Welcome! In this lesson, you will learn basic greetings, how to introduce yourself, the manual alphabet, personal pronouns, and about 50 ASL vocabulary terms. Your instructors include Keith Wann, Rachel Coleman, Leah Coleman, and Deaf rapper Sean Forbes.

Lesson curriculum

Instructors

Sean Forbes

Sean Forbes is a hip-hop artist, rapper, songwriter, drummer, and communicator who happens to be Deaf. The son of two Detroit musicians, Sean felt his life was changed when given his own drum set at age 5. Could a deaf child really grow up to be a musician? The answer was a resounding and loud YES. Sean has released albums, performed numerous live shows, and featured Academy Award winning actress Marlee Matlin in one of his music videos. In 2006, Sean co-founded D-PAN, the Deaf Professional Arts Network. D-PAN is a nonprofit organization whose goal is to ensure that music is accessible to the Deaf community through ASL.

Liam Coleman

Liam Coleman is a Deaf American actor known for inspiring the creation of, and starring in, the "Signing Time" series. "Signing Time" received an Emmy nomination in 2008 and has been seen on public television, Nick Jr., Netflix, and in minivan entertainment systems around the globe. Liam graduated from Rochester Institute of Technology in 2019 with a bachelor's degree in Individualized Studies with concentrations in Deaf Culture and Design. Today, Liam works as a Junior Creative Director at Morpheyes Studio, a Deaf based creative production company focused on advancing Deaf & Hard of Hearing talent.

Keith Wann

Keith Wann is an actor, performer, writer, producer, father, husband, and a terrible stunt-guy. As a hearing child of Deaf adults, Wann is an original breakthrough performing ASL artist and has been featured in several short films. He currently stars in a popular ASL Children’s book app called Signed Stories. His unique combination of side splitting humor with heartfelt real life stories from his CODA childhood has become his comedic trademark among the ASL Community. Along with performing, Keith also maintains his National Interpreter Certification (NIC:Master and CI/CT), works on Broadway providing ASL access, and has been an artistic ASL consultant on video projects for artists including Sia.