Receptive FS and Gaze Management
Hi... hearing ASL learner here, completed through ASL 7. Question about receptive fingerspelling and gaze management.
[This is a bit of a cumbersome read... thank you for taking the time]
On fingerspell.net I can read FS correctly about 90% of the time at FAST-2 when using foveal gaze on the hand. But with peripheral gaze only, I drop to around 70%... partly because I have low vision and struggle to distinguish closed-form letters like A, T, E, M, N, S in the periphery.
Here's the problem. During normal signing I keep foveal gaze on the signer's face and process the hands peripherally... that works fine. But when they fingerspell, I face a dilemma:
If I stay foveal on the face, I struggle to read the FS because my peripheral vision can't reliably distinguish closed letters.
If I switch to foveal gaze on the hand, I can read more accurately... but the switch itself causes me to miss letters mid-word.
So the issue is twofold: 1) my peripheral vision struggles with closed letters before the switch, and 2) the transition to foveal costs me letters during the switch.
Improving word shape and context recognition is my primary focus... but being able to actually see as much of the word as possible still matters.
Is there a technique for making that foveal switch faster and cleaner... or a way to train peripheral recognition of closed letters specifically?
Any advice appreciated.