Genius Hour
American Sign Language or ASL
Estimation of the Population in America that knows ASL
A recent estimate claims that around 13 million people have some level of proficiency in sign language.
Born Deaf or Became Deaf?
About 2 million of these 28 million people are classified as deaf (they can't hear everyday sounds or speech even with a hearing aid). Only about 10% of these 2 million people were born deaf. The other 90% became deaf later in life.
This may be due to headphones and other audio things that are loud.
Beethoven BECAME deaf
Loss of hearing. Around 1796, by the age of 26, Beethoven began to lose his hearing. He suffered from a severe form of tinnitus, a "ringing" in his ears that made it hard for him to hear music; he also tried to avoid conversations. His last words were "I shall hear in heaven."
Some Facts on ASL
· - Sign Language is the 3rd most learned language in the US after English and Spanish
· - Sign Language has its own grammar
· - 1 sign in sign language can mean multiple things
- For every language it has is own sign language.
You can also communicate with friends and family without anybody knowing what your sayong
ASL is Beneficial to Us
-Learning ASL makes you Bilingual which helps your Cognitive Processes (higher abstract and creative thinking, better problem-solving, and more) also Bimodal (visual-perceptual skills)
-Helps speak to baby's that are to young to speak
-Helps spelling, because you might not know a sign and have to spell it out or its a word that doesn't have a sign ex. Pizza
-Over the years the population of deafness will grow due to headphones, extremly loud music in the car (teenage boys) and disease.
ASL is Beneficial to Others
Knowing ASL can help the deaf to communicate better with others. It can also help baby's communicate with you in telling you what they want and need.
Now...
With the information I have learned I plan to take ASL in high school and hope to continue to teach it to others.