Quote:
Originally Posted by shel90
DEAF CINEMATIC FILMBLOG: Dear The Member of AGBell
Dear The Member of AGBell
Dear The Member of AGBell:
Oralism, a philosophy that maintains that language among the Deaf should be from the mouth and that excludes Sign Language taken root in the global educational establishment.
NAD *did* oppose oralism after all the Deaf teachers had been mostly fired from their positions. They were fired and the oral supporters demanded that all Deaf children must be taught speech only and must be prevented from socializing with other Deaf people outside of class. Alexander Graham Bell himself and the association (AGBell) named after him made many attempts to wipe out the Deaf community. Thank God that NAD stepped up to protect Deaf people from being wiped out and prevent ban on using American Sign Language. If you had studied Deaf history, you would be amazed at all the things that AGBell has done to the Deaf community in the past. Many Deaf people suffered in the past with torture and punishment if they were caught using American Sign Language. AGBell worked very hard to spread a negative message worldwide about American Sign Language.
The main reason NAD was set up as an organization was to protect American Sign Language after the fallout of the Milan Congress 1880's declaration that sign language should no longer be allowed in Deaf education. The oral supporters began taking over all the schools for the Deaf that were run by Deaf superintendents and Deaf teachers, and they forced the Deaf children to stop using American Sign Language. That's when Deaf people's level of education attainment began to decline. There were a few oral schools before the 1880 Congress in Milan. Many Deaf people back there were not bothered about the outcome of that Congress until Alexander Graham Bell launched his mission to wipe out of sign language. That's when Deaf people decided to set up the NAD and fight against oralism. Oralism had the goal of displacing all the Deaf teachers of the Deaf. AGBell tried to ban Deaf people from getting married to each other and he tried to set up the law to where Deaf people would be sterilized in order to prevent them from procreating.
Many oral-Deaf people were involved in producing the "Bob's House" Pepsi commercial. Many hearing people that I spoke to told me that they found the commercial funny. Many oral-Deaf people who have never used sign language have been prevented from being exposed to a lot in society. Many hearing parents of Deaf children chose oral programs because they did not even know about the American Sign Language programs that existed.
My recommendation to you is to take a Deaf history class and learn about the pre-Milan and post-Milan history of Deaf education and I'm sure after you learn about it, you will come back with a much different perspective.
I took several courses and read many books about Alexander Graham Bell. He had a dysfunctional method of thinking that really harmed the Deaf community. I respectfully disagree with you when you say the tone was negative. Sometimes people can't handle the truth, and then as a result they end up accusing people of having a negative tone as a way of evading the truth of the issues. Sometimes the truth hurts, but in the long run, it's for the best, especially for Deaf children's sake.
Sincerely,
Aidan
ASL-Deaf Filmmaker
In response to the comment maker (the member of AGBell) from my post, "IN RESPONSE TO THE ALEXANDER GRAHAM BELL ASSOCIATION'S LETTER": comment # 22 (the member of AGBell)
I agree with the statement about the truth hurting and how it is for the best, especially for Deaf children's sake.
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I agree with this statement as well. Also, I especially like the part about discussing it with hearing people who found it funny. I've discussed the situation with friends, colleagues, and at my request,with some psych 101 students in class yesterday. All thought it was funny and unique. Most were not familiar with the old joke, but they were still able to step outside their world, and see the humor. As well, the mjorioty expressed amazement and disdain over A.G. Bell's reaction. I have told them all, even as hearing people, their emails to A.G. Bell on this matter concerning the deaf would carry weight.