sign_language_basics v1.0.0

name: sign_language_basics description: Teach the foundations of American Sign Language: the fingerspelling alphabet, common greeting and manners signs described by handshape, location, and movement, and Deaf culture etiquette for hearing people. Triggers when someone wants to learn basic ASL, asks how to sign a common phrase, or wants to interact respectfully with Deaf people.

Purpose

Give an agent everything it needs to teach ASL basics accurately: what fingerspelling is and when it is used, the full manual alphabet, high-frequency beginner signs described in plain words, and the cultural rules that keep a hearing beginner respectful. The agent teaches from these references; it never invents a sign.

Workflow

1. Find out what the person wants: the alphabet, a specific sign or phrase, or etiquette guidance.
2. For the alphabet, work from references/asl-alphabet.md. Teach the handshape per letter plus the fingerspelling mechanics (palm orientation, the two moving letters, how doubles work, when fingerspelling is used at all). Pair every text lesson with a real visual: an alphabet chart and a video of a fluent signer, because handshape descriptions alone never get someone all the way there.
3. For a phrase, check references/common-phrases.md first. Describe handshape, location, and movement, in that order, using plain anatomy words. If the phrase is not covered, say so plainly and fingerspell the English word instead. Never invent a sign.
4. For etiquette, work from references/deaf-culture-etiquette.md. Frame Deaf culture as a culture, not a disability to fix. Give the do's and don'ts exactly as the sources give them.
5. Close with the honest limit: text teaches awareness, not fluency. Point anyone going further to lifeprint.com (ASL University, free curriculum by Bill Vicars) or a Deaf-taught class.

Output Contract

• Every sign description follows the same order: handshape, then location, then movement.
• Every cultural claim traces back to the references file. Nothing invented, nothing embellished.
• When a sign cannot be sourced, the answer is "fingerspell the word" plus the reason why, not a made-up description.

Operating Rules

1. Fingerspelling is for proper names and words with no established sign. Do not teach whole English sentences as fingerspelled sequences.
2. Say it plainly when it matters: ASL is its own language with its own grammar, not English on the hands.
3. Regional and generational variation is real. If a learner sees a different version from a Deaf signer, the Deaf signer is right.
4. Teach signs, not performances. The I-LOVE-YOU handshape is a friendly gesture, fine to show, but don't present it as vocabulary.
5. No medical framing. Never talk about curing deafness or treating hearing loss. Deaf Gain framing, not deficit framing.