Top Three Things You Should Know about ASL

 Did you know that approximately 15% of American adults (aged 18 and over) suffer from some form of hearing loss? 

How about the fact that there are over 11 million deaf people in the U.S. alone? (National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders)

My name is Shane Powers, and I am not deaf. My hearing is perfectly fine (knock on wood) and as of writing this post, I am currently completing my last semester at Bowling Green State University.

Despite this being my last semester here, I am only taking ASL 1 now, and I am shocked that most Americans go their whole lives without knowing even the basics of ASL.

The point of this article isn't to convince you to learn ASL (though it would be great if you did). I just want you to take away a few important lessons about the language and the culture so that you will at least be somewhat prepared for the moment when you interact with a deaf individual. 

1. Conjunctions aren't really a thing with ASL

This is something that makes sense but most people probably don't think about if they aren't familiar with the language. But it's true, words like "and", "but" and "if" aren't stated, but rather implied when signing ASL. Here's an example:

Phrase in English: "My Mom is deaf and my dad is hearing."

Simple enough, right? Here's how it would directly translate to someone signing in ASL:

Phrase in ASL: "MY MOM DEAF. MY DAD HEARING."

The first thing I will tell you is not to compare it to how cavemen talk, because that's pretty offensive. But it's true that only the subjects and topics are signed in ASL while the conjunctions will either be spoken verbally or just ignored completely.

Having to sign those "and"'s and "but"'s would just be a waste a time really. The point of the sentence is still just at clear regardless of if those linking words are there or not.

2. If you learn the ASL alphabet, you can communicate with the deaf

In all forms of sign language, there is traditional signing and there is finger spelling. Finger spelling involves signing out each letter in a word. While most words have a sign associated with them, there are some things that must be spelled out letter-by-letter. 

Your name is a great example of this.

So if you learn what each letter of the alphabet translates to in ASL, then you could reasonably understand a deaf person as long as they are finger-spelling back to you!

Of course, finger spelling takes way more time than just signing, but it also requires a lot less memorization on your part!

Here's a great website for learning the ASL Alphabet.

3. Most deaf people know two languages

If you're deaf (especially born deaf), odds are you grew up learning your countries standard language at the same time as the sign language variant. In America, this would be English and ASL.

Deaf people need to know English, but they also need to be good lip-readers. Fortunately nowadays, things like closed captions and translators at major events are more common, but it used to be a real issue where most things in life were seriously inaccessible to the deaf community.

So this brings up a pretty important question...

If a deaf person can pick up a second language, why can't you?