Which Hand Do I Sign With?
OK, so my right hand moves and my left hand….wait…what? Figuring out which hand does what can be really confusing. The first step is deciding which will be your Dominant hand (D) and which will be your Non-Dominant hand (ND). In general, your dominant hand will be the hand that you write with, however, if it feels more comfortable to have your opposite hand be dominant, which is up to you. One thing that is very important to remember is that you can’t change dominance. Once you decide which hand will be dominant, stick with it. Changing can make your signs confusing.
Now that you have decided on your dominance, you will notice that two-handed signs fall in to one of two categories based on their condition. Symmetry Condition refers to a sign in which both hands do the same thing either together, or alternating (e.g. “Possible”, and “Maybe”). Dominance Condition refers to a sign where both hands have a different hand shape, and only your dominant hand moves (e.g. “Word”, and “Money”). In the Dominance Condition, your Non-Dominant hand is referred to as your “passive” or “base” hand and does not move.