September is Deaf Awareness Month!
September 5: ASL is Recognized as a Language!
American Sign Language (ASL) emerged in 1817 and was officially recognized as a legitimate, complex language in the 1960s after linguist William Stokoe published research showing its distinct grammar and structure. Stokoe’s work, including his 1960 publication Sign Language Structure, demonstrated that ASL was more than just a collection of gestures, but a rule-governed language with its own syntax.