Written by Kelly Cotter, Posted by Tim McCue
American Sign Language or ASL is used a lot by people who have or know someone who has a hearing impairment. Over 250,000 people use American Sign Language.
Understanding and using Sign Language means people with and without hearing impairments can have a conversation. This is important. It means that people with hearing impairments can be included. Learning ASL also helps people become friends with people who have hearing impairments.
When there is no ASL interpreter or person who knows ASL, many people with impaired hearing may have no way to understand what is going on.
Learning ASL or making sure that ASL translators are around as much as possible will help make the world more accessible.
ASL is an easy language you can learn at home. There are many online YouTube videos and courses to follow. The picture below teaches you the alphabet in ASL. Learning the alphabet in ASL is a great place to start.
