CULTURAL INFORMATION: ABC AND NUMBER STORIES

A treasured part of the heritage of the Deaf Community is their language, ASL. It is, as with any culture, an important part of their identity. One of the fun and special traditions enjoyed and shared by the Deaf Community is signing stories using Number or Alphabet hand shapes. In these stories, various hand shapes do not stand for the numbers and letters themselves, but are used as signs or gestures to convey concepts. They are signed in alphabetical or numerical order, and used in amazing ways to sign or act out a story. On our video you can watch Francisco Aceves, an accomplished Deaf mime from Lancaster, California, perform some of these stories.

ASL number story - "Sad Story"

ASL ABC Story!