The captions can help deaf people, especially those that have a lower hearing loss. But those deaf individuals dependent on sign would need the ASL with the captions.
I am not aware of the deaf population Dr. Linn works with, so the captions might be useful and accessible to her deaf students.
When I saw the word “deaf” and did not see ASL on the video, a red flag popped up, causing me to investigate the videos and captions. Having worked with deaf students at The Clerc Center, the pre-college component of Gallaudet University, for 33 years, I was obligated to offer another perspective on deaf students, video, and captioning. I did not want readers to assume that what worked for Dr. Linn would provide equal results for others working with deaf students.
My experience with deaf students is in an educational environment totally accessible through American Sign Language. For example, although I am hearing, when I teach or communicate with deaf individuals or even hearing individuals on campus I use American Sign Language with no voice. Using voice with sign tends to confuse the message, and deaf people tend to labor to decode the simultaneous use of sign and voice.
If we use interpreters in class, we use voice interpreters for hearing impaired students not skilled in sign language. The interpreter voices the sign communication for the hearing impaired student, until they acquire American Sign Language. At that point the oral interpreting support ceases.
At Gallaudet University, we use American Sign Language to teach English concepts. ASL is the first language and most accessible language for the majority of deaf individuals, while English is the second language. This follows a typical ESL methodology in teaching a second language to users of another language.
Yours….in searching for accessible communication for all.
Jim Barrie

Jim is a retired teacher from The Clerc Center, Gallaudet University, Washington, D.C.. He currently tutors reading at Anne Arundel Commuity College, Maryland.

I teach writing skills to college students (paragraph and essay structure, etc.) Right now I have a deaf student in the classroom along with ASL interpreters. Sometimes, it is obvious from the student’s written work that her mistakes are due to a “foreign first language”. (My apologies if my terminology is not correct.) Her content is good but her structure is incorrect or confusing. She may use the noun form of a word when the verb or adjective form would be correct or vice versa. I think it may also affect her reading comprehension. (I usually assign a reading and have the students write about the text – summaries, reaction/reflections, persuasive, cause and effect, etc.)
The student seems to draw conclusions that are slightly different than the rest of the students. She also writes her words and sentences in a different order than what I would expect. For example, writing about the “specific” and then the “general” rather than the other way around. (Usually the “specific” is used in writing an essay to demonstrate or explain the “general” after the “general” has been presented.) I currently have a student who is the deaf child of deaf parents so ASL is truly her “first” language.
Has anyone dealt with this?
Any suggestions on how to explain formal, standard written English to the interpreters in a way that they can explain it to the student? Are there questions I should be asking of, or anticipating from, the student?
Are there basic ASL rules somewhere presented in written English that would help me understand the structure of her language? From experience with ELL students, I know that knowing something about a language’s structure (eg., do adjectives go before or after nouns), helps me recognize the basis or pattern of an ELL student’s mistakes. This, in turn, helps me identify and explain the rules of written English so the student better understands her mistakes. Ultimately the goal is to reduce or eliminate the mistakes by increasing the student’s understanding of the rules of English.
Any suggestions on finding the commonalities and differences between written English and signed ASL? Any suggestions on how to explain them to someone who communicates in ASL?

Hi MJ,

I will try to address your questions in the order in which you posed them. First, if you are teaching English grammar concepts, you can ask the interpreters to use “Signed Exact English” in addition to ASL. While it is not the first choice of most Deaf students or interpreters, signed English uses the same word order as English.
Second, there are many wonderful ASL websites where some of the rules are posted. Here is one that might be helpful: http://www.lifeprint.com/asl101/
ASL uses the same syntax as French and Spanish. The adjectives follow the verbs. Because I have many Deaf students in my class, it was reasonable for me to take sign language classes every summer. There are video courses available that you might want to look into. One video series that I found useful is Sign Enhancers American Sign Language Video Course of the Bravo Family. http://www.signenhancers.com/mm5/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=SIGNENH&Product_Code=ASL1&Category_Code=LEARN-ASL
Finally, my suggestion as to how to explain things to a Deaf student who uses ASL is to think visually. You might want to get the student a small white board and let him/her show you his/her written responses on the board. That way you can immediately erase and correct the sentence order to reflect proper English word order.
I hope this helps.

Sandie Linn

i wonder how you find way on t.v show like Deaf Bachelor or Deaf Bachelorette?
It is not affair to hearing guys or ladies or Do something in furture have right equal like them.. i have hard time find right man for deaf or Hoh? i keep think ask Marlee take place trade to chris ? i notice see new one call more to love large fat, it nice thing to do but i notice deaf and hoh where is show? i want getting married right person so badly… maybe deaf too… but if they have deaf parent has coda child same thing that be great!! what you think or elsa??

hi,i am deaf from kenya,i want to asking you help me for college FEES in gallaudet,i come from poor family,I have admission letter,i will class on august,can you help me>please help me