How Sign Language is Driving a Multi-Billion Dollar Inclusive Economy

September 23rd is the International Day of Sign Languages, observed globally each year. The timing is right to draw attention to the flourishing but little-known sign language economy, which offers substantial chances for work, social interaction, and financial gain in American cities and towns. This billion-dollar sign language economy was created via human capital, innovation, trade, and entrepreneurship.

What is the sign language economy exactly?

Similar to other economies, the sign language economy was first primarily created to help a certain group of people, in this instance, the deaf. Its value has been self-created by and for deaf people, and it is concentrated on economic, educational, and social possibilities that incorporate or necessitate the use of signed languages, such as American Sign Language, Black American Sign Language, and Native American Sign Language. The expansion of communication access in public accommodations, employment, and education has been accelerated by the growth of this economy and the advancement of civil rights for individuals with disabilities and the deaf through federal legislation such as the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990. It has also sparked a number of revolutionary deaf-led technological advancements that continue to lead the world today, such as the development of what we now refer to as “texting” technology over 60 years ago and video relay interpreting technology, which is currently the norm for global communication access between hearing and deaf people. Deaf and hearing persons may find work in almost every industry and field thanks to the sign language economy. Deaf people’s access to and contributions from organizations at the executive (leadership) level, from business chances to increased civic involvement in our communities and government, have all grown along with opportunities. The whole society gains from these efforts.

The first signing Starbucks in America, a Chase Bank branch where the majority of employees sign, a Target store with deaf and signing staff, Apple’s deaf-friendly retail store at Carnegie Library, a deaf-owned brewpub called Streetcar 82 Brewing Co., and a deaf-owned pizza restaurant called Mozzeria are just a few examples of the businesses that have benefited from the sign language economy in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area alone. Stores such as Trader Joe’s in the Union Market neighborhood, which is close to the Gallaudet University campus, employ deaf people in a variety of capacities, including management and cashiers. Not only do these companies hire individuals with hearing impairments, but they are also strategically expanding their clientele by providing a more inclusive experience. These companies, along with many more around the nation, are driving economic growth well beyond their local communities by embracing sign language, hiring deaf personnel, and capitalizing on the purchasing power of deaf consumers.

A vital component of the sign language economy is Gallaudet University.

The only institution in the world where students live and learn bilingually in American Sign Language (ASL) and English is Gallaudet institution, which is situated in the northeastern quadrant of Washington, D.C. Over 22,000 of our graduates are the architects and engine drivers of this economy. Many of these companies are ones they founded. Established bilingual ASL/English schools, publishing houses, ASL-based businesses, ASL courses in community education and other colleges and universities, direct services in ASL-based mental health and drug addiction programs, sign language interpretation services in a variety of contexts, and direct services in ASL in every conceivable field—including law, restaurants, social work, healthcare, financial planning, and tax preparation—have all been carried out by them.

“A fair shot in life’s race”

In the middle of the Civil War, in 1864, President Abraham Lincoln signed a charter drafted by Congress that established Gallaudet. At the time, the party of President Lincoln and our congressional leaders were adamant that education was essential to obtaining “…a fair chance, in the race of life.”

By communicating with one another and others through visual and tactile languages known as signed languages, our varied community has established a strong and lovely environment.

Unprecedentedly, this charter—which was unobtrusively signed into law—has enabled deaf and signing individuals to make substantial social, political, and economic contributions to the United States and the globe. A distinctly American business has been established by Gallaudet University and its affiliated educational initiatives, which include the establishment of the Laurent Clerc National Deaf Education Center, which offers ASL and English instruction up to grade 12. By communicating with one another and others using visual and tactile languages known as signed languages, our varied community has established a strong and lovely environment. Additionally, when stimulated, it improves everyone’s quality of life, hearing and deaf alike. This is true of most economies.

Gallaudet has played a significant part in the development of the sign language economy especially American Sign Language Interpreting Services which has helped the sign language economy. It helps even if we did not create it entirely. The revelation that ASL was a language in and of itself was made possible by the vibrant and noticeable presence of sign language on our campus as a result of our visual language immersion learning paradigm. ASL was shown to be a complete language with its own grammar and syntax in the early 1960s by Gallaudet faculty members Drs. William C. Stokoe (hearing), Dorothy Casterline, and Carl Croneberg (both deaf). Before then, from the late 1800s to the middle of the 20th century, sign language was sometimes outlawed in schools and was viewed as nothing more than a pantomime of speech.

Gallaudet University played a key role in realizing the potential to train students to become ASL instructors by the 1990s, as demand for sign language from professionals in a variety of professions and families eager to learn the language surged. Gallaudet established the first master’s degree program in 2002 to prepare graduates to become certified sign language instructors in response to growing demand and opportunity. By 2012, this has developed into the world’s biggest program for producing highly certified sign language instructors, the Master of Arts in Sign Language Education (MASLED).

ASL is the third most often taught language in postsecondary education.

Hanover Research was hired by Gallaudet in 2014 to carry out an impartial assessment of the ASL teaching market in higher education. According to Hanover’s assessment, this sector is valued $43 million. The significance of Gallaudet University to the US economy was confirmed by these facts. We were aware of the enormous influence of our signing marketplace back then, as we are now. Six decades after the groundbreaking work of Stokoe, Casterline, and Croneberg, ASL is currently the third most popular language taught in higher education and is being taught in more and more high schools throughout the country.

Faculty at Gallaudet University and our signing partners have amassed the first-ever dataset measuring the size of the ASL-based economy since the Hanover research. Our first assessment places the value of the sign language industry in the United States at least $3 billion, and maybe as high as $10 billion. This includes the following: ~$1.4 billion for sign language interpreting services; ~$500 million for video relay services from the Federal Communications Commission; ~$575 million for the operation of numerous deaf schools and programs across the country; ~$313 million for postsecondary and vocational rehabilitation transition services; ~$250 million for video relay interpreting services; ~$114 million for early sign language acquisition education at the state and federal levels; ~$37 million for American Sign Language classes in K–12 public schools; and ~$25 million for baby signing classes and materials. Other significant economic drivers include the approximately $7.8 billion generated by hundreds of deaf-owned and run companies and NGOs in the United States, as well as the sign language instruction provided in mainstream schools.