Primary language or language spoken at home are comment demographic questions, however ASL is rarely included. My gut assumption is this is ignorance and ableism, however are there any reasons to keep it separate when reporting out on aggregated data such as “English-speakers” and “Non English-speakers”?
2 Likes
I am interested as well. Census bureau has a small section in their FAQs, here
Although, it’s a pretty lame excuse to say: “the data is not collected because we didn’t set it up that way”
I do know that ASL and English are different. Someone may be fluent in ASL but not in English.
Seems like at the root of it is that the term itself “speakers” leaves out many in the deaf community.
1 Like
Here in WA State (K12), ASL is included as a valid language code for the questions about student primary language, language used at home and family’s preferred language. We use “language used” wherever we can instead of “spoken” so it’s inclusive. The only reason I know of to separate it out is if the work is specific to the body of law that protects each group from discrimination, ADA vs. Civil Rights. Our language access program is inclusive of both so we collect the data together.
2 Likes
Oregon’s REALD standards, used by Oregon Health Authority and Oregon Department of Human Services, include ASL and other sign languges in the “language at home” question along with spoken languages. I would agree that it should be included given the advocacy I’ve seen from members of the Deaf community about being a linguistic minority. Thanks for raising this for the We All Count community!
1 Like
Yes, ASL and English are very different languages and it feels so important to acknowledge that not everyone who signs is bilingual.
I think you are on to something with assumptions people have around words like “speakers”, “verbal communication”, etc.
I have seen that Census FAQ and I guess yeah, acknowledging you aren’t doing it and you know you aren’t doing it is step one. But you can change your data collection systems to resolve it!
2 Likes
The Oregon REALD standards, while not perfect, seem to be some of the best out there at the moment! Also they are collecting information about disability as a demographic status too, that’s so rare but such an important data point to be able to disaggregate data by! So many unseen gaps and needs simply because the data doesn’t exist.
1 Like
I know I’m a bit late to this party, but just reading this thread now - very interesting!
I love the idea of switching up the ‘language most SPOKEN at home’ to ‘language most USED’ at home’.
However I am wondering about using ASL - American Sign Language - as the code. That is just one kind of signed language, just like English is just one kind of spoken language. There are other signed languages… so is it enough to just include ASL? Maybe there should be:
- American Sign Language (ASL)
- Another signed language
?
Interested in your thoughts!
Sheila
1 Like
Great point, thanks for pointing that out. I totally agree!
Thinking about my own area, there are a high number of Deaf immigrants who use other signed languages which should definitely be incorporated. I was actually just in a conversation with someone who was sharing the need to have data about the variety of signed languages in our area. We, like pretty much everywhere, have a shortage of ASL interpreters, but then the number of people who can interpret between various other signed languages and ASL or other signed languages and English is almost nonexistent and a real need.
2 Likes
Hey @jbattis @shawkins @sharper10 @heatherrees @h_starr This conversation is so important and so interesting. I have really learned so much for what you have shared. I’m wondering if any of you would be interested in joining me one Friday for a session at Talking Data Equity on this topic where we discuss the issue, share our experiences, and also ask someone who speaks ASL as their primary language to join us. Do any of you know someone personally?
2 Likes
Absolutely. We have a State Commission for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing, and I believe their Deaf Specialist would be interested to join. I don’t know them closely, but I would be happy to reach out and ask. I’ll wait to see if others know someone personally, though. 
1 Like
Wow @h_starr that’s awesome. I’ll follow up with you shortly. Thanks!
Hi,
Apologies for the slow delay! That sounds like it would be interesting and valuable conversation. I have some close connections within the Deaf community where I live and can ask around if anyone would be interested.
1 Like
Awesome! Thanks @jbattis I’ll reach out to you directly and set some plans up. Thank you so much.
… and I’m even slower to respond!
Although I have no networks or contacts to share, I am very interested in this topic and would love a session on it.
In my experience as a qual social science researcher, DHH communities are too easily overlooked in terms of engagement. Many years ago, while working for a private research and evaluation company, I asked if I could you my PD allowance to learn ASL and was dismissively told that that would be a waste of money and I needed to put the funds towards something more useful. While I know that lots of communities and identities were excluded from our groups due to budgets and methodologies, that one always stuck with me and I often think about how DHH communities have even less of a voice in such settings.
Already looking forward to the sessions!!