THE ASL MANUAL ALPHABET IS A SYSTEM THAT USES THE SIGNER’S DOMINANT HAND TO REPRESENT EACH LETTER OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE ALPHABET. FINGER SPELLING IS THE ACT OF USING A MANUAL ALPHABET TO SIGN EACH INDIVIDUAL LETTER OF A WORD. FINGER SPELLING IS USED FOR PROPER NOUNS, SUCH AS NAMES, PLACES, TITLES, AND BRANDS. SIGN LANGUAGE IS MANUAL COMMUNICATION COMMONLY USED BY PEOPLE WHO ARE DEAF. SIGN LANGUAGE IS NOT UNIVERSAL; PEOPLE WHO ARE DEAF FROM DIFFERENT COUNTRIES SPEAK DIFFERENT SIGN LANGUAGES. THE GESTURES OR SYMBOLS IN SIGN LANGUAGE ARE ORGANIZED IN A LINGUISTIC WAY. AN ASL USER WOULD USE THE AMERICAN FINGER SPELLED ALPHABET.
ALSO CALLED THE AMERICAN MANUAL ALPHABET THERE ARE MANY DIFFERENT MANUAL ALPHABETS THROUGHOUT THE WORLD. LAURENT CLERC, THE FIRST TEACHER AT ASD, TAUGHT USING FRENCH SIGN LANGUAGE (LSF), WHICH ITSELF HAD DEVELOPED IN THE PARISIAN SCHOOL FOR THE DEAF ESTABLISHED IN 1755. FROM THAT SITUATION OF LANGUAGE CONTACT, A NEW LANGUAGE