are there ANY movies/tv shows fully in ASL that aren’t 40yrs old/aren’t educational programs?
i’m heading and learning ASL for my deaf student (i teach toddlers how to swim). i can cary myself in a conversation with her for the most part (because she’s 3 lmao) but when it comes to speaking with the mom, i have a hard time understanding what she’s saying to me. and i frankly, barely have the sign knowledge to be able to hold myself in a 2 min small talk convo with an adult signer. anything past the basics and i’m clueless.
i took a zoom class with a deaf teacher 2 years ago for about 2 months, but the cost was, and still is, unsustainable. so i’ve turned to deaf youtube for education and movies/shows for challenging my new knowledge (watching shows w the sound off & no subtitles so i get a realistic experience). HOWEVERRRRRR i’ve noticed that i cannot find ANYTHINGGGGGGG in those realms that aren’t education-style, less than 40 years old, or use ASL frequently enough to be worth the watch for me.
that being said, a few movies from the 80’s that include ASL. while i did learn from them, i would also like to watch a more modern if there is anything. I watched DeafU a while a go, but that’s the only thing I’ve found that was made in this century that used real ASL and was an authentic deaf experience. i’d rather not watch a show where they give a deaf character 2 lines an episode or have the deaf character speak the whole time, because i feel like i’m not even learning anything at that point, so it wouldn’t be worth the watch unless i liked the plot lol.
if you have any suggestions, please let me know!! even if it’s like a kids show or movie. i’m not above watching something bluey-esq if it helps me, haha. thank you for reading and hopefully i get some new content out of this!
Posted Jun 25, 2026, 6:58 AM UTC