While rockclimbing near Yangshuo, PRC, we were being harrassed by this little deaf mute kid. It was sad to see a 7-8 year old kid with so few options. He doesn’t go to school (as if that little village could offer services for a deaf kid) and will probably never even learn sign language. So I was thinking, maybe just give the family a book so they could learn sign language and interact a little more intelligently. But it’s hard to find Chinese sign language (I just learned that the chinese have their own sign language) resources here. Anyone over there been involved with the chinese deaf community?
You might try contacting the National Tainan School for the Deaf:
109 Sec. 1, Beimen Rd.
Tainan, Taiwan
Principal: Mr. Duan-Rong Hwang
tel.: +886-6-590-0504
fax: +886-6-590-7304
e-mail: mis@mail.ptnd.tn.edu.tw
I have books and videos about both mainland and Taiwanese sign language. I bought the mainland sign language book in Eslite bookstore, Taibei and the Taiwanese ones at the Shida campus bookstore and elsewhere. I also know a teacher at a school for the deaf in Shanghai. If anyone wants to borrow any of my materials, let me know. You can also buy Taiwan sign language books and CD-ROMs at the bookshop in the foyer of Taibei City Government, but they would not be suitable for a mainlander because their signs are different. If the kid you met can’t find sign language books on the mainland, you could buy the mainland sign books from Eslite and send them to him.
Taiwanese sign language is influenced by both Japanese and mainland Chinese sign languages (Shanghai is the standard), but different from both. One major difference is that mainland signing uses signed Hanyu pinyin letters for some words e.g. DS for danshi (but).
I did sign language classes at Shida students’ union. Unfortunately I was a slow learner.