Originally Posted by jillio

Oral skills is not the same as oralism. Oralism, by it's very definition, forbids the use of manual languages, and permits the use of oral languages only. Being taught oral skills is one thing, and I don't think that there is anyone that would disagree that they can be valuable for a deaf person to have. But that is not oralism. Oralism is based on the belief that all deaf people should learn to speak and not be allowed to sign in the effort to make them appear to be more like hearing individuals.