ASL is the Gold Standard for Hand Speak
January 12, 2024
The application and use of American Sign Language (ASL) has grown significantly over the past two decades. Moreover, with the larger number of viewers watching news reports during the pandemic, a lot more people without hearing impairments were introduced to ASL when government agencies would broadcast health updates during COVID briefings.
Contrary to some people’s belief, American Sign Language is a distinct language. Like English and other languages, ASL has its own linguistic rules for word formation and word order. Although ASL is commonly used to communicate with deaf individuals, it also can be very effective for conversing with those who are hard of hearing or suffer with other disabilities, such as autism or cerebral palsy.
According to the National Institute of Health, the number of individuals with hearing loss is expected to almost double over the next forty years and will outpace the overall population growth in America. So, many diverse groups in our country are already taking a proactive stance in learning more about the importance of Deaf communities and individuals who consider American Sign Language to be their native tongue.
Listening with your eyes...
Anyone who knows sign language understands the art of listening with his or her eyes. Since the person must constantly be visually engaged, communication specialists say people using ASL to converse are often much better listeners. So, non-hearing impaired individuals can benefit from learning American Sign Language with its unique requirement for maintaining constant eye contact. This is a helpful skill that when applied to any spoken language shows others that you are truly interested in what they have to say.
Advantages of Using Gestural Language
Historically, sign language has been used by people who are deaf to communicate with others who may or may not have hearing impairments. But, ASL has attracted a host of new signers who were attracted to learning the language due to its expressive movements. In addition to using one’s hands and fingers, sign language uses a topic-comment approach (topicalization) where the subject is the topic and predicate is the comment.
Useful advantages of ASL over spoken languages include:
1) Communicating with Autistic Children – Since babies can actually imitate gestures to sign simple words before they are physically able to verbalize words, parents of child with autistic spectrum disorder are learning ASL to reduce frustrations when communicating and bonding.
2) Private Conversations in Public – If you been with someone for a while, you may have developed signals to use when you or your partner are ready to leave a boring party. By learning sign language, you can include important details and remain stealth and silent as long as no one else knows ASL.
3) Interacting at a Distance – Native Americans called “code talkers” developed a complex system of non-verbal signaling that was used during World War I and II. Similarly, learning ASL has become an option for specific groups who need communicate in the great outdoors.
4) Talking in Noisy Environments – If you’ve every watched workers on a tarmac at an airport, they use signaling to relay important instructions to pilots and other team members. Learning ASL can make it much easier to communicate with friends when attending a loud music concert.
5) Conversing Underwater – Scuba enthusiasts developed their own hand signals and gestures to improve underwater safety when diving. By adding expertise in basic sign language, they have access to proven tool for more extensive conversations while maneuvering their environment.
6) Chat in Class w/o the Teacher Hearing – School kids in the past often used eye movements or a head nod to communicate when the teacher’s back was turned. In keeping with today’s more clever generation, children are learning sign language from friends to take it to a new level.
Not surprisingly, the study of ASL has helped scientists better understand the neurobiology of language development when it is signed compared to when it is spoken. For generations, non-hearing impaired individuals had considered sign language to be a silent version of English; but it’s not. That said, different regions of the world do have their own version of sign language that is also not related to the area’s spoken languages.
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Difficulty hearing what is said not only causes problems with communication, but it also limits participation and productivity across a board range of activities. ASL is the bridge that quickly connects your message to the world of those who are hearing impaired. Plus, sign language is 15% more efficient than English. Signing is a four dimensional (time, width, length and breadth) language while speech is one dimensional (time). To learn more about how ASL can help your organization deliver more inclusive messaging, contact an event specialist at ProLingo.
