Dutch Sign Language


Dutch Sign Language is the sign language used by deaf people in the Netherlands and is not officially recognized. As of 1995, more and more schools for the deaf in The Netherlands teach Signed Dutch. This uses the grammar of Dutch rather than NGT. In September 2019, D66, PvdA and CU proposed a bill of law initiative for official recognition of NGT.
NGT is not the same as Flemish Sign Language, and may not even be related to it.

Education

There are currently five schools for deaf children in the country, with the first being built at the end of the 18th century and the rest between the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century. While the first school used a manual method to teach the language, signing was originally prohibited in each of the latter schools and they instead tended to use an oral method of teaching. Today, because of cochlear implants, education is consistently leaning towards oralist methods.