Chapter 4
The SignWriter Newspaper
1981-1984

Fall, 1981 - Summer, 1984
The SignWriter Newspaper
was a 12 to 24 page newspaper, published quarterly. It was the first newspaper in history to be written in the movements of signed languages. Most articles were written in two languages: English and American Sign Language. It was distributed free to Deaf people in 41 countries.

Today's SignWriting publications would not be the same, if it were not for the research and development done through the publication of the SignWriter Newspaper. The Newspaper had historic influence on how SignWriting is written today.

The first Deaf journalists on the Newspaper staff were pioneers. They were the first group of Deaf adults to truly become skilled at writing their native language. At that time, signed languages were not considered "written languages". It was a controversial idea to "try to write signs", and all who worked on the Newspaper staff experienced resistance to this concept, from both Deaf and hearing people. New ideas take time for acceptance, something the staff had no choice but to learn the hard way. But there were many strong supporters of SignWriting too. The Newspaper was a catalyst for debating the issue of Sign Language Literacy. It was also a catalyst for developing a way to type signs.

Below...
In 1981, there was no way to type SignWriting.
Each issue of the SignWriter Newspaper was
written by hand with ink pens....

Below...
...or wax symbols were manually pressed on paper
with specially designed "transfer sheets".

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