Originally Posted by CSign

You're funny Reba ;-) actually I don't speak slowly, I speak and sign at a natural pace. Being a hearing person with no experience with sign language when my child was born, I had to make a choice. Stumble through ASL and not provide a complete and good language model, or use SEE to support the language I already knew. I was proficient in English, and I had familiarized myself with the linguistic ramifications of being DHH. I wanted to provide him with clear access to language, and I wanted him to obtain a mastery if English which is expected of those going to school in the U.S. I also knew it would be easier for me to learn SEE rather than ASL since I was already proficient. I want to be clear though, I didn't take the easy way out. I attended classes, skillshops, and practiced everyday. I made the effort, just as I am continuing in my efforts to become fluent in ASL. It comes down to bring able to provide a clear and accurate language model, and I knew I would be most effective doing that through SEE. I would have been a poor ASL model for him in the beginning, however I could be a great model for him with English. I love reading, I love writing... I wanted my son to be able to appreciate the same thing. I wanted my son to go to college and be able to read the text books with a clear understanding of what's written on the page. I love English, and all the words that make up the language. In terms of waiting until he was older, I wanted him to have a solid base in English so he could obtain all these things. As I mentioned before, there are different ways to achieve the same end. This was the road I chose, and I don't regret it for a second. ;-) I must say that our public education system does not really support much of anything when it comes to educating DHH children, nor supporting the families. That is a for a different thread though...