Why I wish I was taught sign language as a child

[Malik]

I'm not Deaf or Hard of Hearing. But as an autistic person, I feel like using BSL is less stressful than speaking.

I have difficulty processing verbal information due to my autism. If I am not looking at a human's face, it is more difficult to understand what noises they are making. Signing feels more natural to me, and reduces the things I need to pay attention to in conversations.

I am still at the toddler level of BSL, so I still struggle following a conversation in BSL. Especially fingerspelling. I hope by watching BSLZone TV I become more fluent. It is sad that I never learned the sign language of my home town. I feel like that would have helped with my communication skills. 

[MandyM]

I’m learning BSL because my autistic daughter is too. She can manage to sign in situations that she previously felt too overwhelmed to be in.