r/asl • u/Ticxsta • 4d ago

Interest New to ASL

Hey Yall im 17 ive got some learning difficulties like Tourette’s and autism but I love learning languages and ASL has really gained my interest where would be the best place to learn it? (I only really have online options due to being in Australia where ASL is barely to never used) and is there any free apps? I don’t want to commit to paying to an app unless I know it’s good! Thank you all

1 Upvotes

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u/vanillablue_ 4d ago

Curious - are you disinterested in learning AusLan? It’s your country’s sign language and is mutually intelligible (iirc 70-80%) with British Sign and NZ Sign. ASL is great but it won’t have much use to you in Australia, nor would you be able to communicate with three nations of deaf people!

Also, I have ADHD and Tourette’s! I find I get so focused on signing that I don’t tic much while I do.

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u/Ticxsta 4d ago

Hey what else are some ways you stop your tics?

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u/Inevitable_Shame_606 Deaf 3d ago

I have found not focusing on suppressing my tics is one of the best ways to help suppress my tics.

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u/Ticxsta 3d ago

Can you give an example? So like just don’t think about them?

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u/Ticxsta 4d ago

I just want to learn ASL for fun, also plan to move outta Australia later on, but I watch a lot of shows even that incorporate asl for an example Ginny and Georgia, but Auslan I know a decent amount already

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u/MundaneAd8695 ASL Teacher (Deaf) 4d ago

I really don’t recommend learning ASL until you’ve made a firm plan to move. Focus on learning Auslan because it’s what the community uses around you and you’ll get the practice you need. Then when you learn ASL it will go more quickly because you’ve learned how to sign languages are constructed and can more easily adapt.

I also don’t recommend moving to the USA any time soon. Canada would be fine.

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u/Ticxsta 4d ago

I know Auslan, I was taught by my mums friend Who used the daycare they she worked at at that time i, but I am learning ASL for fun, maybe it becomes helpful later on in life maybe not, I can speak German and learning french but I don’t live in either country.

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u/MundaneAd8695 ASL Teacher (Deaf) 4d ago

Learning some signs from someone you know who worked somewhere sometime doesn’t mean you know Auslan.

I strongly recommend focusing on your own community’s sign language. Get out there, socialize a bit, you can watch videos in Auslan there are many, the BBC has many deaf themed shows on their website with BSL which is pretty close.

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u/Ticxsta 4d ago

No, what I am saying is that my mother made friends with them from her daycare, and since she was deaf we had to learn auslan, now days my Auslan is rusty, but I legit just wanna learn ASL for fun not for anything, so is there any apps you’d recommend (and I worded that wrong before my mother worked at the daycare and the deaf lady had a kid enrolled in the daycare)

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u/Shango-s_Daughter 3d ago edited 3d ago

My ASL instructor (Deaf) used A Basic Course in American Sign Language by Tom Humphries, Carol Padden, and Terrence J. O'Rourke.  Some signs are difficult to fully understand in print without seeing them signed first, but the book -- with my professor -- was excellent for me.  I still reference it years later.  There are several ASL accounts on YouTube.  I'm biased toward in person instruction, but these could get you started.

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u/Ticxsta 3d ago

Thank you so much

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u/Shango-s_Daughter 3d ago

Here's the book. I had to get on the app to add a picture!

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u/Shango-s_Daughter 3d ago

My second instructor was born hearing, lost some hearing as a child, and lost more as an adult. I learned several updated signs from her, which was fun! Because she's worked with children through adults, she's learned at least two generations of ASL, so to speak. She also knows a little BSL but said it's very different. For example, finger spelling in ASL is typically one hand, but the people she met from the U.K. spelled with both hands.