It is very common for mainstream publications to publish articles about Deaf people without actually interviewing Deaf people. Reporters pull aside interpreters who forget their role in favor of the spotlight. Not only that, we cut off the powers of ASL in favor of English for daily and interpersonal matters. English also is the language of scholarly research and discourse about our community, culture, and even sign language itself.

It is time to bring our discourse home to American Sign Language. Time to allow the beating heart of the signing community have its full rights as a natural language – to assert our right to be the primary source of information about our community.

Description: A white face with blue tape over the eye speaks volumes of negative perceptions about Deaf people. The face and messages are set on a black background. A cerulean blue hand chops the comments short, freeing space for positive written ASL messages on a red background.