Quote:
Originally Posted by Interpretrator
I can't agree with this. I absolutely agree that ASL should be available in schools as an option along with spoken foreign languages, but not "instead of." Students should have the option to learn spoken foreign languages if they want; consider the case of children of immigrants who would like to learn their heritage language, or students with a particular interest in a culture who want to learn that language.
ASL should not be forced on people who don't want to take it, since we've seen what kind of negative behaviors and attitudes (cheating, etc.) take place in ASL classrooms with students who don't really want to learn the language.
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Wow, great input. Didn't think of it that way. I only know that many people I talk to and myself would like to see our kids learn ASL along with english as a counterpart. I was never advocating doing away with foreign languages. Not at all. Most other countries automatically teach their kids multiple languages all through school.
I guess what I am feeling is that ASL can help so many people. Autistic children and people who are speech impaired can benefit from ASL or some form of it. I just think that communication is so important, and I hate to think of any person feeling isolated because of a lack of english skills. I don't know what to do with that feeling. I was just looking for some sort of solution that would help tear down some of the walls between people. Everyone needs to express themselves and be heard by someone. That is what makes life worth living. Maybe I shouldn't care so much, or maybe I should just realize that I am not the one that is able to come up with a solution. I only know that it hurts my heart to see anyone feel lonely because they aren't heard. I just thought that having a national, secondary visual language would be one step to inclusiveness. Sorry if I offended you. I truly am.