Jason Pettus

Hi, Sydney! I'm a little bit further into an ASL 1 class than you, but not by much, so I'd be happy to do some super-slow fingerspelling to help each other with reception. Just DM if you're interested, or you can email me directly at [email protected]. 

Rainbow, I'd be up for joining your Skype group if you put one together. I'm at jasonpettus on Skype, and you can either DM me here to talk more or email me at [email protected]. I'm 50 and based out of Chicago, a late-deafened adult who's about two-thirds of the way through an online ASL 1 course right now, looking to practice with other beginners like myself.

Oh, this is great! Thanks for sharing this. I'm still heavily involved in Chicago's literary community, only now as a publisher instead of an active writer, so I'm already starting to think about ways I can bring more Deaf accessibility to our large live literary and theatrical calendars here. I'm looking for as more things like this as I can hear about, so people should feel free to drop me a line directly at [email protected] with more recommendations.

Thanks! Now that I've been learning more ASL, I've also come to realize that I could probably say something more accurate like, "When young I was a performance poet," or "My signing same as theater why? When young I performed poetry S-L-A-M."

Back in the 1990s I was a slam poet, and I've been told that my signing is particularly theatrical as a result. I know that the sign for THEATER is backwards pinwheeling of thumbs-up "A" hands in front of your chest; but is there a separate sign for THEATRICAL, or do I simply sign THEATER in an exaggerated way?

I just learned about Switched at Birth, and began watching it on Netflix this week. Have you seen that video of Sean Berdy signing the entire alphabet in four seconds? Pretty amazing.

Hi! My name is Jason. I live in Chicago (spelling/city-sign). I'm hard of hearing, and I wear a hearing aid. My hearing is getting worse and worse, year after year. I can see the writing on the wall, so I thought now would be a good time to learn ASL. For two weeks I've been self-studying online, at Lifeprint.com, but next month I begin a class at Columbia College, here in the city. Right now I'm practicing at home all by myself -- so sad! -- so thank you, THANK you, for your help and friendship.