Sign language is the sign language used by people with speech difficulties, hearing impairment and other associated disorders. Today many people learn this language despite not needing it as a regular form of communication. However, learning any way to communicate with other people is a great advance. A unique way of relating to all kinds of people and as such, a huge open door to the rest of the world.
However, there is no universal sign language. In fact, more than 300 different sign languages are known around the world today. This is an offense for people who can only communicate through signs, because if they need to communicate with people from other countries, they must learn their rules, which is an added difficulty.
Why is there no universal sign language?
For experts, the answer to this question is very simple, it is not possible that there is a single sign language because this has a lot to do with the culture of each community. With the way of expressing themselves in different places, not only in the world, but within the same country. For example, in Spain the LSE (Spanish Sign Language) and Catalan are recognized as the official language.
Moreover, sign language is constantly evolving, through communication between people who use this method. Even without the need for this evolution to occur at the same time as the spoken language. In other words, establishing a single sign language would mean eliminating the characteristics of the language of each area. For example, in Western countries, cutlery is used to eat, but the same is not the case in Asian countries where it is eaten with chopsticks. Therefore, it is difficult to create a sign that determines the action of eating in a universal way, when you do not eat the same in all parts of the world.
In short, language and communication have a lot of social, of the way people interact on a daily basis. Creating a single universal sign language would mean eliminating those special characteristics from each place. Although in some situations it could be something beneficial and an easier way to communicate, inevitably those everyday ways that are learned and transferred on a day-to-day basis would be lost.