New ASL Dept in Kentucky

Eastern Kentucky University has created a new department dedicated to the study of sign language. The Department of American Sign Language and Interpreter Education is an off-shoot of the Department of Special Education. It has 11 teachers (many are deaf) and two staff members. There are nearly two dozen students already in the program. The state of Kentucky has less than 150 licensed interpreters. That’s about half of what’s needed, according to the school’s dean of education.