Today, we want to talk about some common myths about American Sign Language, and the Deaf community. We hope you will ask your friends and family about some of these myths to see what their reactions are. You may be shocked at some of their responses.
Myth#1: American Sign Language is universal.
This myth is false. American Sign Language (ASL) is not a universal language. It is primarily used in North America. However, there are other places around the world that use ASL because of missionaries visiting those countries, and there are places using ASL simply because those knowing the language have shared it with these other cultures .
Myth #2: Every deaf person knows how to sign.
This myth is also false. Some deaf people are taught how to read lips, while others learn how to sign, while others rely on paper-pencil to communicate. Remember, ninety percent of deaf children are born to hearing parents, of which, seventy-five percent of those parents do not sign. Some of these parents who do not sign simply raise their deaf child to read lips, or they provide them with no training whatsoever. However, for those parents that do sign, they may use a combination of home signs (signs that are made up, and are not commonly known by the Deaf community ), and ASL.
Myth #3: Deaf people can do anything except “hear”
This myth is true. Deaf people can do anything that a “hearing” person can do, except hear. Today, there are deaf people in every profession, including engineering, medicine, and law. Deaf people do not consider their hearing loss a “handicap”. Instead, they are connected by a common denominator to others who are like them. REMEMBER, deafness is NOT a disability, but simply an inability.
If there are myths that you would like to share that you have heard, please do so. We will be posting various myths from time to time.
Thank you for clearing up this for me. Great blog by the way.
Wait so do other countries have thier own form on sign language? And do hearing aids help deaf people?
Yes, other countries have thier own form of sign language. Last semster I had to do a reseacher paper in one of my ASL classes,it was “Is there different forms of American Sign Language. It was interesting to find out there are so many ways to sign. Even in the states just using American Sign Language there is a variation in signing within the USA from the west coast to the east coast. If your really think about it, it’s the same with hearing people we all have different accents just depends on where you live. I hope that answered your question.
All deaf people do not know how to sign. My neighbor is deaf, one day I asked his hearing daughter why he didn’t have an interpreter she told me that he didn’t know how to sign that well, growing up he didn’t have an interpreter and just learned body language and gestures. In this generation most deaf people have interpreters I think it would be a cool job to do.
Interesting Information.
I thought all deaf people know how to sign…. that’s SAD, If I meet a deaf person or someone that wants to learn sign language I will recommend ASLDEAFINED for sure. My daughter loves your site she signs to me, but I don’t have any idea what she is saying. lol