' Deafies use and prefer
*ASL (American Sign Language) to communicate. It is a birthright, cultural method to bond and understand. ASL is also a quicker way to communicate. For example; "Store, me go "
*PSE is mostly used by people who are late deaf or hard of hearing. Their preference is to stay close to English grammar but also including ASL classifiers to assist a connection to 'generational' Deaf and to help emphasize their word meanings. For example; "I'm go to store." (Be right back.) The sign for 'Be right back.' is a one finger motion of go and come back. I sign this to my dog, each time I leave our house. "Be right back." My hubby does not, he's hard of hearing, I'm late deaf. Hence the use of a capital 'D' for generational Deaf and a small 'd' for those who become deaf later in life and not candidates for cochlear implants or opt not to get one.
*SEE is sometimes taught in schools so that any student with any kind of hearing loss can understand the endings of words such as ING, ES, ED.
Walk, walks, walked, walking.
One example, at Gallaudet University, Public Speaking class, our professor asked us students to exchange term papers with each other. I had to read, two times, the term paper I got because the classmate I exchanged with was generational Deaf. Not to put her down, I'm just trying to describe what I saw, it looked like broken English at a 5th grade reading level. I glanced at her and she looked quite overwhelmed reading my term paper, typed in college level, proper English. I was hard of hearing back then, I wore one hearing aid. I felt bad for her, but when she got up for her turn to talk about her term paper, in her generational, cultural ASL, I understood the topic she was trying to convey.
This is most likely where former Gallaudet University President, Dr. Irving King Jordan, suggested TC, "Total Communication " All students with any kind of hearing loss needs to utilize any and all methods of communication, to help them succeed in life. Let them use ASL, PSE, SEE, hand gestures, facial expressions, white boards, emails...
Some folks who are Deaf or late deaf don't use sign language at all. They rely on lipreading / speech reading. They use exact endings of words. I learned this in speech reading classes in elementary and junior high school.
It truly is a personal preference what kind of sign language to use, just like the choice of wearing a hearing aid or getting a cochlear implant or two.
To date, Hubby and I have been noticing more PSE is being used in movies, Deaf Rap/Hip Hop music and at local Deaf community events. PSE is a combination of ASL and SEE and we think that's pretty cool. We still have respect for those who sign in only ASL or SEE because we understand the frustrations of life in a hearing world...or ...is it truly, still, a hearing world? How many people do you know, have some kind of hearing loss?
Do you know how many in USA have some kind of hearing loss? How many are Deaf? How many deaf? How many people in this world?
🤟😊💜👍🐾🐾🤟😊💙👍
Photo source, Google
