ASL
Sign Name
• Can only be given by a Deaf
person
2 Types
Descriptive
Arbitrary
Arbitrary Name Signs
• Arbitrary name signs use
the first letter of the
person's name.
Descriptive Name Signs
• Descriptive name signs are based
on distinctive physical
characteristics and are often
given by peers and are usually
later replaced by an arbitrary
name sign.
Terms used for deafness
• deaf, Deaf
• deaf with a lowercase "d" is usually an
audiological description of a person's hearing
level. It most often refers to a person who is
unable to use his or her hearing for the purpose
of understanding everyday communication. Being
deaf does not mean the person can not hear
anything at all. Not all people who are deaf
identify themselves with, or participate in, Deaf
culture.
DEAF
• Deaf with an uppercase "D" refers to deaf
adults and children who share the use of
American Sign Language and Deaf culturecommon values, rules for behavior, traditions,
and views of themselves and others (Padden
& Humphries, 1988). People who identify with
Deaf culture and describe themselves as Deaf
may also have a range of hearing levels.
Hard of Hearing
• Hard of hearing usually refers to people who
have enough hearing to communicate and feel
comfortable communicating through spoken
language. There are no specific hearing levels
or personal characteristics that determine
whether a person will function as hard of
hearing.
Deaf Mute/Deaf and Dumb
• Deaf people themselves have
never adopted these terms or
considered them acceptable.
They have finally faded from
use.
HI (Hearing Impaired)
• A commonly used term today is
hearing impaired. While it is not as
blatantly insulting as some of the
older terms, many individuals dislike
it because it describes deaf people
based on what they cannot do.
Non-Manual Signals
• Declarative
Thomas Gallaudet - first teacher of
the Deaf, opened the American
School for the Deaf in Hartford,
Connecticut
Laurent Clerc - co-founded the
American School for the Deaf with
Gallaudet