Give us a sign! by Mallory

Give us a sign! by Mallory - June 2025 Scholarship Essay

Let me begin by acknowledging that I am not disabled, Deaf, Hard of Hearing, nor am I a child of a Deaf or Hard of Hearing adult. I don’t even know American Sign Language (ASL) myself. With that being said, I wholeheartedly believe that there should be requirements (or at least more options) for youth to learn sign language to a degree, whether that be in elementary/primary school, middle, or high school. It wasn’t even an option for our additional language credits at my high school. It also baffles me that there are people who don’t even know what ASL is. There is not nearly enough widespread general education about Deaf, Hard of Hearing, and disabled folks and their communities. I can only speak for my experience as a student in the United States, but I had no education about any of these topics in school, and it saddens me to know that minority groups like those mentioned are often erased and excluded from curricula. When I was in elementary school, I remember having to learn cursive, though I’m sure that has been taken out of K-12 curricula, considering it is used much less than it used to be. With that in mind, I feel as though this type of education for ASL could be implemented to some degree in K-12 education! I feel it is so crucial for Deaf and Hard of Hearing folks to be represented and acknowledged in educational settings, especially when there are students in classrooms who identify with those labels, and this can be said for any minority group, though I believe that disabled folks and their communities are severely underrepresented in media, and especially academia.