A Short History of ASL

ASL grew through Deaf communities in the United States and parts of Canada. One important milestone was the opening of the American School for the Deaf in Hartford, Connecticut, in 1817. Early ASL was shaped by local sign languages already used in Deaf communities, including signing traditions from Martha's Vineyard, and by French Sign Language brought through Deaf education.

Over time, Deaf students, families, teachers, and communities developed and shared the language across schools, clubs, churches, workplaces, homes, and community gatherings. ASL continues to grow today as Deaf people create new signs for technology, culture, identity, education, and everyday life.

Deaf Culture

Deaf culture is built around language, shared experience, community connection, visual communication, storytelling, and pride. Many Deaf people see deafness not only as a medical condition, but also as a cultural identity connected to ASL, history, art, education, and community.

Respect for Deaf culture means valuing Deaf leadership, learning from Deaf teachers and creators, understanding that visual access matters, and recognizing ASL as a real language. It also means avoiding the idea that hearing is the only normal way to communicate.

Diversity in the Deaf Community

The Deaf community is not one single experience. People may identify as Deaf, deaf, hard of hearing, late-deafened, DeafBlind, CODA, oral, signing, bilingual, or part of more than one community. Some people use ASL every day. Some use spoken language, hearing aids, cochlear implants, interpreters, tactile signing, written communication, or a mix of tools.

Race, culture, family background, region, language, disability, gender, age, and access to education all shape a person's experience. A respectful approach is to ask what communication access someone prefers instead of assuming one solution works for everyone.

How to Spread Awareness

• Learn basic ASL from Deaf teachers, reputable ASL programs, and community resources.
• Share that ASL is a full language with its own grammar, not a word-for-word version of English.
• Support Deaf artists, educators, businesses, performers, and organizations.
• Use accessible media options and encourage others to make content easy to follow.
• Invite Deaf voices into conversations about accessibility, education, and public services.
• Teach children and adults that communication differences deserve patience and respect.

Making Places Accessible for Everyone

Accessibility is not only about ramps or written rules. For Deaf and hard of hearing people, access often means making communication clear, visible, and planned before someone has to ask.

• Provide qualified sign language interpreters for classes, meetings, appointments, events, and public services when needed.
• Caption videos, livestreams, announcements, and training materials.
• Use clear visual alerts for emergencies, doorbells, timers, and public announcements.
• Face the person when speaking, keep your mouth visible, and avoid talking while walking away.
• Offer written options such as chat, email, text, forms, and visual instructions.
• Make websites keyboard-friendly, readable on mobile, and clear enough to navigate without sound.
• Ask people what access works best for them, then respect the answer.

Practice Videos and Community Collaboration

ASL Games currently includes practice videos shared by Thomas Boyce Clark.

ASL belongs to Deaf communities. ASLGames.ca is seeking Deaf teachers, tutors, and community educators for future videos, signing styles, stories, and teaching approaches.

The current practice video library is led by Thomas Boyce Clark. Future collaborations will include clear credit and Deaf-community review.

Why This Work Matters

ASL supports clear visual communication at home, school, work, and community events.

ASL Games provides short games, visual repetition, and printable learning tools.

Paid supporters, schools, sponsors, and printable purchases fund videos, accessibility improvements, captions when ready, Deaf educator collaboration, and classroom resources.

Community Encouragement

ASL Games keeps a private folder of Facebook review screenshots and community feedback so progress can be documented over time. Public pages use anonymous themes unless a person gives clear permission to share their name or exact words.

• Visual, hands-on practice tools.
• Reusable teacher and community resources.
• Accessible design, clear navigation, and mobile-friendly practice make the site easier to recommend.
• The next stage is deeper collaboration with Deaf teachers and tutors so learners see more signing variety and community leadership.

How ASL Games Fits In

ASL Games is a practice tool for learning, review, and confidence building. Games can help people remember vocabulary and handshapes, but real language learning also needs community, conversation, feedback, culture, and respect. Use this site as one step in a larger learning journey.

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