subject: The Complex American Sign Language Made Easy [print this page] During pregnancy, your unborn child may be at risk to deafness. This is a condition that can be acquired through contracting German measles or through drinking medications before finding out that you are pregnant. Deafness is not wholly a hereditary condition so with this bit of information, if you are planning to conceive anytime now, you have to be careful and prepared. When you find out that your child is hearing-impaired, once he is old enough to replicate what you are showing him, try to introduce to him the American Sign Language or what is known as the ASL. Do not be intimidated with the complexity of this language since it uses even facial expressions to get the words across. For starters, you may think that the American Sign Language belongs to a universal platform wherein you and your child may understand the sign in any part of the globe. For your information, sign language differs from country to country. This means that if you are using the ASL, hearing-impaired children from Britain using the British Sign Language will find it hard to converse back. As an example to show the complexity of the American Sign Language, when you want to sign the word "father" all you have to do is place your thumb of the right hand against your forehead wherein the hand is in an open position. The ASL also should not be compared with the spoken language for it has its own rules with regard to grammar. What makes the ASL special is that it requires the deaf person to communicate with another person not just by hand signals but a whole ensemble of facial expressions, body movements and even visual cues. There are also signs that need no letter spelling like the members of the family.
