Inclusion of American Sign Language in Science and Engineering

For the general public, deaf people are typically known for their signing skills and living as signers, not speakers. However, there is more to this picture. Specifically, one area of consideration and investigation relates to how American Sign Language (ASL) is used as a language in the domains of science and engineering. The other area of investigation relates to how deaf people contribute to the STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) fields. It will be demonstrated that deaf community members are making inroads into STEM through working as scientists and engineers, including one deaf person known for participating in training to become an astronaut. These indications suggest that deaf people can experience inclusion in society with the understanding that they use ASL for communication purposes. A literature review conducted led to the identification of four deaf individuals as STEM trailblazers. These individuals shared experiences regarding the challenges they encountered with their own language, ASL, in their respective fields. While deaf community members are presently engaged in increasing the strength of ASL in science and engineering, the fact that English is the dominant language in science and engineering is an important consideration. ASL signers must also adapt to include STEM words, terms, and expressions readily established at its disposal. This entails significant language planning work, and justification for this type of language planning is necessary in order to better serve deaf people and their ability to access a natural language.