Adverbial Morphemes in Tactile ASL - Gallaudet University

PDE – Steven D. Collins
Introduction
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
has always had a significant impact on me. When I compare the opportunities that this opened
up for me with the more limited opportunities of some of my friends whose families did not
make such a commitment, I truly realize the importance of family and community pitching-in to
help others.
I graduated from the North Carolina School for the Deaf in 1979 with honors as the
Salutatorian of my class. I knew by this time that I wanted to continue learning and develop the
necessary skills that provide insight into the differences in communication between Deaf and
hearing cultures. I was certain that I would excel in this field because of the experience I
obtained while growing up in both cultures. I applied to and was accepted at Gallaudet
University in Washington, DC, where I majored in Communication Arts. While at Gallaudet, I
was a co-founder of a local chapter of the Kappa Sigma Fraternity.
While attending Gallaudet, I developed friendships with several Deaf-Blind students and
began to interpret for them on an informal basis. This interaction provided me with an
opportunity to gain perspective on the differences between communication within Deaf culture
and communication within Deaf-Blind culture. Through these friendships, I gained additional
insight into how language is used and structured.
After my graduation in 1984, I worked for several years as a free-lance interpreter and
contract instructor of American Sign Language (ASL) for the College of Continuing Education
program at Gallaudet University. When Gallaudet created a Master’s degree in the field of
Interpretation, several of my colleagues encouraged me to enroll because of my strong
interpersonal communication and interpreting skills. I felt this would be a great opportunity for
me to learn about linguistics and theories of interpretation as well as to begin cross-cultural
research in these two areas. Specifically, I continued to be intensely interested in communication
within the Deaf-Blind community and I wanted to pursue research in this area. I enrolled and
became the first Deaf person to receive a Master of Arts degree in Interpretation from Gallaudet
University in June 1992. Much of my research for my Masters degree centered in this same area
of Deaf-Blind communication. Subsequent to my graduation, I went to work as a supervisor for
Gallaudet Interpreting Services specializing in Deaf-Blind interpreting requirements. Later, I
joined the faculty as an Interpretation instructor in the ASL, Linguistics and Interpretation
Department where I currently work.
4