I have frequently been asked by my colleagues: what is functional sign language and how is it different from ASL?

ASL is the abbreviation for American Sign Language, which is the language of the American Deaf community. ASL is a full language with its own sentence structure, phonology, and lingual elements. In fact, many of the lingual elements are different from the spoken English language.

Functional Sign Language is a term I have begun to use to describe how I use signs in a simplified way, within the English language, to address therapeutic goals. Functional sign language has helped many of my clients to successfully use signing as an additional mode of expression and language development.

I was at the American Music Therapy Association’s National Conference last year when I began discussing with my colleagues what I wished to see at conference and in continuing education courses. I wanted more functional content. I wanted to be able to take home a skill and apply it immediately with my clients.

Meanwhile, I was casually teaching signs to those same colleagues while we waited for events throughout the conference. It was then in that moment that the idea came to be. I wanted to create a CMTE course about sign language that taught the functional, everyday, beginner, need to know signs! I wanted to create a resource for all of you that I wish I had when I began learning sign language.

Over the last year, my incredibly supportive team and I have taken time to create content, scratch it, restructure it, and edit three or four times to make sure that it is the best resource it can be for you!

We absolutely intend for this course to change the way you see sign language and give you the knowledge and practice to use it starting today!