Cover next page > title: Seeing Language in Sign : The Work of William C. Stokoe author

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Page This volume is, collectively, a "labor of love"a tribute to a man who stubbornly continued his pioneering work on
American Sign Language despite considerable political obstacles, public scorn, and little support from his colleagues. Now all of us are reaping the benefits of his determination and perseverance, and the world itself has begun to recognize the truth of his "shocking" claim that American Sign Language is a language worthy of full recognition, study, and useon a par with all other languages of the world.
During the past ten years, this recognition of American Sign Language has had an increasing impact on the traditionally negative attitudes of professionals who interact with Deaf peopleeducators, teachers, interpreters, audiologists, therapists,
and others. No longer are these professionals able to view Deaf people as "defective hearing people" With the recognition that Deaf people use a highly complex language that is elegantly structured to fit the capabilities of the signer's eyes and body comes the recognition that having a hearing loss means interacting in a different way, but by no means an inferior way. This new understanding of American Sign Language enables us to see that Deaf people have their own culture and values that are expressed in this language and that the culture, its values, and its language deserve the respect of all individuals who interact professionally and personally with Deaf people. The Festschrift essays themselves, published by the National Association of the Deaf, reflect many of the changes that have occurred in large part as a result of Stokoe's work. The word "deaf" is printed in lowercase to describe people with a hearing loss but capitalized when it describes people who form a society or culture. The contributors include leading researchers in the field of sign language, ten of whom have worked with Stokoe in the lab, and three Europeansanother reflection of the extent of
Stokoe's influence. All of the contributors agreed to donate their royalties to a scholarship fund to beset up in Bill Stokoe's name and administered by the National Association of the Deaf. The funds have been used every year since 1979 to support a

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