We heard the news. Summer is officially over, and you're already counting the days before it's back. Thankfully, International Day of Sign Language is September 23rd this year, and you will not have to wait a second to celebrate and observe.
International Day of Sign Languages is celebrated on 23 September to honour the creation of the World Federation of the Deaf in 1951.
Why is International Day of Sign Languages Celebrated on 23 September?
This organization had a huge hand in advocating for the rights, recognition, and inclusion of Deaf people worldwide. The United Nations officially proclaimed this observance in 2017, and the first celebration took place in 2018.
Did you know the Canadian Association of the Deaf estimates that there are 357,000 culturally Deaf Canadians and 3.21 million hard of hearing Canadians. About 3.6 per cent of the population — approximately 1.3 million Canadians — are sign language users, according to a Statistics Canada report published in 2016.
For those who are not fluent or proficient in Sign Language, breathe a sigh of relief, as that is not a requirement to engage.
There are many meaningful ways to participate in the International Day of Sign Languages 2026:
Learn basic sign language phrases.
-Attend Deaf awareness events and workshops.
-Support Deaf-owned businesses and organizations.
-Share educational content on social media.
-Encourage schools and workplaces to offer sign language training.
-Advocate for accessible communication services.
-Promote captioning and sign language interpretation
To learn more, our community can access this resource penned by Shivani Poli of OneWorldNews
ASL BLOOM TEAM. (n.d.). How many people use ASL?. ASL Bloom. https://lnkd.in/dR9amfjy