Black American Sign Language (BASL)

Black American Sign Language, abbreviated as BASL, is considered a dialect of American Sign Language (ASL) that developed due to exclusion and segregation of schools for the Deaf community in the United States.

The first school for deaf students opened in 1817 in the U.S. but was only open to White students. A school for Black deaf students later opened in 1869.

BASL uses two-handed signing; although the languages share some signs, hand placement varies with ASL using hand placement around the body and BASL using hand placement around the face; and BASL also includes facial expressions and physical space when signing. There are some differences in words and phrases, and not all ASL interpreters understand or can interpret in BASL.

Also see American Sign Language (ASL).