Inclusiveness without 100% ASL is ...

Inclusiveness means “all of us together.” It is the language of “we,” and we are in this together. However, at Gallaudet University:

• How do you feel when someone tells you, “We’re in this together if and only if we could match signs with words.”
• How do you feel when someone says, “All deaf children can learn all languages and modes of communication.”
• How do you feel when someone tells you, “Come on, you can sign and talk at the same time.”
• How do you feel when someone says, “I can talk fluently and sign not fluently” or I can sign fluently and talk not fluently.”
• How do you feel when someone asks, “Have you checked your hearing aids?” or “What are the results of your hearing tests?”

You don’t feel good. You don’t feel complete. You don’t feel honest. You don’t feel included. Above all, you don’t feel right.

We the Deaf use American Sign Language for information, knowledge and communication respectively. Information increases knowledge for communication to happen. ASL stimulates ownership and responsibility in the all-encompassing aspects of intellectual conversation we carry.

The world is changing. So does ASL. This is what happens when we incorporate something new into our language, into ASL that we use. We have to walk the talk to keep our language and culture alive and well. The surest way to maintain our language is to use it exclusively at Gallaudet University—our institution of higher learning, the leader of the education of the Deaf around the world.

I am totally convinced that ASL is what has been evolving for me in my Deafhood journey. It is not a question of diversity. If we were obsessed with diversity we are missing the ship. If the paddlers paddled on their own will in order to remain diverse, the ship would get nowhere. That is status quo. Deafness is not a choice; it happens in all the fairness. Ultimately the inclusiveness is what we need: Use American Sign Language exclusively so we could expect to bring our strength to our ship.