AUBURN HILLS – Deaf individuals are frequently excluded from conversations at home, work, or during encounters with the hearing world. This often leads to feelings of isolation and exclusion. With the launching of a new website, this no longer needs to happen.
ASLDeafined.Com was created by Paul Fugate and Mercy Gonzalez, two nationally certified sign language interpreters with 40 years of cumulative experience in education, the courts, and mental health. Their website offers help to (1) deaf students (2) parents of deaf children, and (3) the world community, through the teaching of American Sign Language (ASL).
Using videos to teach sign language, all of the lessons are geared to the needs of each individual learner. The site provides a combination of sign language and English for those who are deaf. For the parents of deaf children, and the hearing community at large, the lessons have been developed to teach signing and the receptive skills necessary for comprehension.
Fugate earned a bachelor?s degree in deaf education from Michigan State University, and a master?s degree from Oakland University, specializing in emotional impairments and learning disabilities. He has worked for the past 16 years as an interpreter and teacher for the deaf, and those who are hard of hearing. With a passion for teaching sign language, Fugate believes that with these easy to use lessons, videos, and tools, the solutions for closing the gap between the deaf and hearing community can be achieved one sign at a time.
“We are confident that this site will encourage communication with every member of the family where there is a deaf individual,” said Fugate. ?Statistically, 95 percent of all the deaf children are born to hearing parents, of whom 75 percent of those parents do not sign.? The goal and commitment at ASLdeafined is to promote the use and understanding of American Sign Language.
Co-founder and sign language interpreter, Mercy Gonzales said, ?We saw the need, after many years of working with deaf children, and now we have created a solution, from a single classroom to a global community.?
The membership fee is $14.99 a month. The website offers each subscriber an unlimited amount of access to lessons, reviews, quizzes and activities can be completed at the convenience of each person. There is a 3-day trial FREE for interested users to see for themselves what this site has to offer.
ASLdeafined is a joint venture between Paul Fugate and Mercy Gonzalez. They are not affiliated with any organizations.
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