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It has come to our attention that Scott Community College is offering American Sign Language (ASL) classes and an ASL summer camp taught by hearing teachers. This is concerning because hearing people are being hired for these positions instead of deaf instructors, which is oppressive and discriminatory. We are bringing this to your attention so you can remedy the situation quickly.

Whenever possible, deaf people should be sought out to teach ASL classes. ASL is the language of the deaf community and only exists because of deaf people. It is cultural appropriation to use the language of the deaf community to make money for your institution without including deaf people in the instruction and provision of those classes. When hearing people are chosen to teach ASL, it is a form of ableism and audism. We must emphasize, hearing people teaching ASL classes when there are deaf people who are willing and able to teach contributes to the systematic oppression of deaf people.

Furthermore, it is in the best interest of students to learn ASL from a deaf teacher. It will increase the students’ confidence when meeting deaf people in their communities and improve their ASL skills more quickly. Often when students are taught by hearing teachers, the students will feel awkward when meeting deaf people, and their ASL fluency suffers.