Editing Martha's Vineyard Sign Language (section)

=== Decline ===
Martha's Vineyard Sign Language declined after the opening of the [[American School for the Deaf]]. Although students from Martha's Vineyard influenced the creation of [[American Sign Language]] with contributions from MVSL when they returned home, they brought ASL usage back with them, and MVSL faded. Additionally, as transportation became easier in the 19th century, the influx of hearing people meant that more genetic diversity was introduced, and hereditary deafness was no longer commonplace. The last person in the line of hereditary deafness of Martha's Vineyard was Katie West, who died in 1952. Following her death, [[Oliver Sacks]] noted in the 1980s that some elderly hearing residents of the island could remember a few signs, but the language truly died out after this point.<ref name="Sacks"></ref>