American Sign Language and Change Politics

The politics of American Sign Language (ASL) can be called "THE ART OF THE LANGUAGE CHANGE." But the political eras and the educators of the Deaf who supported the use of ASL introduced changes that would have been impossible before.

The Gallaudet University mission statement that includes the ASL-English bilingualism would have been impossible only two years earlier, in 2006. The Deaf President Now protest would have been considered madness a decade earlier. Just a few months ago, anyone who predicted all the changes set in motion at North Carolina School for the Deaf in Morganton would have been urged to seek psychiatric help.

Most of us are preoccupied with what is politically feasible right now. Even the NAD leader takes ideas for Deaf babies that have been around for a while and prefers to get enough acceptance to be proactive. Although there is an argument that many people who plan to attend the Deaf Bilingual Coalition demonstration in Milwaukee, Wisconsin are the members of the NAD, they will be there without the NAD's position statement on AGBell and the Deaf babies.

What are some of the political ideas we should be thinking about today, in hopes that they would become possible for Deaf babies and their parents?

The Achillles heel of democratic societies has been their short-sightedness. Stupid and even dangerous policies have been promoted by AGBell leaders who knew better, but who were responding to fashionable political moods or to the pressures of the lies.

Some people think "an informed citizenry" is the answer. It would help. But there is no way that anyone can be really informed about all the Deaf if ASL is not identified in the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) mandates.

What we need in education are people who can use ASL to make better communication for the Deaf, rather than to present them with the American with Disabilities Act (ADA). That is, we need to replace ADA people with people from the Deaf community to give our society the benefit of their experience and wisdom that we identified in the 17th-19th century Martha's Vineyard Island where everyone used sign language. Martha's Vineyard Island is an American experience in which communication was available to everyone.

If we want a change in our political lifetime, we are going to have to make it possible for Deaf babies. We must always remind ourselves that Deaf people have been around for a long time. If a billion seconds is more than 30 years, then a trillion seconds ago, no Deaf babies on this planet would need cochlear implants. If Socrates sees signs to represent Deaf people's intelligence in Plato's book Cratylus, then Deaf babies are fine with ASL.