Teaching ASL: The value of authenticity

In attempting to understand why it is that many Deaf seem triggered by (unqualified) Hearing people teaching sign language it might be helpful to read the comments of a bilingual native Spanish speaker who decided to take a Spanish class:

"I understand being triggered by someone who is not qualified to teach a language trying to teach that language.

My first and second languages since birth are English AND Spanish.
My family and I are Puerto Rican. In high school I signed up for Spanish to get an easy 'A.'

The Spanish teacher was a Caucasian male who sounded AWFUL to me. Like some person who did not learn a language natively. This teacher was giving ME bad grades on assignments because he said I spoke Spanglish -- which I suspect is very similar to what some call pidgin ASL.

How I speak Spanish is pretty much how the majority of us communicate it in our native tongue, otherwise we sound too formal. (I heard once pure ASL would seem like Shakespeare.)

My Spanish teacher triggered me telling ME my Spanish is bad, when he sounded AWFUL to me with his HUGE Caucasian accent. I left that class and transferred to art."

- Joel Medina (July 8, 2023)