I’ve come to realise that not many people understand why Deaf people & those who speak Sign Language get so passionate and sometimes defensive about their language.
Therefore...
A thread:

Like many minorities, Deaf people and SL have been oppressed for years.
The history is long but let’s throw it back to the 1800’s as a starting example. Many deaf people weren’t allowed to learn, date, marry or procreate. They were seen as a “disease” that shouldn’t spread.

They experienced tons of oppression and still fought for the right to education. After much objection from the public, ‘The Connecticut Asylum for the Education & Instruction of Deaf and Dumb Persons’ (USA) was opened, but Deaf people were still viewed as ‘lesser’ beings.

In 1880, we saw the ‘Milan Conference’, where they decided ‘oral education’ was better than signed education and as a result, sign language education in schools was banned.

For years and years after that, deaf people were forced into ‘oral education’ where they were forced to learn by lip reading only which had a profound effect and many deaf peoples education suffered.

Even as recently as the 1960s, deaf people had to sit on their hands, have their hands smacked with rulers or in my Dads case, burned as punishment for trying to communicate in the way he instinctively wanted to.

As a result, there are generations of deaf people, including my parents, that would be considered ‘illiterate’. They cannot read or write and my mother, for example, has a reading age of a 4 year old.

Despite SL being recognised as a language in England in 2003, it still does not have legal status. Tons of deaf schools are being closed down every year & many deaf students are forced into mainstream education with hearing students where it is proven education can often suffer.

So, there we go.
A TINY glimpse into the history.

It’s not just like ‘any other language’, it is an oppressed language and many of my community have fought for YEARS for it to be recognised and STILL HAVE TO!

Please do learn Sign Language.
But PLEASE treat it & the community with respect.
Learn the history and take the time to learn and understand the delicate, beauty of this language.

Thank you for reading.