My mother never learned ASL... she didn't have to and I would very much prefer she didn't.

I still do not understand the importance of ASL and I wasn't raised using ASL despite profound deafness since birth. I am truly grateful for SEE (signing exact english) giving me the ability to read and I would rather see more schools embracing SEE. After all, the average reading grade of Gallaudet University students are in the 4th grade which is an utter disgrace!