Breaking the barriers: Bringing signing deaf people’s voices to academia

Guest post by Jody H. Cripps

This guest post originally appeared on Sage Perspectives blog.

Deaf individuals are a most vibrant group of people with their own language and culture distinct from the majority. Signed language is of the utmost importance for deaf people to communicate with each other as a community and in their lives. Indeed, there are hundreds of signed languages in existence, and there is no single signed language or culture used across the world, which makes this population appealing in the humanities for understanding the nature of languages and cultures and how they emerge in different geographic regions. This involves scientific research to appreciate how deaf people and signed languages contribute to and also shape humanity.

A number of deaf- and signed language-related journals exist on the academic platform. Some journals still have dated inquiry to determine if signed language is a “real” language. The focus of some journals is on finding out the limits of deaf people based on their hearing status rather than focus on their language competence as signers and what we can learn from careful investigation of signed language. Some have a focus on determining limits of educational ability (e.g., K-12 reading abilities, etc.). Such publications frequently have an approach that medicalizes deaf people with focus on oral-aural ways of being and measurements. That kind of thinking does not resonate with me as these inquiries are audist in nature, elevating spoken languages and hearing over signed languages and the culture of deaf people. Audist perspectives ignore the particular linguistic and cultural development and contributions of deaf people and what we can learn from careful inquiry of them. This was the impetus for a group of deaf colleagues and I to create a new journal that focuses beyond the typical scientific inquiries as described. Instead, we wished to become more contemporary by moving ahead with a particular focus on social issues and needs among signers who use American Sign Language (ASL) or other signed languages in any society. 

I have had the pleasure of working with deaf and hearing contributors first-hand as a deaf editor of an academic journal for eight years. Deaf academics (including myself) who advocate for and use ASL have long faced limited opportunities to publish their studies on various publication sites. It is important to note that publication barriers have been removed with the Society of American Sign Language Journal (SASLJ). SASLJ now provides deaf academics the opportunity to publish their viewpoints and expert knowledge related to ASL. The editorial team of the journal makes this feasible by offering deaf academics "developmental editing" services for those who require such editing support for their submissions. Many deaf people are bilingual in written English and ASL. There is no standard written form for ASL. Written English is the second language for many deaf authors, and they have never heard its spoken counterparts. Nevertheless, deaf individuals attempt to write in English as their second language. According to the literature, the majority of deaf persons require help when writing in English, and this also holds true for deaf academics.  

Another notable aspect of this publication is that it encourages deaf individuals to contribute their perspectives, intelligence and experience as signers in a culture where spoken language is the norm. Through SASLJ, both deaf and hearing authors can contribute to making social change with the use of signed language in society. SASLJ has its mission and scope, and it has provided  guidance for authors to comply with the mission including addressing theory, policy, and practice considerations. SASLJ is dedicated to understanding how signed language contributes to society for all citizens. It promotes building a society that embraces ASL and its connected culture by studying ASL through different lenses ranging from pedagogy and social norms to language policy. 

Other deaf- and signed language-related journals can follow SASLJ’s lead as follows:

1. Including deaf people’s perspectives on their community
2. Provide deaf academics or authors developmental editing services. 

These two principles are of the utmost importance for understanding and providing access to deaf people that use signed language as part of their daily lives. These guiding principles would go a long way for journals to bring unique deaf perspectives and contributions to our humanity.