Join DawnSign.com on a journey into a world where…
… sign language is spoken
… people listen with their eyes
… facial expressions and body language say as much as the human voice
…storytellers and folklorists pass on legends and cultural mores from signing
     generation to signing generation.

Learn more about this fascinating world in the following series of questions and answers about basic topics related to Deaf life in America. Since the majority of "hearing" people don't have an opportunity to meet and interact with Deaf people, they are understandably prone to think of the deaf experience from their own point of view. Hearing people often perceive being deaf as losing an important "sense" that is elemental to their lives. But to people who are born deaf, there is no feeling of loss.

As famously stated by the President of Gallaudet University, the world's only liberal arts university dedicated to the education of Deaf people, "Deaf people can do anything…except hear."

The Deaf-World has touched millions with its vibrant language, enduring culture, and close-knit community. Find out what makes American Sign Language (ASL) one of the most popular languages in North America.

The Deaf-World has been around for centuries. Come discover it!

What is the Deaf-World?

The Deaf-World is what Deaf people call their culture with its unique language and institutions. Deaf-Worlds exist in many lands, wherever Deaf people communicate primarily in sign language and are connected by a culture that is recognizably their own, with common values, mores, and goals. Here in the U.S. and in Canada, most culturally Deaf people who are members of the Deaf-World use ASL as their primary language.

How many Deaf people are there in the U.S.?

Approximately 28 million Americans are reported to have severe to profound hearing loss. The percentage of people who are culturally Deaf and use ASL as their primary language, is much smaller. The number is difficult to pin down, but estimates range from 550,000 to one million in the United States and Canada. No exact census figures exist.

What is American Sign Language?

ASL is a visual and manual language made up of signs created with the hands, facial expressions, and body posture and movement. ASL conveys ideas, information, and emotion with as much range, complexity, and versatility as spoken languages.

Is American Sign Language used by all Deaf people in the Deaf-World?

There is no universal form of sign language. Like spoken languages, sign languages are different in different countries or regions. Japanese Deaf people use Japanese Sign Language, Deaf Swedes use Swedish Sign Language, and Deaf Brazilians use Brazilian Sign Language. Regional variations of sign languages also exist within countries, including the United States. A Deaf New Yorker who relocates to Alabama will quickly learn a variety of signs never seen in New York!

Who else uses American Sign Language?

Apart from the estimated half a million to one million people in the American Deaf-World, an untold number of individuals have taken sign language classes at the elementary, secondary, and post-secondary level. Many have gone on to become sign language interpreters. Users of ASL also include parents of Deaf children, hearing children of Deaf parents, known as codas (children of deaf adults), relatives of Deaf people, and adults who are late deafened and are learning sign language. The growing popularity of ASL has made it one of the most widely used languages in America.

Have Deaf Americans always used American Sign Language?

American Sign Language traces its roots to French Sign Language, the language used in the first public school for deaf children in France, established in the late 1760s. In 1817, Laurent Clerc, a graduate of this school who had immigrated at the behest of the Reverend Thomas Gallaudet, helped him open the first American public school to teach deaf children in Hartford, Connecticut. Some of the children who attended the Hartford school came from families in which there were other Deaf children and home signs were used. Others were from full-fledged Deaf communities such as on Martha's Vineyard in Massachusetts, and at Henniker, New Hampshire. Those children's manual communication and signed vocabularies mixed with Clerc's French Sign Language and were passed on by Deaf teachers and by Deaf pupils who later had Deaf children of their own. It took more than a generation for ASL to become a full-fledged language with a complex syntax and a broad range of uses.

What is the difference between the terms "Deaf" and "hearing impaired"?

"Hearing impaired" suggests a malfunction or defect, putting the focus on the absence of hearing. This medical, or pathological viewpoint, is not shared by culturally Deaf people who are proud to regard themselves as a minority language group. It is more acceptable to refer to a Deaf person as Deaf.

Why don't Deaf people rely on lip-reading to communicate with hearing people?

Despite the popular media portrayal of Deaf characters who can easily read lips from great distances using binoculars, only a small percentage of spoken English words-some studies put the number at 30%-are visible on the lips. Due to the guesswork involved, misunderstandings can easily arise, making lip-reading unreliable and frustrating. Some Deaf people are more skilled than others, while many cannot lip-read at all. Still, Deaf people often have public encounters where they are commonly expected to carry on a conversation by reading lips. To ensure full communication, it is best to retain the services of certified sign language interpreters. For brief interactions, exchanging written notes may be okay.

How do Deaf people use the telephone?

Before the availability of the TTY-a teletypewriter adapted to send signals over the telephone-Deaf people had no way of making telephone calls except to rely on hearing family and friends, as well as strangers. A TTY has a typewriter keyboard and an electronic LED display. A TTY works by transmitting messages to another TTY, with the caller and other party alternately typing back and forth, using established terms like "GA" for "go ahead," indicating it's the other person's turn to respond, and "SK" for "stop keying" to end a call. Also known as a TDD (Telecommunications Device for the Deaf), Deaf people fondly refer to the device as a TTY.

Because Deaf people could only call other people who also had a TTY, access to the telephone was still limited-and frustrating. That changed once telecommunications relay services became a reality.

What are Telecommunications Relay Services and how do they work?

Telecommunications Relay Services (TRS) offer anyone-Deaf or hearing-who dials a relay center in any region the ability to put through a call with the assistance of a relay operator. The operator types the hearing person's words to the Deaf person on a TTY and voices the Deaf person's words to the hearing person. Each state has its own relay center telephone numbers. To make things simpler, callers can now dial 711 anywhere and be connected to the relay center serving the geographic area where the call is made. All you need is the phone number of the Deaf person you wish to call.

In some areas it is now possible to make video relay calls using computer-mounted cameras. After dialing and connecting to a relay center, a Deaf person signs to the camera lens and an interpreter watching the monitor relays the conversation to a hearing person, then signs the response, which the Deaf person views on the computer screen, all in real time.

How do Deaf people know a) when the phone or doorbell is ringing? b) the baby is crying? c) the alarm clock is going off?

a) Light signaling systems that connect to the phone jack, doorbell buzzer, and a lamp or stand-alone bulb are standard features in Deaf homes. With newer wireless versions, a master console about the size of a portable CD player or smaller can be set up in one room, with remote receivers in other rooms. When the telephone or doorbell rings, the lamp flashes. A Deaf person can tell whether the phone or doorbell is ringing from the flash rate and from two different lights on the receiver.

b) Baby monitors made for Deaf parents are placed in the crib or nearby. A remote receiver in another room will flash a connected lamp to alert a parent to the infant's cries.

c) Two types of alarm clocks are used to awaken Deaf people in the morning: the vibrating kind, placed under a mattress, and a lamp flasher, which flicks on and off until it is turned off. Both are plugged into specially designed alarm clocks with an adapter. There are several models available from manufacturers of "assistive technology" who serve the Deaf community. Some come with snooze buttons just like regular alarm clocks. For travelers, small portable alarm clocks can be placed under the pillow and will vibrate, getting the sleeper up in time.