Hey everyone, my name is Taylor and today's lesson is all about American Sign Language, or ASL.
In this video we're going to talk about the purpose of American Sign Language,
who uses it to communicate, and why learning asl is important.
American Sign Language, or ASL for short,
is the primary language used by people who identify as part of the deaf community.
Many deaf and hard of hearing individuals use ASL to communicate and access information. Deaf refers
to someone who lacks the ability to hear. The sign for deaf looks like this. Hard of hearing refers
to someone who has a mild to severe hearing loss. The sign for hard of hearing looks like this.
Most of you watching this like me probably identify as hearing which means we possess
the ability to perceive sound. The sign for hearing looks like this.
Since deaf and hard of hearing individuals can't always rely on their ears to pick up sounds
they must rely on other senses such as sight. That's why American Sign Language was created!
ASL is a visual language that relies on gestures and facial expressions
to communicate a message. It's primarily used by deaf communities in the United States and Canada.
Now contrary to popular belief, American Sign Language is not a gestured version of English. ASL
is its own separate language with grammar, structure, and rules that are different from
those we know in the English language. Now the world we live in is known as a "hearing world"
meaning it is designed for people who can hear. Due to this, people who are deaf or
hard of hearing face various struggles throughout their daily life; however, many people in the deaf
community don't view their deafness as a negative thing and they often take pride in their deafness.
Being deaf doesn't prohibit people from enjoying a lot of the same things that hearing people enjoy
such as movies and tv, music, art, traveling, video games, sports, books, and more!
One major impact that has helped in navigating this hearing world is technology.
Did you know there was a time where if you wanted to talk to someone you could only call them? Now
we have texting and things like facetime which have helped the deaf community stay even more
connected. Another example is closed captions which is text that displays on a video screen
to provide a transcription of the dialogue, sound effects, and other relevant audio information.
This gives people who are deaf and hard of hearing the ability to enjoy movies, tv shows,
and videos online. It's important that we discuss these things because people who can hear
have privileges that deaf and hard of hearing people don't have. For example, 90%
of deaf children are born to hearing parents. Most hearing people, parents included,
don't know any sign language so oftentimes deaf children spend a portion of their childhood not
being able to communicate with their parents and other family members. Can you imagine
not being able to communicate with your mom and dad or your brother and sister? It would feel
pretty lonely. This lack of communication and access to language goes on to negatively impact
many deaf people later in life. That's why learning ASL is so important. It opens the
world up even more to the deaf community and helps break down those communication barriers.
It also gives us the opportunity to learn more about other people and other cultures.
Now that we've discussed a little bit more about ASL and the deaf community,
you are fully prepared to start signing. Thanks for watching
and I'll see you next time. Oh! And remember to always be clever!