I want to know if there are any steps/instuctions…or anything. How is it that these people can teach an ape how to communicate with us and other apes with sign language?
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Sign Language Lessons, Information, Product Reviews and Tips to Get Started Learning ASL
I want to know if there are any steps/instuctions…or anything. How is it that these people can teach an ape how to communicate with us and other apes with sign language?
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You might try talkingapes.com. And just like humans, it takes patience and example.
Look for info on operant conditioning animal training (such as the type of training done with dolphins) as well as information about teaching sign language to deaf children. I suspect that a combination of both techniques would be the best way to go about it.
You may also want to check out Penny Patterson’s book, below. She was the researcher who taught the gorilla Koko to use ASL.
But please remember, no apes have yet “learned” ASL to a degree that we would call fluency.
Apes, especially Gorilla’s are amazingly intelligent, you teach them to sign just like you would a human child. Gorilla’s are the blogbaba’s of the ape world. Now if zoo keepers could just teach them to use soap, we might have a lot longer conversations with them. It’s not easy signing away with a Gorilla while your eyes are watering and your trying not to retch. A healthy adult Gorilla smells about as bad as a dead one left out in the sun for a few weeks. The worst part is you can offend them with your actions and they don’t like to be rejected. Amazing animals, they are smarter than some people I know.