Editing American Sign Language (section)

== Stigma ==
In 2013, the White House published a response to a petition that gained over 37,000 signatures to ''officially recognize American Sign Language as a community language and a language of instruction in schools''. The response is titled "there shouldn't be any stigma about American Sign Language" and addressed that ASL is a vital language for the Deaf and hard of hearing. Stigmas associated with sign languages and the use of sign for educating children often lead to the absence of sign during periods in children's lives when they can access languages most effectively.<ref>{{cite journal|title=A critical period for right hemisphere recruitment in American Sign Language processing | volume=5|issue=1 |doi=10.1038/nn775|pmid=11753419 |pages=76–80|journal=Nature Neuroscience|year=2002 |last1=Newman |first1=Aaron J. |last2=Bavelier |first2=Daphne |last3=Corina |first3=David |last4=Jezzard |first4=Peter |last5=Neville |first5=Helen J. | s2cid=2745545}}</ref> Scholars such as [[Beth S. Benedict]] advocate not only for [[bilingualism]] (using ASL and English training) but also for [[early childhood intervention]] for children who are deaf.  York University psychologist [[Ellen Bialystok]] has also campaigned for bilingualism, arguing that those who are bilingual acquire cognitive skills that may help to prevent dementia later in life.<ref>{{Cite book|title=I Can Hear You Whisper: An Intimate Journey through the Science of Sound and Language|last=Denworth|first=Ldyia|publisher=Penguin Group|year=2014|isbn=978-0-525-95379-1|location=US|pages=293}}</ref>

Most children born to deaf parents are hearing.<ref name="bh">{{Harvcoltxt|Bishop|Hicks|2005}}</ref>{{rp|192}} Known as [[Child of deaf adult|CODAs]] ("Children of Deaf Adults"), they are often more [[Deaf culture|culturally Deaf]] than deaf children, most of whom are born to hearing parents.<ref name="bh" />{{rp|192}} Unlike many deaf children, CODAs acquire ASL as well as Deaf cultural values and behaviors from birth.<ref name="bh" />{{rp|192}} Such [[bilingual]] hearing children may be mistakenly labeled as being "slow learners" or as having "language difficulties" because of preferential attitudes towards spoken language.<ref name="bh"/>{{rp|195}}