about ASL First titled, A Vindication for ASL Literature. I encourage you to read this
(https://joom.ag/mnxa). I postulated that there are competing ideologies within the field of ASL/Deaf
Studies that have not been recognized until now. The commentary focuses on Clayton Valli, a
linguist who promoted the ASL First ideology when he published an important paper on ASL poetry.
That paper has been reprinted in the SASL Journal for your benefit. I had to defend Valli's work and
vindicate ASL literature at the same time. In my commentary, the competing ideology that I identified
as derogatory and should not have a place in the field of ASL/Deaf Studies is Deaf First. The
commentary goes on to explain what exactly Deaf First entails.
Going back to Mr. Commerson's 2006 quote, we now have names for the ideologies that
shape our lives (for better or worse). For me, Deaf First constitutes the antiquated 'sociopolitical'
system that needs to be dismantled altogether. The new ideology that Mr. Commerson argued for
may be best described as ASL First.
I sincerely hope that the ideological significance of ASL First will be fully substantiated through
research and scholarship. It may take some time, but things appear to have started rolling. There are
other commentaries made in the winter/spring 2018 issue of SASL Journal that I encourage you to
read carefully. As President, I must thank Dr. Jody Cripps, our journal editor for gathering a number
of socially impactful papers on ASL and Deaf Studies and having them reprinted in our journal. The
multiple commentaries and reprinted papers allow us all to look back on history critically and develop
a better and stronger sense of what the future holds.
References
Cripps, J. H. (2006). Understanding audism. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=blvEzp8wehE
Merriam-Webster's Collegiate. (2000). Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (10 th ed.). Springfield, MA: Merriam-Webster, Inc.
Source: www.thatdeafguy.com/?p=719
The Power of ASL
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Summer 2019 – Issue 14