AMERICAN SIGN LANGUAGE LEI3723L ASHLEY RAMPHAL

WHAT IS AMERICAN SIGN LANGUAGE?  According to the National Association for the Deaf (NAD): “American Sign Language (ASL) is a visual language. With signing, the brain processes linguistic information through the eyes. The shape, placement, and movement of the hands, as well as facial expressions and body movements, all play important parts in conveying information.”  Sign language is not universal. Countries each have their own sign language, and some languages even differ by region. ASL is uniquely characterized by grammar and syntax, like other sign language.

HISTORY OF ASL  Sign language can be traced back to France, which many consider the birthplace. In the 1700s, a Catholic clergyman named Charles Michele de l’Epee took it upon himself to educate deaf commoners about the Catholic Church. He noticed that deaf people had a way of using gestures to communicate, and that the gestures were specific and uniform, like spoken language.  Epee realized that in order to teach deaf people, he would have to communicate with them. He began to learn the sign language of the commoners, and eventually opened a school in the 1760s which enrolled at least 200 students.

HISTORY OF ASL  In 1815, a minister named Thomas Gallaudet started to teach his young deaf neighbor the alphabet. The girl’s father sponsored Gallaudet to go to Europe, where there was talk of deaf people being formally educated. In London, Gallaudet met Epee’s successor, Roch-Ambroise Sicard, and followed him to France. Gallaudet then learned French Sign Language, and traveled back to America with his newfound knowledge and one of the most eloquent signers at the time, Lauren Clerc.

HISTORY OF ASL  Together, Gallaudet and Clerc opened the American Asylum for the Deaf and Dumb in Students were taught FSL, which they mixed with their own home gestures and methodical gestures that Gallaudet had used prior to his trip. Combined, this formed the beginnings of American Sign Language.  Schools were opened up across the country, and the original institute remains open in Hartford to this day (“dumb” is removed from the name). In 1861, President Lincoln opened a school for deaf students in Washington D.C., and appointed Gallaudet’s son as the president. The school remains open and is now known as Gallaudet University.

POPULATIONS THAT USE ASL  Though the World Federation of the Deaf approximates that 70 million people worldwide use sign language as a first language, not all sign language is the same. As discussed previously, sign language varies from country to country and region to region.  According to the NAD, there are approximately 250, ,000 ASL users in the United States and Canada. However, this number can vary, as ASL users have never been counted by the U.S. census. The above number is based on a 1972 study.

LEARNING ASL  Deaf children who are born to deaf parents acquire the language naturally through their parents.  9 out of 10 deaf children are born to parents who can hear. Most parents with deaf children choose to teach their children ASL, who in turn, adapt quickly to the language despite having parents who are not fluent in sign language.

COSTS & MAINTENENCE

COSTS & MAINTENANCE

IMAGES OF ASL

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