A recently I was pointd to a YouTube video of Ryan Commerson suggesting that we have a "Walk for ASL" event to make a positive impression of the American Sign Language. Walking for ASL sounds sweet but it does nothing to cover up or even mask the stupidity from the hard line ASL advocates.
What really needs to be done is an organized campaign to encourage the public to shun the stupidity from the hard line ASL advocates, the deaf militants.
In the past 30 years as reported through the literary works of people including Tom Bertling, Frances Parsons, and Jeff Gauer, stupidity by the deaf militants has had a better impression of the perception of ASL on our society. Stupidity has its biggest impression to our society when they had Gallaudet University boot out Dr. Jane Fernendes. Stupidity continues to be prevalent in the deaf social networks and in many YouTube videos and it's exposure is just about to take a higher level as someone issued an ultimatum to end it otherwise will become exposed through major news outlets like CNN.
There is no organized campaign to tell the public to ignore the stupidity. Nothing from the National Association of the Deaf (NAD), nothing from any of the state deaf associations, nothing from any of the hundreds different deaf clubs throughout the United states. Even the new DEAF think tank group in Facebook is showing a blind eye on such stupidity. Lacking such campaigns our society is given the impression that stupidity is condoned by these deaf organizations.
And as illustrative as this gets, there happens to be a "large" deaf social network website that is owned by the husband of a NAD attorney. And that particular website has a history of condoning and even promoting such stupidity that makes ASL look bad to our society.
As long there is no organized campaign to reduce the impact of stupidity, walking for ASL will become the latest addition to the long list of failures of American Sign Language.
Richard Roehm
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