Theres a book I recently read... YA called "It Aint me, Babe" where the main protagonist River "Styx" has a severe stutter and uses sign language with most people. He is also a real hardass biker dude in the Hangmen BikerClub and is know as the "Hangmens Mute" I dont think you are an asshole. And yes signing can help people get comfortable with communicating. It's also a huge gift to know ASL- just as any language is a gift. If you were my friend, I would love to learn. I Understand the whole crutch part etc, but I dont think OP is an Asshole to suggest it.