ASL sign language ?

[Schmutz]

Has anyone considered learning sign language to communicate with loved ones? My hoarseness in the last few days has left me worried and my husband said "Why don't we learn sign language?"

Maybe its nuts but i wondered if anyone has tried it...

Anne

 

[GregK]

Won't do much good when your hands go ... :-/

 

[Vincent]

Sounds like a good idea. Sort of self limiting with eventual loss of hand use. If hoarseness is a problem and manual dexterity is still good, it'a hard to beat a pen and paper.
Vincent

 

[Jane]

Hello, We ended up using a letter board with vowels down the left hand side and the rest of the letters in order across the Bristol board. We also used pictures of everyday things, e.g. a picture of a sweater indicated Pals was cold. We used pictures for our own purposes and the board can be made for your Pals specific needs. It is an inexpensive method of communicating when all other avenues are no longer workable.
Pals blink only when you have pointed at the right letter. Save a little energy for then It is s l o w but it does work. This is how our board looked

a bcd
e fgh
I jklmn
o pqrst
u vwxyz
We found this was less tiring especially the pictures because they were for commonly needed things. Some pictures are hard to find, we used a vacuum picture to indicate the need for suctioning, and a hockey mask to indicate that Bi pap mask needed adjusting. Hope this is of help to you. It took very little time to make the board and we used it everyday also helped for people who came in to help .

 

[taliaric]

I work with people who teach ASL and the learning curve is pretty steep and there is the issue of what to do if hand strength and dexterity becomes an issue.

I have speech issues and I am a MAC user and there are some great computer options some built right into apple products (text to speech) and some that can be purchased at not too much cost that might be helpful as an alternative. There are even more options for PC users. My speech pathologist was looking into a device for my iPhone that would help project my voice, but I haven't heard back from her on that. I can let you know if that turns out to be an option if that is of interest. For me hoarseness is in part due to a lack of breath support. So, if I am able to talk more quietly, I am able to preserve the voice some.

Best of luck,

Jen

 

[ltbeauti]

My sister took several years of ASL courses. I learned some too. We both have a slow progressing form of ALS. It helped a lot to keep our minds busy and sharp to learn something new.
I use my iPad to communicate mostly as I still have use of my hands.

But it is nice to use ASL to communicate often used words. My husband never learned any, but by me saying and signing frequently used words he caught on. Stuff like, bathroom, more, juice, thank you, napkin, etc.

My fine motor skills are starting to wane, but I can still do most signs.

 

[AKmom]

There are many programs on ipads and tablets that have a way for you to "bank" your voice and then use the program to communicate later when you no longer have a voice. You start now while you can still speak. If your voice is too weak now or too hoarse to listen too, then ask a friend or family member to help you bank their voice as yours. I do not remember the names of the programs, I am sure someone here can chime in on that. But if your bulbar symptoms are progressing, then you should consider doing this.