International Day of Sign Language is a holiday that’s observed annually on the 23rd of September. This is a day that supports, protects, and promotes the cultural diversity of sign language users. There are over 70 million deaf people around the world and collectively they communicate using one of three hundred different sign language versions.

Although many people think of sign language as being a singular language, the fact of the matter is that sign language is as diverse and versatile as spoken language. In fact, in some cases, it may even be more concise. And that’s why we’re all going to take the opportunity to celebrate them on this holiday.

The History Of International Day Of Sign Language

The idea for this holiday originated with the World Federation of the Deaf (WFD), a federation of 135 national associations of deaf people that represents the human rights of tens of millions of deaf people around the world.

Eventually, this holiday was taken up by the United Nations, who coded it in Resolution A/RES/72/161. It was co-sponsored by 97 UN Member States and was adopted on December 19th, 2017.

The date for this holiday was chosen because that was the date that the World Federation of the Deaf was founded in 1951. One of the WFD’s main goals from its beginning was to preserve sign language and deaf culture as a prerequisite for deaf people’s human rights.

In 2018, the International Day of Sign Language was celebrated as a part of the International Week of the Deaf — a holiday that was first celebrated in 1958 and has become a global movement for deaf advocacy.

Some Interesting Facts About Sign Language

Below are some interesting facts about sign language that we would like to now share with everyone reading today. We hope the following points of information will be illuminating to all of our readers and will encourage them to learn more about sign language and deaf culture.

• Because American sign language has its own grammar, vocabulary, word order, and style, it’s considered a foreign language.
• Sign language not only uses gesture language to communicate but also used facial expressions.
• Different countries have different sign languages.
• American Sign Language (ASL) is the third most popular language in the United States.

Observing The International Day Of Sign Language

There are numerous ways for all people to observe this holiday. One way to celebrate is by learning more about sign language or learning sign language. It’s also a day for increased access for deaf people around the world. And people can spread the word about this holiday around the world by using the hashtag #InternationalDayOfSignLanguage online.