ASL and Deaf culture
What is ASL?
American Sign Language has been around for hundreds of years; however, it was only officiated as a language in 1960. Unfortunately, many people have held the belief that ASL is not a true language, as it is not spoken.
Language is defined as: "A symbolic means of communicating through gestures, sounds, or written words" (source).
ASL is explained as: "American Sign Language is a visually perceived language based on a naturally evolved system of articulated hand gestures and their placement relative to the body, along with non-manual markers such as facial expressions, head movements, shoulder raises, mouth morphemes, and movements of the body." (source).
In short, ASL is a bonafide language comprised of facial expressions/mouth morphemes, body movements, handshapes, location, and palm orientation. All of these factors cumulatively create a system of language predominantly used by Deaf and Hard of Hearing people in the United States, and is NOT universal! Most countries actually utilize their own signed languages in their Deaf communities.
What is Deaf culture/community?
"The deaf community comprises those deaf and hard of hearing individuals who share a common language, common experiences and values, and a common way of interacting with each other, and with hearing people" (source).
The Deaf community does not identify as "hearing-impaired"; the culture values visual information, sign language, information sharing, and Deaf culture.
When the word "deaf" is capitalized as "Deaf", it means that the person is a part of the Deaf community and predominantly uses ASL to communicate.
Without the capitalization, the person identifying as "deaf" may not use ASL to communicate, and typically does not view themselves as a part of the Deaf community/culture. Generally, they find themselves more comfortable with hearing people.