Editing Sign language (section)

=== Use of sign languages in hearing communities ===
On occasion, where the prevalence of deaf people is high enough, a deaf sign language has been taken up by an entire local community, forming what is sometimes called a "village sign language"<ref name="ZeshanDeVos2012">{{cite book
|last1 = Zeshan
|first1 = Ulrike
|last2 = de Vos
|first2 = Connie
|date = 2012
|title = Sign languages in village communities: Anthropological and linguistic insights
|publisher = De Gruyter Mouton and Ishara Press
|place = Berlin and Nijmegen
}}</ref> or "shared signing community".<ref name="Kisch2008">{{cite journal
|last = Kisch
|first = Shifra
|date = 2008
|title = "Deaf discourse": The social construction of deafness in a Bedouin community
|journal = Medical Anthropology
|volume = 27
|issue = 3
|pages = 283–313
|doi = 10.1080/01459740802222807
|pmid = 18663641
|hdl = 11245/1.345005
|s2cid = 1745792
|url = http://dare.uva.nl/personal/pure/en/publications/deaf-discourse-the-social-construction-of-deafness-in-a-bedouin-community(eb0cb2ac-7045-40fe-8bcf-a40b2c534003).html
|access-date = 2018-12-20
|archive-date = 2024-05-26
|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20240526073548/https://dare.uva.nl/search?identifier=eb0cb2ac-7045-40fe-8bcf-a40b2c534003
|url-status = live
}}</ref> Typically this happens in small, tightly integrated communities with a closed gene pool. Famous examples include:
* [[Martha's Vineyard Sign Language]], [[United States]]
* [[Al-Sayyid Bedouin Sign Language]], [[Israel]]
* [[Kata Kolok]], [[Bali]]
* [[Adamorobe Sign Language]], [[Ghana]] 
* [[Mayan Sign Language#Yucatec Mayan Sign Language|Yucatec Maya Sign Language]], [[Mexico]] 
In such communities deaf people are generally well-integrated in the general community and not socially disadvantaged, so much so that it is difficult to speak of a separate "Deaf" community.<ref name="WollLadd2003" />

Many [[Australian Aboriginal sign languages]] arose in a context of extensive speech taboos, such as during mourning and initiation rites. They are or were especially highly developed among the [[Warlpiri Sign Language|Warlpiri]], [[Warumungu people|Warumungu]], [[Dieri]], [[Kaytetye people|Kaytetye]], [[Arrernte people|Arrernte]], and [[Warlmanpa language|Warlmanpa]], and are based on their respective spoken languages.

A sign language arose among tribes of [[Native Americans in the United States|American Indians]] in the [[Great Plains]] region of [[North America]] (see [[Plains Indian Sign Language]]) before European contact. It was used by hearing people to communicate among tribes with different spoken [[language]]s, as well as by deaf people. There are especially users today among the [[Crow tribe|Crow]], [[Cheyenne]], and [[Arapaho]].

Sign language is also used as a form of alternative or augmentative communication by people who can hear but have difficulties using their voices to speak.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://napacenter.org/aac-autism|title=Benefits of Sign Language and Other Forms of AAC for Autism|date=3 June 2020|access-date=7 March 2022|archive-date=7 March 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220307202110/https://napacenter.org/aac-autism/|url-status=live}}</ref>

Increasingly, hearing schools and universities are expressing interest in incorporating sign language. In the U.S., enrollment for ASL (American Sign Language) classes as part of students' choice of second language is on the rise.<ref>{{Cite web|last1=Looney|first1=Dennis|last2=Lusin|first2=Natalia|date=February 2018|title=Enrollments in Languages Other Than English in United States Institutions of Higher Education, Summer 2016 and Fall 2016: Preliminary Report|url=https://www.mla.org/content/download/83540/2197676/2016-Enrollments-Short-Report.pdf|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210816111722/https://www.mla.org/content/download/83540/2197676/2016-Enrollments-Short-Report.pdf|archive-date=2021-08-16|publisher=[[Modern Language Association]]}}</ref> In New Zealand, one year after the passing of NZSL Act 2006 in parliament, a NZSL curriculum was released for schools to take NZSL as an optional subject. The curriculum and teaching materials were designed to target intermediate schools from Years 7 to 10, ([https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/schools-to-put-sign-language-on-curriculum/7XXV6VUP2WMOD77LOS7E3H4IRY/ NZ Herald], 2007).