Priest teaching ASL to Catholics

If practice makes perfect, Rev. Bernard Turner is striving for perfection.

Having learned American Sign Language (ASL) many years ago in the seminary, he recently decided to teach an ASL course at his parish, Sacred Heart in Lake George.

Doing so is "helping me to be a much better signer," he said. In order to teach signs to others, he has to make sure to sign clearly himself -- and then watch his students closely to make sure they're signing correctly. "This is a great way to get my proficiency up."

Keeping a hand in

Father Turner told The Evangelist that he's always had a "fascination" with ASL and has tried to keep his hand in over the years by signing the "Our Father" at Mass, especially during children's liturgies.

Often, he said, parishioners would tell him afterward, "Oh, that was so beautiful."

He decided to see if there was any interest among parishioners in learning to sign themselves -- and found six students willing to spend two hours a week for 20 weeks learning basic signs. One is a teacher who works with persons with disabilities; the others are simply curious.

"I have been impressed with the proficiency of the students so far," the priest remarked, adding that a half-dozen students are just the right amount. "That's enough hands to watch!"

Signing on

By the time the students finish the course in June, Father Turner hopes they'll have a good foundation in signing the alphabet and understanding other basic signs.

Though he isn't aware of any hearing-impaired parishioners at Sacred Heart, he said that being able to at least spell out words stands anyone in good stead, because "you never know when you're going to encounter a deaf person."

(Father Turner's background in ASL includes courses at Christ United Methodist Church for the Deaf in Baltimore and at The College of Saint Rose in Albany. He also served as interim director of the Albany Diocese's Deaf Apostolate. Contact the Diocese's Catholic Deaf Ministry at 283-1162, fax/TDD 286-2808, or email [email protected].)

(5/19/05)