as you can see from the picture behind
me I was a successful football player
here at Utah State University
I enjoyed that experience a great deal
it totally changed my life it really
saved me it helped me to get into
college to work up and to graduate and
to be successful before becoming
successful in football I had to
understand one concept and the concept
was I mean even you you may sit here and
wonder how I was successful as a
football player but that concept that I
came to understand was the idea of
movement the idea that movement was an
important part of improving my ability
to play football my secret to the game
of football was like this if you think
of the players out on the field I would
just watch when they would stop I would
stop when the refs blew the whistle I
would know that it was a first down I
could see from the movement that was
happening what was going on in the game
and I was able to move with it my other
secret was my ability to look at the
line you can just look at me until I was
alignment so if you know the line you’ve
got the center and the guard and the
tackle and I played on the defensive
line and I knew that I could look and
watch and based on their movement I
could understand what was happening if
the guard on the offensive line
to the left I knew that the ball would
be going to the left and I needed to
move with it it allowed me to be just as
successful as any other player
I knew if the guard was gonna pull to
the right all I needed to do was go with
them to the right because that’s where
the ball was going to go that was the
secret to my success the other thing
that I found was that I could look at
the feet of the offensive linemen if
they were forward it meant it was going
to be a run play if their feet were back
on their heels it was going to be a pass
play once I understood that movement
that my game improved and I was able to
become a successful football player
movement has meaning movement is the way
that I’m able to see sound you hear it I
see it I see the sound and I can
recognize what’s going on I don’t need
to rely on my ears I can use my eyes and
have that movement allow me to
understand what’s going on that
understanding has changed my life I know
that when I’m in my house if somebody
comes and knocks on my door I’m not
going to hear it but my children who are
in the same room with me if they look
towards the door I know that somebody’s
there knocking based on their movement
if I see a car going by really fast
I know that’s probably a teenage driver
maybe somebody in a hurry based on the
type of movement with music if I see
people who are dancing slowly or lights
at a concert that are going on and off
slowly I know the speed or rhythm of the
music if I see people dancing quickly
and the lights going quickly I know that
the song is fast I don’t have to hear it
to understand that I can rely on the
movement around me to help me see those
things if I’m looking at a river and I
see white water
across the top I know that the rivers
moving fast and that’s crashing as it
goes I can see all of these things
around me with the trees and the wind
and the river around me American Sign
Language is the third most popular
language in the United States ASL has
its own grammar its own set of rules an
extensive set of rules and one important
component of those rules is movement
movement plays an important role in
American Sign Language
growing up I came to depend on movement
for communication to be able to
understand what was around me often
parents can be afraid to teach their
deaf child sign language they’re worried
that it might prevent them from learning
to speak but research actually shows the
opposite
it shows the deaf child who’s exposed to
ASL early in their life is able to
understand the importance of movement
and the things that are around them so
we’re gonna talk a little bit about that
movement in sign language and I want you
to actually join with me can you help me
out that way what I want you to do is to
make the five handshape so you’re gonna
extend all of your fingers place it up
like this and we’re gonna make a tree
we’re gonna move the tree in the breeze
based on that movement we can show the
tree as maybe it’s a spindly little tree
that’s just moving a little bit or a
large tree now go ahead and make the one
handshape by extending just one finger
we’re gonna use this to show a person
walking along
we might have the person maybe a little
staggering drunk or something tottering
back and forth or just walking along
it’s that movement that makes the
difference now make the three handshape
we’re gonna set the three out in front
of us like it’s a car we’ve got two cars
going down the road we can show them as
they’re moving along and then one car
pulls in front and passes the other car
now I want you to look at this picture
behind me we’re gonna take that car
again and I want you to help me if we
were gonna take our hand shape as the
car what would we need to do to make it
match this picture can you show it as it
peels out like that we’re gonna match
the movement to the picture to the
meaning you can show the dust rising up
behind it do you see how movement can
change the meaning I’m gonna give you
some more complex sentences in ASL
do you see the actual vocabulary the
handshape is the same the sign for
working but what changes is the movement
and as the movement changes it changes
the meaning it’s fascinating how
American sign language
uses the power of that complex aspect of
the movement to change meaning let me
show you another example
do you see how the movement changes the
sign doesn’t change but the movement
changes and therefore changes the
meaning it has power there’s also times
where we change the sign to match the
concept of what’s being communicated so
this is to physically move you want to
physically move something or your story
emotionally moved me do you notice in
this case the sign is different the sign
has to match the concept that’s being
communicated often when deaf children
struggled to read the reason why is
because those around them who are trying
to teach them the sign for move they
look inside of a dictionary they see
that sign to physically move something
and they talk about a story moving and
they use that sign for a physical
movement to say you your story moved me
but it doesn’t matches the concept for
the child they need to use the sign for
emotionally moving someone many deaf
children have to learn that when they
learn that concept they’re reading
dramatically improves often people ask
me you were deaf how is it that as a
deaf person you were able to play
football how did you do that a deaf
person couldn’t hear what’s going on on
the field and my answer is that it was
simple it was simple all I had to know
is that there’s the ball and when the
ball moved I moved
you
me I was a successful football player
here at Utah State University
I enjoyed that experience a great deal
it totally changed my life it really
saved me it helped me to get into
college to work up and to graduate and
to be successful before becoming
successful in football I had to
understand one concept and the concept
was I mean even you you may sit here and
wonder how I was successful as a
football player but that concept that I
came to understand was the idea of
movement the idea that movement was an
important part of improving my ability
to play football my secret to the game
of football was like this if you think
of the players out on the field I would
just watch when they would stop I would
stop when the refs blew the whistle I
would know that it was a first down I
could see from the movement that was
happening what was going on in the game
and I was able to move with it my other
secret was my ability to look at the
line you can just look at me until I was
alignment so if you know the line you’ve
got the center and the guard and the
tackle and I played on the defensive
line and I knew that I could look and
watch and based on their movement I
could understand what was happening if
the guard on the offensive line
to the left I knew that the ball would
be going to the left and I needed to
move with it it allowed me to be just as
successful as any other player
I knew if the guard was gonna pull to
the right all I needed to do was go with
them to the right because that’s where
the ball was going to go that was the
secret to my success the other thing
that I found was that I could look at
the feet of the offensive linemen if
they were forward it meant it was going
to be a run play if their feet were back
on their heels it was going to be a pass
play once I understood that movement
that my game improved and I was able to
become a successful football player
movement has meaning movement is the way
that I’m able to see sound you hear it I
see it I see the sound and I can
recognize what’s going on I don’t need
to rely on my ears I can use my eyes and
have that movement allow me to
understand what’s going on that
understanding has changed my life I know
that when I’m in my house if somebody
comes and knocks on my door I’m not
going to hear it but my children who are
in the same room with me if they look
towards the door I know that somebody’s
there knocking based on their movement
if I see a car going by really fast
I know that’s probably a teenage driver
maybe somebody in a hurry based on the
type of movement with music if I see
people who are dancing slowly or lights
at a concert that are going on and off
slowly I know the speed or rhythm of the
music if I see people dancing quickly
and the lights going quickly I know that
the song is fast I don’t have to hear it
to understand that I can rely on the
movement around me to help me see those
things if I’m looking at a river and I
see white water
across the top I know that the rivers
moving fast and that’s crashing as it
goes I can see all of these things
around me with the trees and the wind
and the river around me American Sign
Language is the third most popular
language in the United States ASL has
its own grammar its own set of rules an
extensive set of rules and one important
component of those rules is movement
movement plays an important role in
American Sign Language
growing up I came to depend on movement
for communication to be able to
understand what was around me often
parents can be afraid to teach their
deaf child sign language they’re worried
that it might prevent them from learning
to speak but research actually shows the
opposite
it shows the deaf child who’s exposed to
ASL early in their life is able to
understand the importance of movement
and the things that are around them so
we’re gonna talk a little bit about that
movement in sign language and I want you
to actually join with me can you help me
out that way what I want you to do is to
make the five handshape so you’re gonna
extend all of your fingers place it up
like this and we’re gonna make a tree
we’re gonna move the tree in the breeze
based on that movement we can show the
tree as maybe it’s a spindly little tree
that’s just moving a little bit or a
large tree now go ahead and make the one
handshape by extending just one finger
we’re gonna use this to show a person
walking along
we might have the person maybe a little
staggering drunk or something tottering
back and forth or just walking along
it’s that movement that makes the
difference now make the three handshape
we’re gonna set the three out in front
of us like it’s a car we’ve got two cars
going down the road we can show them as
they’re moving along and then one car
pulls in front and passes the other car
now I want you to look at this picture
behind me we’re gonna take that car
again and I want you to help me if we
were gonna take our hand shape as the
car what would we need to do to make it
match this picture can you show it as it
peels out like that we’re gonna match
the movement to the picture to the
meaning you can show the dust rising up
behind it do you see how movement can
change the meaning I’m gonna give you
some more complex sentences in ASL
do you see the actual vocabulary the
handshape is the same the sign for
working but what changes is the movement
and as the movement changes it changes
the meaning it’s fascinating how
American sign language
uses the power of that complex aspect of
the movement to change meaning let me
show you another example
do you see how the movement changes the
sign doesn’t change but the movement
changes and therefore changes the
meaning it has power there’s also times
where we change the sign to match the
concept of what’s being communicated so
this is to physically move you want to
physically move something or your story
emotionally moved me do you notice in
this case the sign is different the sign
has to match the concept that’s being
communicated often when deaf children
struggled to read the reason why is
because those around them who are trying
to teach them the sign for move they
look inside of a dictionary they see
that sign to physically move something
and they talk about a story moving and
they use that sign for a physical
movement to say you your story moved me
but it doesn’t matches the concept for
the child they need to use the sign for
emotionally moving someone many deaf
children have to learn that when they
learn that concept they’re reading
dramatically improves often people ask
me you were deaf how is it that as a
deaf person you were able to play
football how did you do that a deaf
person couldn’t hear what’s going on on
the field and my answer is that it was
simple it was simple all I had to know
is that there’s the ball and when the
ball moved I moved
you
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