ASL Rose was founded in 2004 by two Deaf women, Dr. E. Lynn Jacobowitz and Dr. Adonia K. Smith, for the purpose of creating, publishing, and distributing ASL-English bilingual materials. ASL Rose provides consultation, training, material development, and video production. The guiding philosophy of ASL Rose is that all of our products provide access to both ASL (DVD, web-based TV, animated video) and English (text, closed captions, and voice-over) audiences. The first product of ASL Rose, Have You Ever Seen…? An American Sign Language (ASL) Handshape DVD/Book received a five-star rating review in the educational book category in Clarion Books’ Foreword magazine. This book is the first in a series, all of which will address the four parameters of ASL (Handshape, Location, Movement and Palm Orientation).

The seeds of ASL Rose were planted in April 2001, when Adonia, a former teacher at the Alabama School for the Deaf, attended the Deaf Studies VII Conference in Orlando. Around this time, Adonia was teaching 1st graders at a school for the Deaf. One of the activities that she did with her students came from a book entitled, “Have You Ever Seen…? An ABC Book,” by Beau Gardner. This book comes with pictures that symbolize each letter of the alphabet, such as a picture of an Alligator wearing an antler for the letter A. During the activity, Adonia found herself struggling to keep her students engaged. At one point, one young girl signed excitedly, “I know! A is Love, With, and Everyday!” While those signs were not the correct answers for the letter A, they were actually the right answers for handshape A. Adonia went home that night feeling despondent, thinking that she had failed as a teacher. The next day, however, Adonia decided to try something new. She asked students to list all of the words associated with the handshape A. Students started throwing out answers, and the activity went on so long that Adonia had to ask them to stop. At the end of the activity, Adonia was overwhelmed by the significant difference between the numbers of words that they listed for the ABC activity when compared to the tremendous number of words they listed for the handshape activity. This, Adonia felt, was where young students should begin: with the opportunity to play with blossoming vocabulary as opposed to memorizing what she describes as “the 26-letter word.”

In the meantime, Lynn, who is a professor at Gallaudet University and was the chair of the American Sign Language Teachers Association’s (ASLTA) National American Sign Language Curriculum Project and ASLTA Legislation. During her term as president (1995-1998), the members of the National ASLTA Curriculum Project developed a skeletal curricula for first language users (L1) and second language learners (L2). The L2 curriculum was completed with a list of potential materials, text books, and videos. The L1 curriculum was not released due to a lack of materials, text books, and videos. It was this lack of resources that led Lynn to realize that there is a great need for the development of materials for native language users.

So on that historic day in April, the two met and put their heads together to discuss the possibility of collaborating on a DVD/book project that would incorporate ASL and Deaf studies. Over the past six years, those seeds have blossomed into their very first product: Have You Ever Seen . . .? An American Sign Language (ASL) Handshape DVD/Book as well as other projects that are currently in the works.

While discussing their wishes to set up a company that would produce ASL/English bilingual materials, the two brainstormed possible names for their business. Later that evening, Adonia returned to her apartment and found herself contemplating different possibilities. Her gaze wandered to a painting that was on her wall, a rich and vibrant painting of four roses: two yellow and two red. This painting was done by a Deaf woman from Cuba, Marisol Echevavia. It was this painting that gave Adonia and Lynn the inspiration for the name they chose: ASL Rose.

The name, ASL Rose has deep significance for Adonia and Lynn. The flattened O and open O handshapes are used in the sign for flower, which, once planted, is fed and nourished by the sun. This flower grows into a beautiful and fragrant vision that we pass on to those that we love.

And not just any flower, but a rose. A rose with two tender leaves that represent Adonia and Lynn hugging its stem.

Like a rose, our community has strong roots which feed the sturdy stem that is Deaf Culture. And like the rose, our thorny nature allows for no oppression. Combined, those qualities present a beautiful bud that represents the new and continuing productivity of our beautiful language: ASL. The co-owners of ASL Rose wrote a beautiful poem in 2004, “The Love of ASL.” This poem can be found on the ASL Rose website.

ASL Rose’s mission is to promote the highest standards of academic excellence using an innovative bilingual-bicultural approach in addition to the promotion of Deaf Studies programs, and an American Sign Language (ASL) curriculum. The sun that relentlessly beats down on our garden is the shining light of our pride in ASL and Deaf Culture. ASL Rose became incorporated as a Limited Liability Corporation in the state of Maryland in April 2004.