Editing Nicaraguan Sign Language (section)

=== As "unwritable" ===
R. J. Senghas (1997) used the phrase "unspeakable, unwritable" language in the title of his dissertation to highlight the common misconception that those languages without a written form are not as "real" (a view often held by those who do not study indigenous languages).{{sfn|Senghas|1997}} In a similar fashion, sign languages are often not given proper recognition because they are not spoken or written. (Senghas has never claimed that Nicaraguan Sign Language is unwritable, just that it was often thought of as such by those who do not study sign languages.)

Generally, the influence literacy has on the status of a language is also addressed in debates on the so-called "written language paradigm" in which it is acknowledged that the availability of written language to some extent must be considered as a culturally and historically dependent phenomenon. [[Tim Ingold]], a British anthropologist, discussed these matters at some length in ''Perception of the Environment'' (2000), though he does not specifically deal with ISN.

Since 1996, however, Nicaraguans have been writing their language by hand and on a computer using [[SignWriting]].<!--removed link to signwriting.org, it does not verify the claim--> There are now many texts written in Nicaraguan Sign Language, including three volumes of reading lessons in ISN, Spanish I and II (two levels of texts, workbooks, and primers), {{lang|es|Cuentos Españoles}} (a collection of stories in Spanish with ISN glossaries), and a geography text.