Don't Just "Sign.". Communicate!: A Student's Guide to the Deaf Experience

An Intimate Journey into the Heart of the Deaf Community 

Don't Just "Sign"...Communicate! prepares you to interact with the deaf and hard of hearing - in a knowledgeable and respectful way - by giving you an exclusive glimpse into this rich and diverse community.

This eye-opening book will ignite your senses and eliminate any misconceptions you may have about the deaf community. Delve into this informative and entertaining collection of personal stories culled from the writings of talented Deaf, deaf, hard of hearing, and late-deafened people. 

Experience the world from their perspectives and learn what questions and comments are best avoided and what common courtesies are most appreciated. By reading this book, you can immerse yourself in the textured world of the deaf community. 

Pulsing with vibrant stories, this carefully compiled anthology swings the door open wide and invites you in. Run with "Broken Ears," a Chippewa native whose struggle to triumph over discrimination is compounded by deafness. "Touch the sound of snowflakes" with percussionist Evelyn Glennie. Experience the isolation of "Deaf Brown Gurl," an exotic beauty yearning to fit in. And "follow the music through vibrations" with grand illusionist Sam Sandler. Get to know them and many others. Their stories will reach right off the page, grab you by the heart, and pull you in...

This book is meant as a guide to equip ASL students, but it is so much more... It is a book for the masses - to be read and reread, to be savored - for it will resonate with you long after the last page is turned...

Beginning when she was only thirteen years old, Michelle Jay has understood her passion and love for ASL. As a hearing person in the Deaf community, Michelle was determined to master everything she could about ASL... not just "how to sign" but the very best ways to learn to sign as well! 

As the founder of StartASL.com, the leading online resource for ASL and Deaf Culture, Michelle has tremendous insight into this unique community. Michelle earned a Bachelor's Degree in Deaf Studies, with an emphasis in teaching, from one of the nation's premier programs at California State University, Northridge. 

When not writing books or tending her website, Michelle contributes thought-provoking articles to academic publishers such as Greenhaven Press. Her unique articles have done much to support Deaf Culture, and have been printed in resource publications such as American Chronicle and Perspectives on Diseases & Disorders: Deafness & Hearing Impairments.