“Fingerspelling is paramount when communicating with someone who is deaf.  My mother and I live about three hours apart and it’s often hard to retain all of the word signs, so when I cannot recall the word sign, I can simply fingerspell the word.  While it probably requires a tremendous amount of patience on my mother’s part and lends to her having tired eyes after awhile, I’m so thankful to have this simple tool to communicate with her and I know she is too!  Plus, learning to fingerspell is quite easy. All you need to do is learn all 26 letter signs, which are simple enough to retain, and you will be able to communicate with someone who is deaf about anything.”