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Hearing Disorders and Deafness

American Sign Language vs. Signing Exact English

American Sign Language (ASL): Developed in the 1800s; shares elements of French Sign Language and local sign
languages; uses fingerspelling of words as well as facial movements; complete, natural language; unique grammar, pronunciation,
and sentence structure separate from English. Signing Exact English (SEE): Developed in the 1970s; 1:1 visual representation of spoken English; uses fingerspelling of words; not a language; follows English sentence structure; uses some ASL as well as unique signs. Sources: National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders; American Annals of the Deaf

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March 09, 2023

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