American Sign Language (ASL) The primary language used by deaf individuals in the United States and Canada.
Signed English (SEE or Pidgin Sign) A dialect of American Sign Language where the sequence of signs matches the sequence of English words exactly. This is not encouraged by the Deaf Community and is found to be offensive.
Deaf Having a profound loss of hearing.
Hard of Hearing Individuals without a profound or mild hearing loss.
Interpreter A hearing person who is highly skilled in American Sign Language and will interpret for deaf individuals.
Handshapes The shape of the dominant and non-dominant hands when signing.
Agent Marker This sign is added at the end of a sign to create a profession, role, or duty sign. For example, the sign for teacher is a combination of teach and the agent sign.
Fingerspell Spelling a word or name using the signed alphabet.