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Today is National ASL Day! 🤟🏻🤟🏼🤟🏽🤟🏾🤟🏿

Did you know that the American School for the Deaf opened in Hartford, Connecticut on April 15, 1817?

“There, teachers and students worked together and, by intermingling Native American Signs, French Sign Language, and even Martha’s Vineyard Sign Language, American Sign Language (ASL) was born.”

National ASL Day is celebrated every year on April 15. This day celebrates and honors American Sign Language. ASL serves as the main sign language of Deaf groups in the United States.

Growing up hearing impaired, I learned some sign language from a good friend of mine who is deaf. She and her family and friends taught me many things that I utilized and was greatly helpful. A few years ago, my grandmother lived in a building for deaf and blind seniors, I had the wonderful opportunity of communicating with them through ASL and connecting with them on a personal level due to my own circumstances of being hearing impaired and legally blind. Last year, I took some online/remote classes through the Helen Keller National Center and one of them was for communications, where I expanded my knowledge of sign language and learned more. I even got to learn about haptic signs and tactile sign language which I would greatly benefit from due to my blindness. I am so grateful for all the people I have learned more from and am so excited to teach others about ASL!

This day is a great opportunity to celebrate and learn more about sign language.

Do you or someone you know uses sign language? Ask them to teach you some words and phrases. You never know when it may be useful!

Image Description: A light blue background with National American Sign Language Day April 15 in white font. On the bottom left corner of the image in a large white circle is a cartoon hand doing a sign for I love you.

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I am having a really tough time at the moment. I live with constant pain in various parts of my body and the challenges that cause. I have a suspicion that I have Hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome (hEDS) but getting an assessment or diagnosis in the UK is almost impossible... I have so many signs of it but the GP is so clueless that he thinks its only about joint hypermobility and nothing else...! I have GI issues, bladder issues, signs of dysautonomia, possibly PoTS and now also been told I highly likely have endometriosis and need an op to confirm that diagnosis. In the midst of this, I am also in the first year at uni training to be a counsellor so I can help people with their mental health. I have awful pain and brain fog today, and just cannot get my head around the essay title at all, but have until Friday to submit the first draft and get some much needed feedback... I don't know if there is much point to this post other than to just get the frustration out in an environment where I feel safe from judgemental nastiness - I've learnt the hard way that this is not a post for Facebook if I want to protect my mental health...!!! Anyway, I'm having a really rubbish day, it's now 3:45pm and I just needed to vent. If you read this far, thank you! Here's hoping that the week gets better from here!

#EhlersDanlos #EDS #ChronicPain #Fatigue #HEDS #Anxiety #Depression #Endometriosis #BrainFog #Pain #Student #tired