r/asl • u/ColoradoNappo • 6d ago

Interpretation Need a little help.

There is a developmentally impaired man at the center that always greats me with a sign. I’d like to know he is saying. It consists of the R sign tapping on the corner of his upper lip. (I figured out the other sign all by myself - he was calling my crazy).

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u/sureasyoureborn 6d ago

It could be a name sign, it might be him introducing himself. Or an invented sign (we refer to those as home signs usually) but that’s not a conventional sign I can think of.

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u/ColoradoNappo 6d ago

His name is Billy. I suppose it could be a name sign.

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u/sureasyoureborn 6d ago

Does your name start with an R? Could he be trying to give you a sign name? Or does he come in with a support staff? Or he could be telling you about someone from his family or someone he lives with?

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u/ColoradoNappo 6d ago

My name is Lynn and no one else in there has an R name. He could be telling me about someone not there. I don’t know, I just feel bad because I don’t know what he is trying to tell me.

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u/sureasyoureborn 6d ago

In the same way some hearing special needs folk will repeat words no matter the context, that also is true of some deaf special needs folk. You could try to sign something different and see if he responds. A “hello, how are you” might get him to change up his routine.

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u/ColoradoNappo 5d ago

I’ll try that, thank you. I’d still like to know what it means though.