Sign Language & Helen Keller

By: Deborah Wang

It can be considered that the hands are the most expressive parts of the body. Like eyes, the hands can do a number of actions including: signaling, gesturing, reading Braille, writing, and communicating through sign language. Perhaps the most prominent name in sign language is Helen Keller. As a blinded and deafened 19 month old, she learned how to sign with her hands and gradually communicate with others around her.

Helen's amazing story begins when she caught a fever that nearly killed her. The fever took Helen's sight and sound, cutting her off form everything she had known so far in life. However, Helen started to learn the world again using her other senses. "She touched and smelled everything she came across and felt other people's hands to see what they were doing" (RNIB). Six years after, Helen invented more than sixty gestures which she used to talk to her family. As expected, Helen suffered from depression and fits of anger because she knew she was not like everyone else. Her fits became so bad that her parents hired a private tutor, Anne Sullivan, to help their daughter. Anne was also blinded as a child, but had studied at the Perkins School for the Blind when she became older. Anne was also fortunate enough to receive two operations that restored her sight. As Helen's teacher, she realized that teaching Helen would be hard, but her determination eventually allowed Helen to read and write in Braille. Helen also learned to read people's lips by touch (Tadoma). Helen was able to attend the Perkins Institute and Wright-Humason School for the Deaf, and Radcliffe College. Helen wrote many books while giving lectures around the US. A Japanese lady said to Helen, "For many generations, more than we can count, we bowed our heads and submitted to blindness and beggary. This blind and deaf woman lifts her head high and teaches us to win our way by work and laughter. She brings light and hope to the heart."

Besides sign language, there are other gestures we use everyday. For instance, the hands-on-hips posture can be interpreted as making someone look more powerful in size or taking charge of something. In U.S. politics, the hands-on-hips is viewed as a "classic sign of confidence" as seen in the painting of George Washington crossing the Delaware River and Woodrow Wilson lecturing at Columbia University (Blum 1988).

Another gesture, the hands-behind-head, can have two meanings. If one hand is used behind the head, it is usually a sign of frustration, uncertainty, or anger. If both hands are behind the head, it is an indicator of dominance. Morris states, "This display reveals that someone feels no need to show eagerness or attention." In Japanese e-mail, many users use (^o^;>) as a symbol of someone with his elbow sticking out similar to an embarrassed or apologetic person scratching the back of his head.

The last and probably most common hand gesture is the folded arms across the chest. It usually represents a defensive posture with the arms and elbows close to the body. If the arms are pulled tightly together, the person can feel nervous or anxious. If the arms are elevated and away from the body, it is a sign of arrogance, disliking or disagreement. Studies show that the defensive arm-cross is very commonly seen in women. Most women will have open arms with men they like, and crossed arms with men they dislike.

There are many nonverbal gestures people can use besides hands. They play an important role in communication in the world. One's hands, eyes, facial expressions, body language, and even appearance tell others just as much as what one says.