User:Maddie Jae/Varieties of American Sign Language

Article Changes Draft Space
Original: American Sign Language is taught in the schools of Haiti, but the local variant, known as Haitian Sign Language (Langue des Signes Haïtienne - LSH), is divergent enough to cause problems with mutual intelligibility.

Thoughts: Based on the sources I found, ASL is not widely used by the Haitian Deaf community, so I think that part deserves proper emphasis.

Dominican Sign Language originated from French Sign Language (LSF), which was introduced to Dominica by French missionaries and combined with local gesture traditions. Both Dominican Sign Language and American Sign Language are derived from French Sign Language, but their sign forms and vocabulary may have some differences because they developed in different regions and communities.

Draft: While American Sign Language is sometimes used in the Haitian Deaf community, it is not the most prominent in Haiti. The local variant, Haitian Sign Language, or LSH (Langue des Signes Haïtienne), is the sign language variant most often used. There are 5 government-run schools for Deaf children, and LSH is used and spread through these schools and other social areas for the Deaf community. Historically, LSH has not been widely documented or recognized, leading to the creation of the LSHDoP, the Haitian Sign Language Documentation Project. This project is run by the Haitian Deaf Community, in collaboration with Gallaudet University.

source: https://doi.org/10.1353/sls.2016.0003