Bring Asl into public schools everywhere!

Anyone can go deaf at any time. Children can benefit from learning sign language while in elementary and middle school, whether they are deaf or hearing. The sooner you are exposed to a language, the easier it is to learn. High schools can offer more formal language training in sign language to students who are interested in learning it. Starting or continuing the study of sign language prepares students to study it in college and to prepare for a career as a sign language interpreter or as a teacher of the deaf. Teaching sign language in elementary, middle and high schools can be beneficial to both hearing and deaf students. It can help to bolster communication between the students, and prevent mainstreamed deaf students from feeling isolated at their schools. It brings awareness to the deaf culture throughout the community. It also helps the students to learn a foreign language, to become bilingual.