The University of British Columbia is set to introduce its first universally accessible American Sign Language (ASL) course. The course will be taught under the heading of linguistics, emphasizing its unique cultural and linguistic elements that are often misunderstood or simply unknown.
Offering ASL via the linguistics department demonstrates that it’s a distinct language and not just a tool. It also serves to debunk misconceptions about sign languages, as well as the deaf communities at large.
Nigel Howard, a world leader among deaf interpreters, and ASL instructors, explains that sign languages struggle to be recognized because deaf people are often typified solely as people with a disability — a definition that most deaf people reject.
“The medicalized view — for example, the term hearing-impaired — [and] the connotations of that are very negative,” he said. “The term hearing-impaired brings to mind someone who is impaired, as in impaired driver. We see ourselves people that acquire a language and are visually oriented, but otherwise we live our lives just like other people.”
Instead, the deaf communities and speakers of sign languages place much more important on their shared language and not their ability to hear, according to Howard.
“We’re trying to encourage society to shift their mindset from a pathological to a sociological view — a cultural and linguistic view,” he said.
Read more about the ASL course.