Today’s theme for International Week of the Deaf: “The Legal Recognition of National Sign Languages“
So, for day #24 of Deaf Awareness Month, C.A.N. turns the spotlight to We the Deaf People!
We the Deaf People, Inc. is a nonprofit humanitarian organization promoting Deaf people’s civil and language rights through advocacy and education.
WTDP’s Mission:
As members of the Deaf community, we want to be recognized as a linguistic minority, to be accorded the same kind of recognition and respect given to other ethnic groups. We want to preserve American Sign Language, which is the primary language for many of us. The right to have access to, learn, and use ASL, is not a privilege or frill, but a basic human right for all deaf people—children and adults. As U.S. citizens, we insist on fair and equal treatment…. see more on their Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/wethedeafpeople/
And here is some trivia about legal recognition of signed languages:
According to WFD , “Uganda was the first country in the world to legally recognise its national sign language in 1995. Since then, only approximately 50 countries have formally granted their national sign languages an equal status to their national spoken language(s). This is less than 25% of the United Nations 193 Member States.”
Does the United States legally recognize American Sign Language? Find the answer in this Wikipedia article: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legal_recognition_of_sign_languages#United_States
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