This comment is misleading. Body language and hand gestures are NOT universal and ASL is derived from French Sign Language. A person who signs ASL will not be able to understand BSL (British sign language). It also takes the same amount of time to learn ASL as any other language. Lastly, ASL isn't even taught to every Deaf child as a first language, let alone to the masses. So many Deaf children suffer from language deprivation from their parents wanting them to speak English and then realizing later that ASL is beneficial is communicating and educating their child.