Putting your deaf children in which schools...and why?

deafdyke said:
A I know. But the thing is, I do believe that many parents of hoh kids are misinformed when they are told " hoh kids don't "have a place " in Deaf culture. It PISSES me off that both AG BAD and VERY misinformed TODs still push that myth!
Yes, we can hear somewhat....but that doesn't make us hearing!
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Yea, AGBad makes it seem like they accept ASL but when in reality, they dont really accept ASL. :roll:
 
shel90 said:
Yea, AGBad makes it seem like they accept ASL but when in reality, they dont really accept ASL. :roll:
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Contacts at and policy at AGBell (and support services at events) have only supported and encouraged my family's use of ASL and our choice in educating Li-Li bilingually. I don't have a long history, but in 3 years, I've NEVER once encountered anyone representing AGB who is anti-ASL, overtly or otherwise. They do advise that we speak to someone at Gallaudet, a local school for the deaf, or NAD for specific ASL-related questions as they don't claim to be experts or the go-to resource for ASL, which seems very responsible to me.

I've also never had a medical professional advise against sign and every audiologist and SLP we've had has been fluent in sign.

I have had a parent of a now-adult CI user question why I spent valuable time pursuing an ASL-based educational environment when we could have been interacting with spoken language at home or could have my daughter at a school much closer to our home, but that person had no official affiliation with AGBell.
 
GrendelQ said:
Contacts at and policy at AGBell (and support services at events) have only supported and encouraged my family's use of ASL and our choice in educating Li-Li bilingually. I don't have a long history, but in 3 years, I've NEVER once encountered anyone representing AGB who is anti-ASL, overtly or otherwise. They do advise that we speak to someone at Gallaudet, a local school for the deaf, or NAD for specific ASL-related questions as they don't claim to be experts or the go-to resource for ASL, which seems very responsible to me.

I've also never had a medical professional advise against sign and every audiologist and SLP we've had has been fluent in sign.

I have had a parent of a now-adult CI user question why I spent valuable time pursuing an ASL-based educational environment when we could have been interacting with spoken language at home or could have my daughter at a school much closer to our home, but that person had no official affiliation with AGBell.
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Nice that your experience was different. My and many others' experiences with that organization was very different. It was always seen that ASL was used as a last resort and that deaf schools weren't desirable educational settings for us.
I was used by AGBad as a poster child for success in the mainstream with minimal accodomations..little did they know.

Does anyone realize that many deaf people despite this organization and why?
 
Oh yes, Shel, I've heard some horror stories and know things have been very different, awful in the past. Don't mean to invalidate what you've encountered at all! Just sharing what I think is a positive sea change in how ASL is perceived and respected by agbell today ( and maybe specific to my situation).
 
GrendelQ said:
Oh yes, Shel, I've heard some horror stories and know things have been very different, awful in the past. Don't mean to invalidate what you've encountered at all! Just sharing what I think is a positive sea change in how ASL is perceived and respected by agbell today ( and maybe specific to my situation).
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I am still hearing the same issues with AGBell now with some of my friends who have deaf children. The latest was "If you do not implant your child now, you are robbing her of a better future."

I am glad u are having a positive experience with them.
 
shel90 said:
We are deaf and we were subjected to thos decisions made by our parents. Why cant you listen to deaf people instead of the parents? Oftentimes, you state that you talk to the parents but do you talk to deaf people and get their input or just ignore those who had bad experiences with oralism-only?
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I have talked to both Deaf and deaf people. Some hated their life being oral, others loved it and continue to advocate for spoken language for deaf children. Most fall somewhere in the middle.
 
GrendelQ said:
Contacts at and policy at AGBell (and support services at events) have only supported and encouraged my family's use of ASL and our choice in educating Li-Li bilingually. I don't have a long history, but in 3 years, I've NEVER once encountered anyone representing AGB who is anti-ASL, overtly or otherwise. They do advise that we speak to someone at Gallaudet, a local school for the deaf, or NAD for specific ASL-related questions as they don't claim to be experts or the go-to resource for ASL, which seems very responsible to me.

I've also never had a medical professional advise against sign and every audiologist and SLP we've had has been fluent in sign.

I have had a parent of a now-adult CI user question why I spent valuable time pursuing an ASL-based educational environment when we could have been interacting with spoken language at home or could have my daughter at a school much closer to our home, but that person had no official affiliation with AGBell.
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This has been my experience as well. They have never told me I was wrong
or tried to change my mind. They same with John Tracy and now CID. They know our choice and they respect it. They know spoken language, and it is what they are good at, so that is what I seek their advice in.
 
faire_jour said:
I have talked to both Deaf and deaf people. Some hated their life being oral, others loved it and continue to advocate for spoken language for deaf children. Most fall somewhere in the middle.[/QUOTE]

Exactly..most of us here advocate exposing all deaf children to both but it seems that many parents advocate for one or the other. It doesnt have to be that way, ya know? Send the children to programs that advocate the use of both not must be one or the other.
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you know, if we stay quiet about it, people will just go back to their old ways. It is not easy for people to know what it is like unless we speak up.
 
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shel90 said:
faire_jour said:
I have talked to both Deaf and deaf people. Some hated their life being oral, others loved it and continue to advocate for spoken language for deaf children. Most fall somewhere in the middle.[/QUOTE]

Exactly..most of us here advocate exposing all deaf children to both but it seems that many parents advocate for one or the other. It doesnt have to be that way, ya know? Send the children to programs that advocate the use of both not must be one or the other.
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How do you do both effectively? one language has to take the lead. how do you do immersion in two languages? how do you provide a purely visual enviroment but also constantly work and expand auditory pathways? how provide a constant spoken language enviroment and the therapy needed for fluent spoken language learning AND immersion in a voice off asl enviroment?
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faire_jour said:
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shel90 said:
How do you do both effectively? one language has to take the lead. how do you do immersion in two languages? how do you provide a purely visual enviroment but also constantly work and expand auditory pathways? how provide a constant spoken language enviroment and the therapy needed for fluent spoken language learning AND immersion in a voice off asl enviroment?
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How do other countries do it by raising their children bilingually?
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Deaf children are not hearing children, they do not learn spoken language without intervention. the two aren't comparable. a deaf child learning spoken language needs a language rich enviroment and professionals working with them.
 
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Oh, and that's not an answer. if you advocate for it, tell me what it looks like.
 
who ever said they can learn without intervention?

you mean intervention all day long?

The child will be FINE.
 
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A said:
who ever said they can learn without intervention?

you mean intervention all day long?

The child will be FINE.
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Yes, in order to learn a language you must be exposed to it, all day long.

it takes the average hearing child 5 times of hearing a word to learn it, the average deaf child, 50. the point of an oral education is two-fold, first the make sure they hear the word the extra 45 times, and then through therapy and auditory skills training, to lower the number of times it takes for the child to learn the word.

no, you can't pretend the child is hearing and mainstream them without services but you also can't pretend that an hour a week of pullout speech therapy will get the same results as an oral approach with targeted, high quailty services.
 
There are schools that teach deaf children both oral speech as well as ASL in their education. It doesn't have to be both constantly all day long. Think of a hearing person who has to take a foreign language class. They don't do it all day long and they still learn. Deaf children, if they are able to attain speech skills, can learn with a few lessons in speech daily, just like hearing children can learn ASL in a few lessons daily.
 
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Not to gain real fluency. you don't gain full, fluent language from one hour a week lessons. it takes a normal hearing child i believe, around 5 years to be fluent in their native language, and they are exposed to it all day every day
 
That's good that you use ASL on your spare time, but really, I still think the child will be fine. They usually are.
 
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A said:
That's good that you use ASL on your spare time, but really, I still think the child will be fine. They usually are.
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Usually does?? doesn't the average deaf student leaving high school have a 4th grade reading level? that's not ok with me.
 
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