ASL American Sign Language

<body> <p><P>American Sign Language University is an online curriculum resource for ASL students, instructors, interpreters, and parents of deaf children.  <br>What is ASL? <b>ASL Definitions</b>:  A definition that has been around for a long time is: "American Sign Language is a visual-gestural language used by 500,000 members of the North American Deaf community." According to www.dictionary.com we have:  American Sign Language  n. Abbr. ASL<br>The primary sign language used by deaf and hearing-impaired people in the United States and Canada, devised in part by Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet on the basis of sign language in France. Also called <b>Ameslan</b>. A quick trip to Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (www.m-w.com) and we get: Main Entry: <b>American Sign Language: </b>Function: <i>noun. </i>Date: 1960<b>:</b> a sign language for the deaf in which meaning is conveyed by a system of articulated hand gestures and their placement relative to the upper body.  Notice the date of that entry from Merriam-Webster?  1960!  ASL hasn't been "recognized" as a language for very long has it?  Oh sure, the language itself has been around since the early 1800's but it wasn't until 1960 that "experts" <i> started</i> recognizing it as a full-blown autonomous language.</p> </p> </body>