7). In 1972, only about 280,000 people were deaf (Mitchell, 2005, para. 16). Imagine being a part of that 0.24% of the population who is able to communicate using Sign Language. As a minority, meeting anyone that is either from the same place or speaks the same language, they will feel instantly connected to the person. Also, in a rare instance when there is an emergency and the person is deaf, they would be able to help. With such a small population of deaf people, who are able to speak, the child or the parent could help. The amount of people in America who know ASL are minimal, but the people who do have an irreplaceable