I am a proponent of teaching American Sign Language (ASL) to all students as a second language. I advocate ALS because there are students in regular classrooms who are not diagnosed until later years with some type of mental illness or disability. Many of these students don't like to be touched. Many special needs students learn the basics of ALS in school, but I am also an advocate for teaching the language in regular classrooms as many officers and future firefighters will have a skill which can be used to calm down these individuals, so things don't escalate. Additionally, those with mental illness or other special needs individuals can be peacefully guided through a situation.
