American Sign Language: The New Spanish [OPINION]

Most high schools focus on providing foreign languages as a second language. Spanish, French, and German were offered when I was in high school with Spanish being offered at the beginning of elementary school. But a growing number of people utilize American Sign Language (ASL) as their main form of communication. How can this be a form of communication when only select members of the United States can utilize it to communicate? We need to be providing a service to our youth and allow them the opportunity to learn as part of their K-12 education.

Between the United States and Canada, around 500,000 deaf people utilize ASL as their main language. Even more people utilize ASL without being part of this deaf population. With so many people using this communication, why is it not readily available to be taught in schools?

Communication is a key component for being a member of a community. The problem lies when you cannot communicate with those around you. But it’s not the fault of those attempting to be part of a community. The problem lies when those already a part of a community refuse to accommodate those with differences.

My youngest sibling is 10 years younger than me and is now starting her high school years. She came home one day overjoyed because she was able to drop her French class which she felt was the opposite of useful. I asked her how she got away with not taking a foreign language to which she proudly informed me that she is one of the students opting to take ASL as their foreign language in Greendale High School’s inaugural year of ASL as a second language.

Taking Spanish has provided me with numerous opportunities, such as being able to study abroad in Barcelona, speak with neighbors who utilize Spanish as their main language, and the ability to translate communications at work for clients who only speak Spanish just to name a few. Now that I’m well out of high school and working in a professional law office, I can say I am glad I have been speaking Spanish for a good 16 years of my life and I wish I would have had the opportunity to take ASL classes.

Speaking Spanish has proved to be a useful skill, but I have missed out on opportunities by not being able to communicate in ASL. I think of all the conversations I could have had if I would have been able to understand and the help I could have given when there were others who utilized this communication.

According to the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), resources need to be provided for deaf and hard of hearing to be able to receive effective communication. Working in the legal field, I see ASL interpreters at Court all the time. Prior to this, working at a performing arts center, I saw ASL interpreters at our shows.

A woman I used to work with one day saw the bill for hiring an ASL interpreter and asked why we needed to spend so much money paying for this when there are easy alternative options such as having written transcripts. These live events cannot be close captioned like on television and the internet. You also cannot encapsulate the emotion in writing as you can with facial expression of an ASL translation.

With ADA requiring effective communication, why are these skills not being taught in every school as a language option or even as a part of the general curriculum?

More schools need to provide these opportunities for their students. More people need to be inclusive and learn how to communicate using ASL. ADA requires interpreters be available, yet we aren’t teaching future generations to be able to use this effective communication.

Schools in the Milwaukee area need to follow Greendale High School’s lead and provide these services to our communities. We would only be making a more inclusive future, which is needed, by providing this education.