On Monday, August 14, 2023 at 03:00:50 PM PDT, Sharon ██████ <██████@███.edu>
wrote:
What would the proper sign be for a high tech AAC device? I work with a student
who is deaf that utilizes a communication program called LAMP Words for Life. It
is installed on a device that looks similar to an Ipad. We sometimes call these
"talkers." I don't want to use the sign for Ipad, because the Ipad is something
we use separately for break/play time, and it is not really an Ipad. Nor do I
want to fingerspell "AAC," because AAC refers to a wide range of communication
methods.
Thank you for any input you can provide!
- Sharon ██████
Sharon,
What an interesting word: "proper."
If by proper you mean widespread, easily recognized, generally accepted,
documented in literature, etc. -- then my response is there is no "proper" sign
for something that most people outside of your particular field have never used,
seen, or heard of. I know you think they are common but that is the curse of
knowledge. They are common to you and those in your field. The letters AAC
however are not common in the Deaf world. If you are not going to spell AAC, not
going to use some sort of initialized version of a sign for it, and don't want
to use the sign for iPad (which really isn't the sign for iPad if it is just the
sign for touch-screen hand-held electronic device) -- you would need to come up
with a depictive sign showing some aspect or characteristic of the device (other
than the depiction we often use for iPad).
Seriously, if I go to my wife in her office next to mine and ask her, "What is
the proper sign for an AAC with LAMP installed -- and don't tell me to spell AAC
because AAC refers to a wide range of communication methods?" -- she would have
no frigging clue -- despite being a life-long signer, active in the Deaf
Community, ASL educator, moderator of a popular Deaf online chat group,
co-moderator of a Deaf-centric interpreting group, yadda, yadda.
So, I did it. I went in and asked Bee exactly the question you asked.
Her response, (in ASL) after she clarified that I wasn't talking about an air
conditioner was:
"I have no f██ing clue."
She went on to add, "You'd have to use a classifier."
LOL. (She is actually a very polite / nice person). I could repeat that same
interview process with 100 Deaf people and get much the same response. Many
would ask for a picture of it or a description so they could show me a depictive
(classifier-type) sign to represent it -- because that's what we do.
So, check with any Deaf in your district or school system and see if they have
an existing sign. If not then consider doing something like using two palm-down
L hands. Or maybe use a palm down non-dominant L hand and then do a swish /
swish with a dominant four hand (sort of like the sign for SCHEDULE but on the
surface of the depicted device) to show the many little squares typically on
such a device. If the device has a handle (in the protective carrying cover) you
could maybe depict holding it by the handle and do a small up-down movement.
Warm regards,
Bill
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