A few more thoughts or lessons from laryngitis I forgot to add the other day in my post, From Voiceless to Silent.
Other staple gestures: waving (mostly hello but the sometimes vigorous waving is for attention drawing), nods, head shakes, both hands palms up, pointing to myself or you, pointing to my eye (I saw it).
Why not just learn sign language? I was tempted but for it to be useful, the people I'm trying to communicate with would also have to learn it. That's where it falls apart. I have been using the sign for "thank you" which I believe comes across in context. (Thank you again, West Wing, for teaching me so many useful tidbits.)
My sibling suggested I teach my parents semaphore. Again problematic because they wouldn't learn it, but it did remind me of the Monty Python semaphore version of Wuthering Heights which made me laugh.
The curious thing about all of my hand gestures is that it inspires people to respond in kind, like they want to play too. Even though my hearing is fine. My dismayed head shake is meant to convey, "Dude. You can talk, so talk." We need not compound comprehension difficulties. It's mostly come across. I can always ramp it up to eye roll if necessary.
10 years ago on TTaT: Struggling to do the wrong thing
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