WWU American Sign Language Club

Media Backgrounder
Press Contact: Amelia Bailey
baileya7@students.wwu.edu | (000) 000-0000
Overview
The American Sign Language Club is an Associated Students club
at Western Washington University. It was founded in 2012 by
WWU alumna Kayla Posey in response to the fact that no ASL
courses are offered at WWU. Co-presidents Amelia Bailey and
Wyatt Chapman currently run the ASL Club, which consists of
eight members, both beginners and advanced conversationalists.
The club provides students with the opportunity to learn about or
further their knowledge of ASL and the deaf community in a safe
environment. During meetings students are exposed to sign
language, taught basic grammar and proper use through games,
film and other activities.

Current Activity
The ASL Club not only provides a safe environment for students to
practice ASL, but also spreads awareness of the deaf community
by encouraging members to attend non-club related events, such
as monthly ASL-friendly gatherings at Mallard Ice Cream, hosted
by Northwest Washington Community of the Deaf. WWUs ASL
Club currently meets twice a week at 5 p.m. on Tuesdays and
Thursdays in Bond Hall, room 227.

Facts about Hearing Impairment

Hyper-local

 Whatcom Community College offers ASL courses, which is

the only ASL course offered in Whatcom County (WCC World
Languages Department).
WWU disAbility Resources for Students provides interpreters,
real-time captionists and transcribers for deaf and hard of
hearing students, as well as having a counselor specifically
for deaf students.

Local
According to Joel Bergsbaken, program coordinator at the
Hearing Speech and Deafness Center in Bellingham, ASL is
the primary form of communication for roughly one in every
1,000 individuals (The Western Front).
Bergsbaken estimates that there are between 100-120 deaf
individuals amongst Bellinghams 80,000 residents (The
Western Front).
Washington state had approximately 105,878 deaf or hard of
hearing residents (ages 18 to 64) in 2012, approximately
2.45 percent of the total population (Gallaudet Census
statistics).

National
ASL is the third most commonly used language in the U.S.
(Start ASL).
The Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf cites medical, legal,
religious, mental health, rehabilitation, performing arts and
business as examples of professional fields in which ASL
interpreters are hired.
According to the National Institute on Deafness and Other
Communication Disorders, roughly two to three out of every
1,000 children are born with a detectable level of hearing
loss in one or both ears in the U.S.
According to the NIDCD, one in eight people aged 12 years
or older has some form of hearing loss in the U.S.
According to Gallaudet University, people with a family
income of less than $10,000 are twice as likely to have a
hearing impairment than those with a family income of
$50,000 or more.

 According to Gallaudet University, 29 percent of the 8 million

hard-of-hearing and deaf people who were employed at the
time of the survey listed their occupation as professional
and managerial.
34 percent listed their occupation as sales, service, and
administrative support, and 37 percent listed it as other.
In the U.S., employment of translators and interpreters is
projected to grow 46 percent from 2012 to 2020 due to
increasing globalization (Bureau of Labor Statistics).
Hearing loss is the third most common physical health
condition next to heart disease and arthritis (Hearing Loss).

International
According to World Federation of the Deaf, roughly 70 million
people are deaf worldwide.
Terms such as deaf and dumb, deaf-mute and hearing
impaired are no longer acceptable terms to reference a deaf
person (World Federation of the Deaf).
80 percent of the 70 million Deaf people living in developing
countries arent getting their needs met (World Federation of
the Deaf).

Organization Biography
Amelia Bailey WWU ASL Club Co-President
baileya7@students.wwu.edu
Amelia Bailey has a personal connection to ASL since she grew up
with deaf parents. When she arrived at WWU she was interested
in continuing to practice ASL, but realized WWU does not offer an
ASL program. She caught word of the ASL Club during her
freshman year but did not attend her first meeting until she was a
junior. When the meeting was over, Bailey was asked to become
an officer for the club. She enjoys working with students of all
experience levels. Bailey is a junior at WWU and is pursuing a
degree in sociology.
Wyatt Chapman WWU ASL Club Co-President
chapmaw2@students.wwu.edu

Wyatt Chapman is a freshman at WWU pursuing a degree in

Computer Science. He first took an interest in ASL during his
senior year of high school where he was asked to log a certain
number of hours at a deaf event for his introductory ASL course.
He soon learned that he loved the language and wanted to
continue attending his event of choice, a weekly chat night.
Chapman was also asked to be an officer for WWUs ASL Club
upon first arrival.

Boiler Plate
Western Washington University alumna Kayla Posey founded the
American Sign Language Club, an Associated Students Club, in
2012. Co-presidents Amelia Bailey and Wyatt Chapman are
dedicated to increasing campus awareness of ASL, as WWU
currently does not offer ASL courses, making the ASL Club a
primary source for students who wish to learn more about ASL
and the deaf community. The club currently meets twice a week
at 5 p.m. on Tuesdays and Thursdays in Bond Hall, room 227. To
learn more about the ASL Club, please visit
www.facebook.com/aslclubwwu.

Sources
American Sign Language Classes in Washington State.
HubPages.
Accessed January 21, 2015.
http://moonbythesea.hubpages.com/hub/American-SignLanguage-

Classes-in-Washington-State.

American Sign Language (ASL): What You Need to Know. Start

ASL. Accessed
January 21, 2015. http://www.start-american-signlanguage.com/americansign-language.html.
Academic Accommodations." disAbility Resources for Students.
Accessed January 23,
2015.
http://www.wwu.edu/drs/faculty_ASL_transcribers.shtml
Basic Facts About Hearing Loss. Hearing Loss Association of
America. Accessed January 28, 2015.
http://www.hearingloss.org/content/basic-factsabout-hearing-loss.
Demographic Aspects of Hearing Impairment: Questions and
Answers.

Gallaudet University. Accessed January 29, 2015.

http://research.gallaudet.edu/Demographics/factsheet.php/.
Deaf Population of the U.S." Gallaudet University Library.
Accessed January 23,

2015. http://libguides.gallaudet.edu/content.php?
pid=119476&sid=1029190
FAQ. World Federation of the Deaf. Accessed January 29, 2015.
http://wfdeaf.org/faq.
"Getting Started." Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf. Accessed
January 30, 2015.
http://www.rid.org/interpreting/new_to_interpreting/index.cfm
Interpreters and Translators. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Accessed January 29, 2015.
http://www.bls.gov/ooh/media-andcommunication/interpreters-andtranslators.html
Quick Statistics. National Institute on Deafness and Other
Communication

Disorders. Accessed January 21, 2015.

http://www.nidcd.nih.gov/health/statistics/Pages/quick.aspx.
Student Starts Club, Teaches Sign Language. The Western Front.
Accessed January
23, 2015.
http://www.westernfrontonline.net/news/article_498240bf-b14b5fe7-a415-25751081487d.html.
World Languages Department. Whatcom Community College.
Accessed January 29, 2015.
http://www.whatcom.ctc.edu:8080/degrees-andprograms/academic-departments-and-programs/languagesdepartment.