ABSTRACT
I grew up without any clue that I was bilingual. The emphasis in schools had instilled the
widespread belief that language meant English. The sign language that we used did not
have a name. The prevailing myth was that Deaf people had a language problem. The
assumption was that sign language was a lazy way of using English or that it constituted
“broken English.” Although Deaf people did not contest such a mistaken perception, they
intuitively knew the importance of safeguarding the right to use sign language and the
necessity of employing sign language in the education of Deaf children.
