Private sign tutoring is now available to help people who have become deaf, as well as family members, to enhance communications using sign language.  Many people who have become deaf have learned, sometimes without knowing it, to rely on speechreading.  Family members have also learned, from trial and error, to slow down their speech and speak clearly to their deafened loved one.  Learning sign does not stop using these valuable strategies.  Sign can support these strategies to increase the accuracy of expressive and receptive communications.

The format for each tutoring appointment consists of assigning, through email communications, one or two videos on this website to watch.  Practice sentences for the corresponding videos will be sent via email. The practice sentences will contain the signs you have just practiced as well as signs yet to be learned.  When you feel ready for feedback on the sentences, you can send an email to set up the tutoring appointment. The platform I generally use for appointments is Skype.

My method in teaching simultaneous communication (talk and sign at the same time) is to have the focus be on WHAT IS KNOWN at the time in the learning process and not on WHAT IS NOT KNOWN. Too often we sabotage our efforts to begin using sign until fluency is perceived.   The goal as the tutoring process progresses is to find yourself signing more and more every keyword in the spoken sentence.

If those who are closest to you are not quite ready to join your interest in learning sign at this time, I still encourage you to do it for you.  In time they may follow.

You can reach out to me for more information through the website contact page.