State Board Recognizes American Sign Language

From: KETV.com, NE - Jun 7, 2006

LINCOLN, Neb. -- The Nebraska State Board of Education adopted a policy on Wednesday recognizing American Sign Language as a language that can be offered in elementary through high school classes.

ASL relies on gestures, facial expressions and body language. The silent language has its own grammatical rules and syntax. While used primarily by the deaf and hard of hearing and their friends and families, ASL is attracting a growing number of hearing students.

Approval of the policy will help bring about broader acceptance of ASL as its own language, which the deaf community has been seeking for several years.
Forty-one other states recognize ASL as a language for public schools and more than 100 four-year universities accept it for foreign language requirements.

Copyright 2006 by The Associated Press. and