In my experiences, I've noticed that not everyone defines ASL consistently. As an interpreter, there were times I showed up at an assignment for consumers who specifically requested ASL interpreting. Then, as signing commenced, they requested more "English" signing. My ASL was "too" ASL. What they considered ASL signing was in reality PSE.
There could be several reasons for this misunderstanding. Sometimes signers have been misled as to what is ASL. Sometimes the signer hasn't been exposed to real life ASL, so has nothing to use as a yardstick of measurement. Sometimes, as a matter of Deaf pride, a signer insists that it's ASL, even if linguistically it is not.
When I used to substitute interpret in the public schools, it was during a period when supposedly they were using ASL in the classrooms. That's what it said on paper. In reality, in the classrooms, it was still very English PSE.
