Deafness

Table of Contents

Introduction

Being Deaf or Hard of Hearing (HoH) can greatly limit a person's education and opportunities to socialize. Many people who struggle with hearing don't even have access to sign language, further setting them back and isolating them from their hearing peers.

This section is intended to help make a more level playing field for students who can't hear, by helping educators identify the appropriate language for their students (by region or culture) if this isn't already known, and then providing as many resources for each of these languages that we have been able to find.

If you already know about some resource(s) we have missed, please reach out to one of the PlaneteerHandbook moderators on Reddit, and we'd be happy to add it to this directory!

Deaf Languages vs Signing Systems

Deaf languages have been created and evolved by deaf community members. These are real languages with gramma, inflections, and cultural significance. They include:

Signing systems are mere systems that have been developed by hearing people with the intention of facilitating education. These are not considered languages as they do not use Deaf grammar or have cultural significance. They include:

Out of respect to the people of Deaf and HoH communities we want to help, this page will only include actual Sign Languages.

Deaf Manners

Everyone deserves to be treated with dignity and respect. Their needs and expectations may be a little different if they are Deaf or HoH. For this reason, it's helpful to understand the basic manners of Dead Culture so that students feel safe and comfortable.

Inclusion

"Never say “I’ll tell you later”, “never mind”, or “it doesn’t matter” to a deaf or hard of hearing person. Almost all deaf and hard of hearing people have heard these phrases, or variations of them, countless times while being excluded from information or conversations. Make an effort to include everybody." - Deaf 101

Getting Someone's Attention

No one likes to be startled or grabbed by strangers, but these are issues Deaf and HoH people have to deal with. To get someone's attention in a friendly and polite way, the following options are considered acceptable.

Don’t Assume Anything

"Not all deaf and hard of hearing people prefer to communicate in the same way. Some might prefer to speak, some might prefer to sign, and some might prefer to write. Ask them how they want to proceed. They probably know exactly what they want from you.

If you speak out loud and they don’t understand, try writing on a piece of paper or typing on your phone. If you write or type with a deaf person, do not look down on their English skills. Remember that many deaf and hard of hearing people are deprived of language as children and that English is a second language for many Deaf people."  - Deaf 101

Speak Clearly & Enunciate

"Speaking clearly and enunciating can help a deaf or hard of hearing person understand you. However, it does not mean shouting and speaking extremely slowly. Why?

Raising your voice at or around someone who is wearing a hearing aid, can be extremely painful, startling, and even cause them to hear you less clearly. 

Some audio processing disorders can take perfectly clear-sounding words, and jumble them out of order, so that they don't make sense or may take a moment to untangle mentally.

Awkward Moments

"Even if you follow all of the above tips while speaking to a deaf or hard of hearing person, they might still misunderstand you at some point. Don’t stop. Just repeat yourself and continue the conversation. If they’re having trouble understanding a certain word or phrase, try using a different word, rephrasing what you said, or typing it in your phone."  - Deaf 101

Don't Give Up!

"Resist the urge to give up when misunderstandings happen. A little effort on your part can make a big difference to somebody else, and you’ll benefit from the experience, too."  - Deaf 101

Creating Deaf-Friendly Classes & Meetings

https://hsdc.org/services/deaf-101/

Examples of forward thinking efforts to include Deaf people in every day life include: 

Malawi Leader Orders Wider Use of Sign Language

Languages by Location

We've also included sign language libraries and glossaries for each language as we are able to find them. Please feel free to reach out if you know of any we have missed, so we can add them!

Key of Symbols

 -      Next to each Country name, we have "- sign language name or abbreviation" for the  primary or official sign languages of that area. 

&      We used "&" if both are about equally used or that the Deaf and HoH in that location need both or combine both for their native language. 

/      is used to indicate that the languages are used separately, such as in different ethnic communities or depending on specific region.

=      is used to indicate that there are 2 or more names for the same sign language.

Africa

"Francophone African Sign Language (Langue des signes d'Afrique francophone, or LSAF) is the variety, or varieties, of American Sign Language (ASL) used in several francophone countries of Africa. Education for the deaf in these countries is based on ASL and written French; there is therefore a French influence on the language of the classroom.[13]" - Wikipedia: Francophone African Sign Language

Algeria

"Algerian Sign Language is the sign language most commonly used in Algeria. It was officially recognized by the Algerian law on the protection and promotion of persons with a disability enacted on May 8, 2002." - Wikipedia: List of Sign Languages

Angola - NSL = Namibian Sign Language

"Namibian Sign Language (commonly abbreviated as NSL) [2] is a sign language of Namibia and Angola. It is presumed that there are other sign languages in these countries." - Wikipedia: Namibian Sign Language

Benin - ASL

ASL

Burkina Faso - Burkina Sign Language / ASL

"Burkina Sign Language is the indigenous sign language of the Deaf community in the capital of Burkina Faso, Ouagadougou. Deaf education in Burkina is in American Sign Language (ASL) and Burkina Faso Sign Language is considered to be an ASL based creole language.  - Wikipedia: List of Sign Languages

ASL

Burundi - ASL

ASL

Central African Republic - ASL

ASL

Chad - ASL / Chadian Sign Language

ASL

Cameroon

"Maroua Sign Language is a sign language used by approximately 150 people in and around the town of Maroua, capital of the Far North Region of Cameroon.[1]" - Wikipedia: Maroua Sign Language

Democratic Republic of Congo - ASL / FSL

ASL

FSL / ASL

Djibouti - Somali Sign Language = SSL

"Somali Sign Language (SSL) is a sign language used by the deaf community in Somaliland and Djibouti."

Eritrea - EriSL 

"Eritrean Sign Language (EriSL) is a sign language widely used in Eritrea. It developed out of the Swedish and Finnish Sign Languages,[1] that were introduced by Swedish and Finnish Christian missionaries in 1955,[1] containing a certain amount of local Eritrean signs and having ASL-based Sudanese influences.[2] According to Moges 2011, 70% of the EriSL and Finnish signs are identical.[1] Since 2005, the Eritrean National Association of the Deaf has made linguistic purification attempts to replace Swedish and Finnish signs from the EriSL lexicon by 'Eritrean' ones in an effort to create a more distinct, "indigenous" language.[1] This process is referred to as 'demissionization'.[1]" - Wikipedia: Eritrean Sign Language

ASL

Ethiopia

"A number of Ethiopian sign languages have been used in various Ethiopian schools for the deaf since 1971, and at the primary level since 1956. Ethiopian Sign Language, presumably a national standard, is used in primary, secondary, and—at Addis Ababa University—tertiary education, and on national television.[citation needed] The Ethiopian Deaf Community uses the language as a marker of identity." - Wikipedia: Ethiopian  Sign Languages

Gabon - ASL

ASL

Gambia - Gambian Sign Language

Gambian Sign Language is a national sign language used in Gambia by the deaf community there. The only school for deaf children in the Gambia, St John's School for the Deaf, was set up by a Catholic priest from Ireland. Dutch Sign Language was introduced to the school along with British Sign Language which developed into Gambian Sign Language, incorporating some indigenous gestures used by the general population.[citation needed] Unlike much of West Africa, American Sign Language was not introduced to the Gambia until much later so the deaf community is not familiar with American Sign Language. - Wikipedia: Gambian Sign Language

Ghana - Ghanian Sign Language / AdaSL is used in Adamorobe / Nanabin Sign Language - Nanabin SL

"Ghanaian Sign Language is the national sign language of deaf people in Ghana, descended from American Sign Language.[14][15] It was introduced in 1957 by Andrew Foster, a deaf African-American missionary, as there had been no education or organizations for the deaf previously. Foster went on to establish the first school for the deaf in Nigeria a few years later, and Nigerian Sign Language shows influence from GSL. GSL is unrelated to indigenous Ghanaian sign languages such as Adamorobe Sign Language and Nanabin Sign Language.

There are currently 14 schools for the deaf in Ghana, 13 primary schools and one secondary school in Mampong-Akuapem.[16] GSL is supported by the Ghana National Association of the Deaf (GNAD) which has their headquarters in Accra." - Wikipedia: Ghanaian Sign Language

"Adamorobe Sign Language or AdaSL is a village sign language used in Adamorobe, an Akan village in eastern Ghana. It is used by about 30 deaf and 1370 hearing people (2003)." - Wikipedia: List of Sign Languages

"Nanabin Sign Language is a family sign language of the coastal Fante village of Ekumfi Nanabin in the Central Region of Ghana, ca. 8 km east of Mankessim. It is used by three generations of a single family which is mostly deaf. The second generation are bilingual in Ghanaian Sign Language.

Nanabin SL is similar to Adamorobe Sign Language in certain conventionalized signs deriving from Akan hearing culture. Both use lax handshapes and portray events from the perspective of the character rather than of the observer." - Wikipedia: Nanabin  Sign_Language

Kenya - KSL = LAK / BSL / ASL / VBT = Belgian Sign Language / Korean Sign Language

"Kenyan Sign Language (English: KSL, Swahili: LAK) is a sign language used by the deaf community in Kenya and Somalia. It is used by over half of Kenya's estimated 600,000 deaf population. There are some dialect differences between Kisumu (western Kenya), Mombasa (eastern Kenya) and Somalia." - Wikipedia: Kenyan Sign Language

ASL

BSL (British Sign Language)

 VGT

Lesotho - Lesotho Sign Language

It is a variety of SASL (South African Sign Language).

SASL

Libya- Libyan Sign Language

Madagascar - Malagasy Sign Language = Tenin'ny Tanana Malagasy

Malawi

Mali - ASL / Malian Sign Language = LaSiMa / Douentza Sign

"Bamako Sign Language, also known as Malian Sign Language, or LaSiMa (Langue des Signes Malienne), is a sign language that developed outside the Malian educational system, in the urban tea-circles of Bamako where deaf men gathered after work. It is used predominantly by men, and is threatened by the educational use of American Sign Language, which is the language of instruction for those deaf children who go to school." - Wikipedia: Bamako Sign Language

"Berbey Sign Language is a family sign language of the village of Berbey in the Hombori region of Mali. The local oral language is Humburi Senni. The language is currently spoken by two brothers (one of whom is deaf) and their families, including four deaf children. In the brothers' father's generation, all signers were deaf.[1]" - Wikipedia: Berbey Sign Language

"Douentza Sign Language, or Dogon Sign Language is a community sign language spoken in Douentza and neighboring communities in the Dogon country in Mali." - Wikipedia: Douentza Sign Language

ASL

Mauritania - ASL

ASL

Mauritius - MSL = Mauritian Sign Language

Morocco - ASL / Moroccan Sign Language / Algerian Sign Language

"Moroccan Sign Language (MSL) is the language of the deaf community of Tetouan and some other cities of Morocco.

American Peace Corps volunteers created Moroccan Sign Language in 1987 in Tetouan from American Sign Language (ASL) and the existing signs; there is less than a 50% lexical similarity with ASL. It is not clear if the 'existing signs' were home sign or an established village sign language. The language is used in three programs for the deaf, but not throughout the country: It is not used in the large cities of Rabat, Tangier, or Casablanca, for example. In Oujda, near the Algerian border, Algerian Sign Language is used, or at least the local sign language has been strongly influenced by it.[19]" - Wikipedia: Moroccan Sign Language

ASL

Mozambique - Lengua de Sinais de Moçambique = MSL = Língua de Sinais Moçambicana

"Mozambican Sign Language (Portuguese: Língua de Sinais Moçambicana) is the principal language of the deaf community of Mozambique. It is reported to have "some dialectal variation", and to be spoken in at least the three largest cities of Maputo, Beira, and Nampula. As of 1999, there were efforts at standardization. MSL is not based on Portuguese Sign Language—or for that matter on American Sign Language—but other than that, its origin is not recorded." - Wikipedia: Mozambican Sign Language

Namibia - NSL = Namibian Sign Language

"Namibian Sign Language (commonly abbreviated as NSL) [2] is a sign language of Namibia and Angola. It is presumed that there are other sign languages in these countries." - Wikipedia: Namibian Sign Language

Niger - ASL

ASL

Nigeria - Nigerian Sign Language / Bura SL / Hausa Sign Language (HSL) / Yoruba Sign Language

"Nigerian Sign Language, NSL is the national sign language of deaf people in Nigeria, however, Nigeria does not have a national sign language yet. ASL (with a possible mix of Signed English) was introduced in 1960, a few years after Ghanaian Sign Language, by Andrew Foster, a deaf African-American missionary, thereby raising a signing system some scholars have referred to as a dialect of ASL." - Wikipedia: Nigerian Sign Language

"Bura Sign Language is a village sign language used by the Bura people around the village of Kukurpu, 40 km (25 miles) south-east of Biu, Nigeria, an area with a high degree of congenital deafness. What little is known about it is due to a brief visit and a videotape by Robert Blench in 2003.[1] It is "likely ... quite independent" from other, better-known sign languages such as Nigerian Sign Language, since none of the signers have been to school and the area where it is used is rather remote.

Bura SL has the lax hand shapes and large sign space characteristic of indigenous West African sign languages. Many of the words are similar or identical to those of Adamorobe Sign Language and Nanabin Sign Language of Ghana, and appear to be based on the gestures common to the hearing population across West Africa. These involve conventionalized metaphors such as 'sweat' for "work" and 'sleep' for "next day"." - Wikipedia: Bura Sign Language

"Hausa Sign Language (HSL) or Maganar Hannu is the indigenous sign language of the Deaf community in northern Nigeria." ... "Hausa Sign Language is not taught formally in schools but is handed down from one generation to the next. Deaf children learn it from their parents, from their peers or other members of the deaf community. HSL is constantly enriched whenever deaf people meet, whether informally or in schools, associations or other groups. " - Wikipedia: Hausa Sign Language

"Yoruba Sign Language (YSL) is an indigenous sign language of the deaf community in Yoruba-speaking communities of southwestern Nigeria." - Wikipedia: Yoruba Sign Language This language may be signed differently based on gender. Knowledge seems limited.

Republic of Congo - ASL

Rawanda - Rwandan Sign Language = Amarenga y'Ikinyarwanda AKR = Kinyarwanda Sign Language = Amarenga yo mu Rwanda AMR = Sign Language of Rwanda 

"It is not clear what the sign language or languages are in Rwanda. In 2006, a dictionary project was started to standardize Rwandan Sign Language (Amarenga y'Ikinyarwanda AKR "Kinyarwanda Sign Language"; also Amarenga yo mu Rwanda AMR "Sign Language of Rwanda"), published in 2009.

However, the project was an incomplete effort, and an expanded dictionary, based on signs common throughout the country, was started in 2013. The latter project description implies that these are dialects of a single language, but that is uncertain. Interpreter programs are available in Uganda; it is unknown whether this means that Rwandan Sign Language is related to Ugandan Sign Language.[2]"

São Tomé and Príncipe - São Tomé and Príncipe Sign Language = LGSTP

Sierra Leon - Sierra Leonean Sign Language / ASL

"Sierra Leonean Sign Language is a variety or descendant of American Sign Language (ASL) used in schools for the deaf in Sierra Leone, or at least in the capital Freetown." - Wikipedia: Sierra Leonean Sign Language

Senegal - ASL

"Mbour Sign Language is an indigenous sign language used in a neighborhood of the city of M'Bour in Senegal. Deaf people in the neighborhood meet regularly." - Wikipedia: Mbour Sign Language

ASL

Somalia - KSL = LAK / SSL

"Kenyan Sign Language (English: KSL, Swahili: LAK) is a sign language used by the deaf community in Kenya and Somalia. It is used by over half of Kenya's estimated 600,000 deaf population. There are some dialect differences between Kisumu (western Kenya), Mombasa (eastern Kenya) and Somalia." - Wikipedia: Kenyan Sign Language

Somaliland - Somali Sign Language = SSL

"Somali Sign Language (SSL) is a sign language used by the deaf community in Somaliland and Djibouti."

South Africa - SASL

South Sudan

"Sudan and South Sudan have multiple regional sign languages, which are not mutually intelligible. A survey of just three states found 150 sign languages, though this number included instances of home sign. Government figures estimate there are at least about 48,900 deaf people in Sudan.[1] By 2009, the Sudanese National Union of the Deaf had worked out a Unified Sudanese Sign Language, but it had not yet been widely disseminated." - Wikipedia: Sudanese Sign  Languages

Sudan

"Sudan and South Sudan have multiple regional sign languages, which are not mutually intelligible. A survey of just three states found 150 sign languages, though this number included instances of home sign. Government figures estimate there are at least about 48,900 deaf people in Sudan.[1] By 2009, the Sudanese National Union of the Deaf had worked out a Unified Sudanese Sign Language, but it had not yet been widely disseminated."- Wikipedia: Sudanese Sign  Languages

Tanzania

"Around seven Tanzanian sign languages were developed independently among deaf students in separate Tanzanian schools for the deaf starting in 1963, though use of several are forbidden by their schools. In 1984, a standardized Tanzanian Sign Language was proposed by the Tanzania Association for the Deaf, using common or similar signs where these exist in the schools which allowed research, but it has not been officially implemented, and there remains little influence between the languages. A dictionary has been produced.[2] Lexically, the variety that developed in the oralist deaf school in Tabora is significantly different from the dictionary, and is under investigation.[3]

The common Swahili term in Tanzania for these languages is lugha ya alama (ya Tanzania), lit. '(Tanzanian) sign language'. The term lugha ya bubu 'mute/dumb language' is also used, but is pejorative and offensive.[1]" - Wikipedia: Tanzanian Sign Languages

Togo - ASL

ASL

Tunisia - Tunisian Sign Language = TSL

"Tunisian Sign Language is the sign language used by deaf people in Tunisia. It derives from Italian Sign Language, mixed with indigenous sign.

It is not clear how the language of the Burj as-Salh deaf village relates to indigenous sign and TSL.[2]" - Wikipedia: Tunisian Sign Language

Uganda - Ugandan Sign Language = USL 

"Ugandan Sign Language (USL) is the deaf sign language of Uganda. Uganda was the second country in the world to recognize sign language in its constitution, in 1995. A Ugandan Sign Language Dictionary has been published. However, knowledge of USL is primarily urban, as access to education for the rural deaf remains poor. Nonetheless, USL is a highly valued element of group identity among the deaf community." - Wikipedia: Ugandan Sign Language

Zambia - Zambian Sign Language = ZASL

Zimbabwe - "Zimbabwean Sign Language"

"Several Zimbabwean sign languages developed independently among deaf students in different Zimbabwean schools for the deaf starting in the 1940s. It is not clear how many languages they are, as little research has been done; Masvingo School Sign is known to be different from that of other schools,[2] but each school apparently has a separate sign language, and these are different from the community language or languages used outside of the schools.[1] "Sign language", without further clarification, became one of Zimbabwe's official national languages with the Constitution of 2013.[3]" - Wikipedia: Zimbabwean Sign Languages

Asia

Afghanistan - Afghan Sign Language, Afghan Sign, AFSL 

Argentina - Armenian Sign Language

China - Chinese Sign Language = China Coast Pidgin = Zhongguo Shouyu

India

West Bengal - পশ্চিমবঙ্গ প্রতীক ভাষা = West Bengal Symbol Language

Indonesia

Bali - Bengkala Sign Language, Benkala Sign Language, Kata Kolok 

"Kata Kolok (literally: Kolok words) is signed by as many as 1,200 people (40 - 80 of whom are native deaf signers), primarily in the village of Bengkala in Bali, Indonesia, which has been home to a large deaf community for more than seven generations. Despite its geographical origin, Kata Kolok is unrelated to Indonesian Sign Language and spoken Balinese, and is in fact what linguists call a 'language isolate', meaning it has no apparent linguistic relatives. The deaf Kolok community are well known in Indonesia for an array of unique cultural forms, including dance, performance, and martial arts. Read more on Wikipedia: http://bit.ly/1R8zCOJ."

Japanese - JSL = 手話 

South Korea - KSL = 한국 수화 언어 = 한국 수어 

Thailand - Thai Sign Language

"Ban Khor Sign Language (BKSL) is a village sign language used by at least 400 people of a rice-farming community in the village of Ban Khor in a remote area of Isan (northeastern Thailand).[2][3][4] Known locally as pasa kidd ('language of the mute'), it developed in the 1930s due to a high number of deaf people. Estimated number of users in 2009 was 16 deaf and approximately 400 hearing out of 2741 villagers.[3] It is a language isolate, independent of the other sign languages of Thailand such as Old Bangkok Sign Language and the national Thai Sign Language.[4]

Thai Sign Language is increasingly exerting an influence on BKSL. Younger Deaf attend distant residential Deaf schools where they learn Thai Sign Language. Even middle-aged hearing people are using Thai SL vocabulary mixed with BKSL. Attitudes favoring Thai SL over BKSL are beginning to be expressed.[4]" - Wikipedia: Ban Khor Sign Language

Vietnam - 

Europe

Austria - Austrian Sign Language, ÖGS, Österreichische Gebärdensprache 

Belgium - VGT = Vlaamse Gebarentaal  = Flemish Sign Language

Bulgaria - Bulgarian Sign Language

Croatia - Croatian Sign Language

Czech - Czech Sign Language

France - FSL

FSL / ASL

Greece - Ελληνική νοηματική γλώσσα

Ireland - ISL

Spain

Catalan - Catalan Sign Language = Catalana = Catalonian Sign Language = Lengua de Señas Catalana = Llengua de Signes = LSC = Signos Catalana 

Switzerland - FSL = LSF

FSL or LSF is used in the French-speaking parts of Switzerland.

FSL / ASL

UK - BSL


North America

Belize - ASL

"American Sign Language (ASL) is the sign language used by the educated deaf community in Belize, with some regional variation."

ASL

Canada - ASL / (LSQ) / MSL

"In Canada there are two legitimate Sign languages: American Sign Language (ASL) and la Langue des Signes Quebecoise (LSQ); there is also a regional dialect, Maritimes Sign Language (MSL). The capitalized term “Sign language” refers only to these and to the true Deaf languages of other countries (British Sign Language, French Sign Language, etc.)"

ASL

"Maritime Sign Language is a sign language used in Canada's Atlantic provinces. Maritime Sign Language is descended from British Sign Language through the convergence of deaf communities from the Northeastern United States and the United Kingdom who immigrated to Canada during the 18th and 19th centuries."

Costa Rica - New Costa Rican Sign Language = Modern Costa Rican Sign Language

"New Costa Rican Sign Language, or Modern Costa Rican Sign Language, is the national sign language of Costa Rica’s Deaf community.  Old Costa Rican Sign Language is a deaf-community sign language of San Jose, spoken by people born before about 1945.   New Costa Rican Sign Language was formed with Old Costa Rican Sign Language and American Sign Language (ASL).   It is used primarily by people born after 1960." - NeoHear

"Bribri Sign Language is a village sign language of an indigenous Bribri community in southern Costa Rica. It is unrelated to Costa Rican Sign Language." - Wikipedia: Bribri Sign Language

"Brunca Sign Language is a village sign language of an indigenous Brunca community in southern Costa Rica. It is unrelated to Costa Rican Sign Language." - Wikipedia: Brunca Sign Language

Cuba - Cuba Sign Language language 

Dominican Republic - Dominican Sign Language

El Salvador - SSL & ASL

"Salvadoran Sign language (SSL) is a language used by the deaf community in El Salvador. Its main purpose is to provide education. There are three distinct forms of sign language. American Sign Language was brought over to El Salvador from the United States by missionaries who set up small communal schools for the deaf. The government has also created a school for the deaf, teaching by means of their own modified Salvadoran Sign Language. The third type of sign language used is a combination of American Sign Language and Salvadoran Sign language. Most deaf understand and rely upon both. Their own unique Salvidoran Sign language is based on their language and is most useful in regular encounters; however, American Sign Language is often relied on within education due to the larger and more specific vocabulary. This is the reason that the deaf community within El Salvador sometimes relies upon both ASL and SSL in a combined form." - NeoHear

ASL

Guatemala - LENSEGUA = Lengua de Señas de Guatemala

"Guatemalan Sign Language or “Lengua de Señas de Guatemala” (LENSEGUA) is the proposed national deaf sign language of Guatemala.  LENSEGUA was formed from other sign languages, such as Old Costa Rican Sign Language, American Sign Language (ASL), and indigenous sign languages.  About 640,000 Guatemalans have hearing loss, and an estimated 28,000-256,000 people speak LENSEGUA." - NeoHear

Haiti - ASL / LSH

"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.[12]" - Wikipedia: Haitian Sign Language

ASL

Honduras - LESHO = Honduran Sign Language = Lengua de Señas Hondureñas / BISL = Bay Islands Sign Language

"Honduran Sign Language, also known as “Lengua de Señas Hondureñas” (LESHO), is the dominant sign language used in Honduras. American Sign Language is also used.  The two are not related.

Bay Islands Sign Language (BISL), also known as French Harbour Sign Language, is an indigenous village sign language of Honduras. It started in the village of French Harbour on the island of Roatán and spread to the neighboring island of Guanaja.  There is a high incidence of Usher syndrome in French Harbour, which causes deafness and then blindness. Because of this, BISL has developed both visual and tactile modes." - NeoHear

Mexico - LSM

"Mexican Sign Language (“lengua de señas mexicana” or LSM, also known by several other names), is the language of the Deaf community in Mexico.  87,000 to 100,000 people use LSM.  In 2005, Mexican Sign Language was officially declared a “national language”, along with Spanish and indigenous languages, to be used in the national education system for the Deaf." - NeoHear

"San Juan Quiahije Chatino Sign Language is an emerging village sign language of the indigenous Chatino villages of San Juan Quiahije and Cieneguilla in Oaxaca, Mexico, used by both the deaf and some of the hearing population.[2] It is apparently unrelated to Mexican Sign Language. "

Nicaragua - ISN

"Nicaraguan Sign Language (ISN; Spanish: Idioma de Señas de Nicaragua) was largely spontaneously developed by deaf children in a number of schools in western Nicaragua in the 1970s and 1980s.  Before that, the deaf were mostly isolated and used home signs and gestures.  So ISL is of particular interest to the linguists as it was developed as a new language." - NeoHear

Panama - LSP / LSCH (in Chiriquí)

"Panamanian Sign Language (Lengua de señas panameñas, LSP) is one of two sign languages of Panama. It derived from ASL and influenced by Salvadoran Sign Language (SSL).

Chiriqui Sign Language (Spanish: Lengua de Señas de Chiriquí, LSCH) is the principle sign language of the province of Chiriquí.  Located on the western coast, Chiriquí is the second most developed province in the country, after the Panamá Province.

There are an estimated six thousand deaf people in Panama. As many as two-thirds of that number live in rural areas that have no deaf community or access to sign language." - NeoHear

USA - ASL / PISL

Plains Indian Hand Sign was used before Europeans discovered the Americas. It was just one of the unique sign languages used by Native Americans, but it has contributed along with french sign language to the development of the (now) more widely used American Sign Language

ASL

Hawaii - HSL = Hoailona ʻŌlelo 

Oceana

Australia - Auslan / Australian Aborigines Sign Language 

New Zealand - NZSL

South America

Argentina - Argentine Sign Language = Lengua de Señas Argentina = LSA 

Bolivia - Bolivian Sign Language = Lengua de Señas Bolivianas = LSB

"Bolivian Sign Language (Lengua de Señas Bolivianas, LSB) is a dialect of American Sign Language (ASL) used predominantly by the Deaf in Bolivia." - Wikipedia: Bolivian Sign Language

Brazil - LIBRAS = Lingua Brasileira de Sinais = Brazilian Sign Language = LSB = São Paulo Sign Language = LGB = LSCB = Língua de Sinais das Cidades Brasileiras = Brazilian Cities Sign Language / Ka'apor Sign Language 

"Ka'apor Sign Language (also known as Urubu Sign Language or Urubu–Ka'apor Sign Language, although these are pejorative[2]) is a village sign language used by the small community of Ka'apor people in the Brazilian state of Maranhão." - Wikipedia: Ka'apor Sign Language


Chile - Chilean Sign Language = Lengua de Señas Chilena = Lenguaje Chileno de Signos = Lenguaje de Señas = LENSE = LSCh 

Colombia - Colombian Sign Language

Guyana - Guyana Sign Language

Peru

"Carhuahuaran Sign Language is a multigenerational family sign language of the Quechua-speaking region of Peru."

Class Resources 

These are listed by region/sign language.

International

South Africa - SASL

Europe

Ireland

UK

North America

USA

Texas

Oceana

Australia

New Zealand

South America

Chile 

Tools & Devices

Communication

Brail

Please be aware that brail, like sign language is generally unique to each country or region, so be careful to confirm which type of brail is appropriate for your student before buying any equipment or books.

Time

Management

Organizations

International

Africa

Lesotho

Malawi

Europe

Belgium

North America

Canada

Haiti

USA

Hawaii

Oceana

New Zealand

Educational Opportunities

This section is meant to help educators and people who want to become translators find places to learn and/or earn certifications.

Be aware that not all governments recognize their country's sign languages as official languages yet, which means not all countries have formal certifications at this time.

Europe

Greece

North America

Haiti