Melanie Page

This is the tenth post in series of reflections on essays from the book Deaf World, edited by Lois Bragg. All essays in this text are by d/Deaf authors, meaning it is both a primary resource and, thanks to the scope of essays, a historical reader.

The essay “What Happens When Languages Come in Contact” by Ceil Lucas and Clayton Valli was the most surprising I’ve read so far. To sum up, the authors look at the arrival of sign language in the U.S. and the ways in which written French and English affected what became ASL. As oralism rose in popularity, it affected sign language, but also, many people became deaf after learning English, so some could read and write. The children who learned at the American School for the Deaf spread across the country to open schools for the deaf, and the language would change as it came into contact with English in various regions. 

To begin, I hadn’t even considered how Gallaudet’s and Clerc’s new pupils communicated before the establishment of the first school for the deaf. The story always begins poor Alice Cogswell was excluded by other children. But, folks were using home signs and gestures, and one gentleman already knew sign language. What was he using?! The authors imply the man’s language was fully structured, making me think the arrival of Clerc was not the birth of sign language in America, but perhaps the commencement of formal deaf education. 

The reason I chose this essay is because I had learned to avoid all English signs. I did not sign AND or WITH, ever. Only in ASL 4 have I gotten somewhat used to signing NOT. And now, Lucas and Valli propose that ASL is a language that has grown up with English and is naturally affected by it. I was surprised when they proposed it would be preferred if folks got rid of initialized signs and followed ASL grammar—minimal requirements, I would think. Even then, some initialized words appear to be accepted by the deaf community, and others are not, which suggests to me that ASL is forever evolving—like any other language. Final question, then: how do I, as an ally, protect ASL? I’ve seen that signed by several Deaf people: PROTECT ASL.