SIGNBANK DATABASE APPLICATION ENABLES SIGNWRITING.Deaf children and adults around the world are learning to read and communicate better thanks to SignBank -- a FileMaker Pro database application that stores the movements, hand shapes and facial expressions in a written form of sign language known as SignWriting Sign Writing is a system of writing the movements and handshapes of sign languages. It was developed in 1974 by Valerie Sutton, a dancer who had two years earlier developed DanceWriting. . By correlating signs to written words, SignBank helps improve literacy among deaf-born adults and children, who often have difficulty learning to read a spoken language based on sounds they have never heard. SignBank also helps the deaf understand other sign languages. "Imagine how hard it is for deaf people This is an incomplete list of notable deaf people. Important historical figures in deaf history and culture The idea that a person who was deaf could achieve a notable or distinguished status was not common until the latter half of the 18th century, when Abbé Charles-Michel de to learn the printed words of a spoken language when they have never heard any of these sounds," said Valerie Sutton Valerie Sutton (born February 22, 1951) is a developer of movement notation and a former dancer. She was born in the borough of Manhattan, in New York City, the daughter of a physicist father and a poet/model mother. She has an older sister Pam, a doctor of medicine. , creator and director of SignBank and inventor of SignWriting. "The database lets them search on words or signs. For many, this is the first time they have looked up a word in a dictionary, and the quick connection they make to written expression is inspirational." A Key to Literacy Among the Deaf Illiteracy illiteracy, inability to meet a certain minimum criterion of reading and writing skill. Definition of Illiteracy The exact nature of the criterion varies, so that illiteracy must be defined in each case before the term can be used in a meaningful rates are high among the deaf. Teaching these students to read is an ongoing challenge for educators. At a number of schools in the United States United States, officially United States of America, republic (2005 est. pop. 295,734,000), 3,539,227 sq mi (9,166,598 sq km), North America. The United States is the world's third largest country in population and the fourth largest country in area. and Europe SignBank provides a vital link between sign language and written language. "These children have to learn two languages -- American Sign Language American Sign Language n. The primary sign language used by deaf and hearing-impaired people in the United States and Canada. American Sign Language (ASL), n. , which is their native language, and English, which is their written language," said Dr. Cecilia Flood, SignWriting Literacy Project director for Albuquerque Public Schools Albuquerque Public Schools is a school district based in Albuquerque, New Mexico. In 2005 it had a total of 127 schools with some 86,560 students. It had 80 elementary, 26 middle and 12 high schools, as well as 10 alternative schools. Pilot Program, who has been using SignBank at the Hodgin school since 1999. "SignBank is the first exposure to a written form of the native language, and the children love it. The competency they instinctively feel to seeing and understanding a written form of Sign Language transfers directly to seeing and understanding the written form of English." Multilingual Sign Language Dictionary In addition to improving literacy, the SignBank also translates sign languages. Contrary to popular belief, sign languages are not international. There are hundreds of sign languages in the world that differ from culture to culture and country to country. American Sign Language, for instance, is different from British Sign Language British Sign Language (BSL) is the sign language used in the United Kingdom (UK), and is the first or preferred language of an unknown number of Deaf people in the UK (published estimates range from 70,000 to 250,000 but it is likely that the lower figures are more , which is different from Irish Sign Language Irish Sign Language (ISL) is the sign language of Ireland, used primarily in the Republic of Ireland. It is also used in Northern Ireland, though Northern Ireland Sign Language (NISL) is used more often. . As the written form of sign language, SignWriting is being used by thousands of deaf and hearing-impaired people in 27 countries to improve deaf education. SignWriting was originally invented in 1974 by Sutton, then a professional ballet dancer, as a way to write dance movements. The SignWriting alphabet is a way to write body movement much as the Roman alphabet writes words in English, French or German. By capturing the individual visual hand shapes, movement arrows and facial expressions that make up in the SignBank FileMaker Pro database, SignWriting is now searchable and interactive for students and researchers. The SignBank database includes a dictionary of sign symbols that can be sorted and printed, or viewed as picture dictionaries for children, as well as multi-lingual databases for researchers, complete with video clips and animation. Originally, compiled as two standalone dictionaries in the 1980s, Sutton and her team reprogrammed the dictionaries in FileMaker Pro in order for the collection of symbols, signs, lessons, and manuals to become completely searchable and interrelated in·ter·re·late tr. & intr.v. in·ter·re·lat·ed, in·ter·re·lat·ing, in·ter·re·lates To place in or come into mutual relationship. in . Also, with a FileMaker Pro web access, the collection of 25,000 symbols that comprise the SignBank is readily available to help researchers around the word develop new software based on SignWriting. SignBank is available as a free download (http://www.signbank.org/signbank.html) for individual users PC or Macintosh users worldwide. Other users, such as schools and researchers, pay a modest fee to use the software. About FileMaker, Inc. FileMaker Pro is used by millions of individuals and workgroups around the world to be more productive and efficient. Business, education and government customers rely on FileMaker to manage people, projects, images, assets and other information. In addition to being the number one-selling easy-to-use database software, the award-winning FileMaker product line also includes low-cost Applications that automate basic business tasks, ready-to-use Starter Solutions, and tools to create and share solutions from the desktop to the web. FileMaker, Inc. is a subsidiary of Apple Computer, Inc. (NASDAQ NASDAQ in full National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations U.S. market for over-the-counter securities. Established in 1971 by the National Association of Securities Dealers (NASD), NASDAQ is an automated quotation system that reports on :AAPL AAPL Apple Computer, Inc. (stock symbol) AAPL American Association of Professional Landmen AAPL American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law AAPL Advance Audiovisual Presentation Limited AAPL Advocates for Arkansas Public Libraries ). For more information, visit http://www.filemaker.com or call 408/987-7227. |
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