"invisible" American Sign Language (ASL)

American Sign Language: "invisible" The sign for invisible is based on the concept of "overlook." To do the sign for invisible, hold up a non-dominant index finger, pointing upward, in the neutral space in front of your chest. At the same time, hold up a palm-back flat hand in your upper right forward signing space (if you are right handed) and then slice the dominant hand downward so that it ends up in front of (or slightly below) the left (if you are right handed) index finger. The index finger can be thought of as representing a person (or "something") and the right hand represents "that thing being overlooked" -- because it is "invisible." INVISIBLE: The sign for overlook holds a flat hand (palm back) up near or slightly above your face and then moves the hand (and arm) downward so that the hand crosses in front of your face and ends up below your head (generally in the chest area). OVERLOOK / "Didn't see it." Notes: Hello, Dr. Bill. My name is Olivia Manns, ...For about as long as I can remember, I have always been interested in learning sign language and attempted on many occasions to learn. ...This is a whole new world for me and I find myself trying to surround myself with it. I am a music fanatic but every time I listen to music I try to sign out the words and I find that this helps me attempt to put phrases together. I'm also a nurse and recently had an encounter with a deaf client. I, of course, am not fluent and this made for a fun but difficult day with him. But I think it gave me just the push I needed to get started again :) ... I have a beautiful song that I am trying to learn the signs to. The song is called "Invisible" by Hunter Hayes. Now the problem is -- I don't know how to sign the word invisible which, as I'm sure you've figured out, makes it pretty impossible to sign this song since it's, you know, invisible. Is there another way to say it? Are you supposed to fingerspell it? I know you are very busy and I understand that you will probably not be able to respond to this email anytime soon (if at all) but I just thought I'd ask. :) Again, I have loved your website and plan to learn this all the way through this time!! - Blessings - Olivia Manns Olivia, Hello :) While I'm unfamiliar with that particular song, I get the feeling it might involve a person feeling "invisible" rather than "being" invisible. Thus during the signing of the song you may wish to occasionally (with poetic license and for artistic purposes) use the sign OVERLOOKED. Sure, Once in a while you should use the actual sign "INVISIBLE" but if a person is "feeling" invisible it means they are feeling overlooked -- like people are not seeing her (or him). For the song you could do the "overlooked" sign quite a bit larger and add downcast eyes (on occasion) or other embellishments to make it "cool/sad." Best wishes on your artistic endeavors. Cordially, Dr. Bill You can learn American Sign Language (ASL) online at American Sign Language University ™ ASL resources by Lifeprint.com © Dr. William Vicars Want to help support ASL University? It's easy: DONATE (Thanks!) (You don't need a PayPal account. Just look for the credit card logos and click continue.) Another way to help is to buy something from the ASLU "Bookstore." Want even more ASL resources? Visit the "ASL Training Center!" (Subscription Extension of ASLU) CHECK IT OUT > Bandwidth slow? Check out "ASLUniversity.com" (a free mirror of Lifeprint.com less traffic, fast access) VISIT >

The sign for overlook holds a flat hand (palm back) up near or slightly above your face and then moves the hand (and arm) downward so that the hand crosses in front of your face and ends up below your head (generally in the chest area).

OVERLOOK / "Didn't see it."

Hello, Dr. Bill. My name is Olivia Manns,
...For about as long as I can remember, I have always been interested in learning sign language and attempted on many occasions to learn.
...This is a whole new world for me and I find myself trying to surround myself with it. I am a music fanatic but every time I listen to music I try to sign out the words and I find that this helps me attempt to put phrases together. I'm also a nurse and recently had an encounter with a deaf client. I, of course, am not fluent and this made for a fun but difficult day with him. But I think it gave me just the push I needed to get started again :)
... I have a beautiful song that I am trying to learn the signs to. The song is called "Invisible" by Hunter Hayes. Now the problem is -- I don't know how to sign the word invisible which, as I'm sure you've figured out, makes it pretty impossible to sign this song since it's, you know, invisible. Is there another way to say it? Are you supposed to fingerspell it? I know you are very busy and I understand that you will probably not be able to respond to this email anytime soon (if at all) but I just thought I'd ask. :) Again, I have loved your website and plan to learn this all the way through this time!!

- Blessings -

Olivia Manns

Olivia,
Hello :)
While I'm unfamiliar with that particular song, I get the feeling it might involve a person feeling "invisible" rather than "being" invisible. Thus during the signing of the song you may wish to occasionally (with poetic license and for artistic purposes) use the sign OVERLOOKED. Sure, Once in a while you should use the actual sign "INVISIBLE" but if a person is "feeling" invisible it means they are feeling overlooked -- like people are not seeing her (or him). For the song you could do the "overlooked" sign quite a bit larger and add downcast eyes (on occasion) or other embellishments to make it "cool/sad."
Best wishes on your artistic endeavors.
Cordially,
Dr. Bill

American Sign Language: "invisible"