June 2011
Volume 6, Issue 3
In this issue
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What to include in a letter to legislators
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Did You Know? Letter delivery to legislators
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ASL Writing: A new approach
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Ask TSW: Long-winded e-mails
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Did You Know? TSW is eight years old!
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TSW Tidbits
What to include in a letter to legislators
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 There are a large number of deaf schools facing severe budget cuts and/or closure. Such threats are not new; deaf schools have always faced opposition, budget cuts and risks. However, with the current economic climate, it is even more important to contact legislators to fight changes to deaf schools’ futures. This also applies to different programs and services for deaf and deafblind people.
An excellent resource for learning more about advocacy and writing to legislators is Making Your Case. This is a free online course presented in American Sign Language (ASL) with open captions, developed by the Commission of Deaf, DeafBlind and Hard of Hearing Minnesotans (MCDHH). It includes useful tips on building your case, meeting with legislators and writing letters or e-mails, and offers real-life case studies.
Making Your Case states that a good letter or e-mail answers five key questions:
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WHO are you? A constituent
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WHAT needs to be changed? Your issue
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WHY does the issue need to change? Your personal story
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HOW does the issue need to change? Your request for action
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WHEN does the person need to take action? Refer to a scheduled vote, an upcoming debate, community event, etc.
In addition, consider seven critical elements that are easy to overlook:
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Make sure the address is accurate.
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Salute the elected official properly.
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Introduce yourself within one paragraph, and state that you are a constituent.
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Explain your case using a personal story.
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Request a specific action, such as “I hope you will oppose the Closure of Deaf Schools bill…”
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In conclusion, always thank the legislator for his or her assistance.
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Sign your letter along with your contact information.
TSW worked closely with MCDHH on Making Your Case. TSW also helped create, in partnership with the National Consortium of Interpreter Education Centers (NCIEC), the Deaf Self-Advocacy Training curriculum. Train-the-trainer sessions are being held nationwide (see TSW Tidbits below). For more information, visit http://bit.ly/iKRjOn.
Did You Know? Letter delivery to legislators
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Did you know that when you write a legislator, it might take as much as three to five weeks to reach that individual? Although this is truer for national legislators, this is also true for state legislators. The letter takes time to be sent, then it usually goes through several individuals before the legislator actually reads it. So a letter isn't always the best method to contact legislators. The MCDHH website has an overview of which format is most ideal for different situations at http://bit.ly/mMaXET.
ASL Writing: A new approach
(ASL VERSION WILL BE AVAILABLE SOON.)
American Sign Language has no standardized written version, but Robert Arnold of California is trying to change that with si5s (a word that is a play on the sign for ASL fluency). Although his efforts are hardly the first, he is quickly capturing support for si5s because of its simplicity, ease of use and quick learning process.
How si5s works
The premise behind si5s is that with any language learning process, a learner will first begin with the alphabet, then vocabulary, sentences and paragraphs. “With si5s, we begin with the digibet, then ASL spacabulary [Arnold’s coined term for spatial vocabulary], sentences and paragraphs. As any language, it takes time, and we need language discipline to be fluent,” Arnold explains. si5s incorporates facial grammar along with directionality in its digibets and spacabulary (see chart at right).
A written ASL system? Why?
si5s LLC, Arnold's company, is dedicated to introducing ASL writing everywhere, building a corpus of ASL literature in text form. The written system strives to promote broader linguistic study of ASL in its literary, rather than notational, form, and provide insight into how signers think and communicate.
Arnold is no stranger to ASL. He attended the Virginia School for the Deaf and Blind and then Gallaudet University for a year and half. In 2005, he returned to Gallaudet as a graduate student majoring in Deaf studies. His master’s thesis, A Proposal for a Written System of ASL, gave him the opportunity to test his idea, and he decided to move forward in formalizing the system.
Many believe that ASL cannot be translated into a written version given its organic and multidimensional format. Arnold replies wryly, “Can anyone imagine trying to invent a written system based on sound? Actually, long ago, no one thought writing based on sound would ever be possible.” He points out that ancient philosophers like Socrates worried that writing would be the demise of speech.
“I had someone tell me that ASL writing would take away ‘the beauty of ASL.’ Not so. It can’t anyway because no writing can quite capture the true oral prosody. It is not meant to be. And I expect the same with ASL writing,” Arnold says. “There have been many attempts to write exactly how one speaks. That misses the whole point. Writing merely is another form of communication and it does not serve to reflect voice, or here, reflect signing. However, si5s has symbols that nearly seem iconic to a point. I do not want it to become a notational writing system, and restrict free form expression, which removes the ability to deduce as one reads.”
He continues, “I created si5s with that in mind because I want to engage readers to deduce in their own ways, enabling creative thoughts and interpretations in several ways. This is the power of writing and reading.”
 Paving pathways to greater participation
Arnold is passionate about the benefits of si5s, and sees it as a gateway for greater participation in society among deaf people. “Writing is a map of spoken language. Writing is an essential tool of communication bridging societies and cultures. Take deaf people for instance. How is it that deaf people know so much about the hearing society and its history, literature and culture? The written language has, for years, served as a map for deaf people to learn hearing societies by reading through the landscape of another culture and its history without ever having to learn to speak and hear the language.”
He also addresses the debate of recording ASL on video instead of paper. “Reading video is an act of looking through a tube or tunnel—you cannot glance away as the upcoming information or previous information is streaming in a limited scope. This leaves little choice for gathering information compared to glancing at a page. Watching a video requires focus on one spot which runs on each second whereas reading a page allows one to glance all over the map of the language and make choices of what to read, to glean, and to muse.”
Arnold notes that writing requires significantly less preparation than creating a video, and that a pencil and piece of paper is far more cost-effective. “You can put a Post-It note on a door, a wall, a refrigerator but you wouldn’t want to nail your phone, or iPad with a video on the door. Written ASL will be on the bookshelves for years to come, far longer than video can last on the Internet.”
The future of si5s
Arnold’s vision is that si5s will create an industry. “si5s LLC provides workshops and lessons for ASL writing, because si5s belongs to Deaf people. It has great potential for businesses like T.S. Writing Services,” Arnold says. “A si5s dictionary website was recently established to expand ASL spacabulary, and we provide free videos on our website to ensure that anyone interested in learning can do so. After all, the more literary corpus in si5s, the better map we have to offer of our own world.”
Videos and articles, and Arnold’s book, are at www.si5s.com; the si5s dictionary is at www.aslwrite.com. Although Arnold’s book is currently sold out, he expects to have more available in the fall.
Photograph credit: Dyan Sue Kovacs
Ask TSW: Long-winded e-mails
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 I have a relative who constantly sends me long-winded e-mails. I don’t know how to tell him that his e-mails are overwhelming and so boring, and we’re not quite close enough for me to simply tell him. What do you suggest I do?
This oft-asked question was asked at the Deaf and Hard of Hearing in Government National Training Conference, held earlier this month in Washington, D.C. Different audience members had different approaches to this.
One workshop participant suggested that you treat the e-mail the same way as if the relative were talking too much in person. You could provide hints that you prefer shorter conversations, or use leave-taking behaviors. For instance, in e-mail, you could respond with brief, polite messages as to encourage shorter responses.
Another workshop participant suggested that it depends on your relationship with the writer. If you are close enough, you could perhaps tell your relative you simply don’t have time for long e-mails and wonder if it would be possible for him to help you with time management by sending shorter messages.
Yet another suggestion is to find articles about the importance of writing brief, concise and clear e-mails and share it with the writer. Perhaps your relative simply doesn’t know how to write effective e-mails, and doesn’t realize how his e-mails come across.
One workshop participant pointed out that she often uses other people’s e-mails as examples for her own e-mails. She picks e-mail writers with styles she admires, and tries to emulate their approaches. Perhaps by example, your relative will notice your standard e-mail length, and begin to shorten his e-mails.
If nothing works, there’s always the delete button.
Have a question about American Sign Language or English? Send your question to news@tswriting.com.
 Did You Know? TSW is eight years old!
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Happy birthday to us! TSW turns eight years old in July We have grown from having a very small client base to having served over a thousand clients. And it’s all because of you—your referrals, your support, and your business. Thank you!
TSW Tidbits
 Upcoming workshops
Trudy Suggs will presented Deaf Self-Advocacy Training train-the-trainer sessions in St. Paul, Minn., on July 12 and 28, and in Kansas City, Mo., on August 8. The workshops, provided in partnership with the CATIE Center, are available at no charge to participants. For more information, visit http://bit.ly/iKRjOn.
Additionally, her !@#@!#^: Complaining the Right Way workshop will be presented at the Deaf Seniors of America Conference in Chicago in late August. She will also present Partners in Making Your Case: An Online, Self-Guided Course for Advocacy. More information is at www.dsa2011-chicago.org.
To book a workshop or receive information about TSW workshops, e-mail info@tswriting.com.
Facebook and Twitter
TSW has a Facebook page! Come to www.facebook.com/tswriting and click on LIKE. We also have a Twitter account at www.twitter.com/tswriting (or follow @tswriting).
About TSW
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T.S. Writing Services, LLC, is a Deaf-owned company that provides writing, editing, design and translation services in American Sign Language and English. For more information, visit www.tswriting.com, or follow us on Twitter at @tswriting.
Questions or suggestions about this e-newsletter may be sent to the editor at news@tswriting.com.
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