Where can I learn about sign language for STEM fields?

Date Updated
05/23/22

Several resources for ASL signs for science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) fields are available online. They include sign language dictionaries, which are edited collections of signs, as well as sign language forums, which are communities wherein users contribute their own signs for various terms.

Major STEM-related ASL dictionaries and forums include:

  • Science Signs Lexicon, created by the National Technical Institute for the Deaf (NTID), has over thirteen hundred signs organized alphabetically and by discipline.
  • DEAFSTEM was created by Shodor, a non-profit that works with computational science education. The dictionary defines six hundred terms, primarily in math and computing.
  • Signing Math and Science Dictionaries, developed by TERC, a non-profit educational research organization, contain over fifty-five hundred terms that are typically encountered as a part of K-12 education.
  • Created by the Texas School for the Deaf, the Texas Math Sign Language Dictionary catalogs five hundred signs used in math.
  • The ASL-STEM Forum, created at the University of Washington, contains eight thousand STEM terms and three thousand STEM signs. Users can suggest signs and provide feedback on the suggestions of others.