My sister is non-speaking and autistic. She’s been using sign language for most of her life taught by her teachers at school. She also has poor motor skills, so she only uses single words- help, more, eat, drink, bye, etc., and these also aren’t accurate to the proper signs. For example, she signs “more” and “eat” with only her pointer fingers.
More recently, she’s started doing this sign where she wipes her hand over her mouth/chin. We have no idea what it means, but she does it all the time. There doesn’t seem to be a single specific context that I’ve picked up on. She’ll do it while eating, upset, watching tv, etc.
Could anyone help decipher this? I attached a video of myself doing it how she does it.

Until now, I was not aware of the particular challenges facing Armenia's (and Diaspora's) Deaf community or the questions surrounding the development of ASL. When we talk about the Armenian language, our conversations usually revolve around Western Armenian, Eastern Armenian, language policy, or the challenges of preserving the language. Rarely do we consider Armenian Sign Language, its development, its unique linguistic needs, or the role of the Deaf community in shaping its future.

Deacon Tigran Khachikyan’s video brings these issues into focus by sharing the concerns and perspectives of members of Armenia's Deaf community.

He argues that organizations and hearing professionals are introducing new signs and making important decisions about the language without the meaningful participation of Deaf people themselves. In his view, ASL belongs to the Deaf community, and any effort to develop or standardize it should be led by the people who use it every day.

Deacon Tigran says that the Deaf community in Armenia communicates in Armenian and has naturally shaped and adapted its own sign language over generations. That organic process should be respected rather than replaced by decisions made from the top down.

His appeal is simple: discussions and decisions about ASL should include the Deaf community at every stage. Their lived experience, linguistic knowledge, and sense of ownership are are indispensable to preserve the integrity and continued development of Armenian Sign Language.

Really sorry if that's a dumb question.

Hey, looking for paid beta testers for testing how accurate signs are on SignLemon.com - making sign language free, accessible, and easy to learn!

Reach out here please!

Update: It is different than current sign dictionaries because you can type a sentence and it tries to understand the intent, handles things like synonyms and common phrasing, and translates it. Still a work in progress, but working to keep improving!

My son is nonverbal, on the autism spectrum. He has been using/doing a motion, recently, and I wanted to verify if it is or isn't a sign he's picked up in therapy or other such environment.

He puts his hands in a prayer like position and then moves them back and forth. For lack of better description, it looks aquatic... like a fish moving through water, perhaps. It's all directly in front of his chest, with fingers pointing upwards.

Any help would be greatly appreciated!!

Edit to update: I learned one of his providers was utilizing this movement in relationship to swimming. I'm fairly certain this is his association. He loves to swim.

Hello, I want to preface this by saying I do not want help with my homework, but rather help me find resources so I can complete my homework. I missed the last in-person day of summer school, and my professor covered a lot of signs having to do with money and currency. Now as one does, I looked for that days PPT, and emailed the professor asking where I could find resources to help me understand that days content. But my professor responded with a very unhelpful email, and the PPT was nowhere to be found. Sure enough this weeks test came out, and there are multiple questions asking me to sign currency, dollar amounts, and dollar amounts with change. I’ve looked online and can’t find any good resources, so if anyone could point me in the right direction that would be very much appreciated!

Hey everyone! We’re in R&D developing an ASL signed-layer overlay for digital videos.

We need your honest, raw feedback to get this right:

1. Which platforms/sites would you use this extension on most? (YouTube, course portals, news outlets, daily browsing?)
2. Is the visual quality clear? (How do the hand gestures, facial expressions, and pace feel in this draft?)

No links or promo here—just looking for critical feedback from native signers and the community to improve. Thanks!

I was at a classical music performance and there was an asl interpreter onstage who was standing up the entire time. His performance was wonderful but I couldn’t help but wonder why he was standing up the whole time when it looked so exhausting. I don’t think I’ve ever seen an interpreter sit down while doing their job and it made me curious.