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[sunnyspot]

I'm Kouhei Sugihara, and I'm a tutor and student at Recollé U. I mostly offer tutoring for basic subjects, but lately, a few of my friends have been asking me to teach them sign language. I don't use it much in my daily life, but since I've had hearing problems since I was young, I'm fluent in Japanese sign language and pretty comfortable with American sign language. I don't mind teaching it, since it's something I know a lot about, and everyone keeps telling me that other people might be interested too. So...

Just in case, if I offered sign language tutoring, would anyone be interested? I don't really have a way to get the word out aside from Retrospec, and I'd feel more comfortable offering it to a smaller number of people first. I've been thinking of going for my ASL teaching certification anyway, so... If you want to learn anything, whether it's fingerspelling (letters) or basic signs or something else, I can help you.

Sorry if this isn't the right place for this or something. Thanks.

Comments

[commandertoolbelt]

sounds cool!
does it matter if i'm still in high school?

[sunnyspot]

No, of course not. The offer's open to everyone, so I'd be happy to teach you.

[commandertoolbelt]

cool! count me in then
i’m pretty good with languages anyway
won’t hurt to add one more, right?

[sunnyspot]

I like languages too. Call me biased, but I think it's a good one to add to your repertoire.

[commandertoolbelt]

for sure
i just never had a reason to learn it before you know?
but hey if you’re offering there’s no reason not to
especially since they’re already shown us they can take away our senses

[sunnyspot]

That's another reason for sure, but I hate thinking about it happening again.

For one, no one should have to experience losing their hearing, even if they'd be able to get around a lot of issues with the use of technology. But more selfishly, I'd be pretty useless if my sight was taken, since I supplement the hearing I have with lip reading. It's the kind of thing I have nightmares about.

But enough about me. It's better to be prepared for anything, including whatever Retrospec throw at us.

[commandertoolbelt]

[ ah… ]

well there’s got to be a way to work around that
i’m not expecting it to happen but you know, just in case

[ he doesn’t know much about how to accommodate for disabilities like this but now he wonders if there’s anything he could do that could make it easier if that did happen?? ]

[sunnyspot]

Sorry, was that too heavy? I didn't mean to get depressing. The thought of losing senses just set something off in me, I guess.

I'm lucky that I'm not totally deaf, so I could still get around, even if it would be tough. But braille is an option, too, and I could still speak even if it sounds weird.

I think anyone would have a tough time losing one of their major senses like sight or hearing. But if it happens, we'll find a way around it.