By: Justin Dominguez
ASL, which is an abbreviated form for “American Sign Language,” is a popular language to learn currently. With the population of deaf people in America being 3.6%, or about 11 million individuals, ASL has become a very necessary language in every area of business to communicate with deaf individuals. However, how did it start? Who created the signs? And more importantly, how does it affect our school here at Eisenhower?
Sign language was never created—actually, it was the first language humans used. Back in Neanderthal times, we used sign language to communicate with one another before even speaking. However, it was around the 1700s that ASL became modernized and took inspiration from French Sign Language, after various events that altered the dialect. The most prominent event was the publication of “Sign Language Structure” in 1965 by William Stokoe, a linguist who showed that ASL was a bona fide language. In 1755, Abbé Charles-Michel de l’Épée of Paris founded the first (free) school for deaf people in Paris. Many of l’Épée's disciples founded schools in different countries, which spread a similar dialect of sign language. Then, in 1815, Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet traveled to Europe to study methods of education for deaf children. He encountered Abbé Charles-Michel and Jean Massieu, who took Thomas to visit their school in Paris. Thomas then met a deaf teacher, Laurent Clerc, and he proposed a plan to travel to America and teach LSF there. In 1817, they opened their first school in Connecticut, called the Connecticut Asylum for the Education and Instruction of Deaf and Dumb Persons. This school strongly influenced the ASL we know today.
The ASL Club here at Eisenhower has been an amazing addition to our list of clubs, but what are the activities and purposes of this club? Well, I interviewed Mrs. Barbie and Club President Leilani Simes to bring you the information presented. The main purpose of the ASL Club is to communicate and learn using ASL; however, it’s really to reinforce their ASL communication skills by conversing with other speakers. The ASL Club participates in our own school events, like signing for the football games to interpret for families who can't hear, and the pep rally, as we saw Friday (10/18). For those who were looking to get language credits from this club, well, unfortunately, they don’t offer language credits for participating in this club. You’ll have to join the actual class to earn language credits.
If you have any questions or interest in joining the club, go to M-9 and talk to Mrs. Barbee about joining. Or, if you want to write about your own interests and articles, join Journalism! We're located in B-8, and you can talk to Mr. Davis about joining the club.
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