You cannot hear with CI .. ??

[Cloggy]

Your post does makes sense.. but you have not read Cloggy's posts in other site.... Cloggy claimed Lotte has two CIs... and she is not DEAF...
he had abused few of members there... the owner erased ALL of Cloggy s threads and posts... the owner KNEW he is lying....

Stop lying and SHOW us where I said that.... I know ... you cannot find it !!!

Show me where I abuse members... I know....

Show me where I am lying....

And then STFU

 

[R2D2]

That's why I say in other threads..why not do both? Many deaf people I know, including myself, grew up totally mainstreamed in the hearing world with little or no contact with other deaf people. They feel the same as I did...a sense of not fitting in no matter how hard we try and then discovering the deaf community much later and feeling just right at home. Yes, there r a few here on AD that feel at home with the hearing world and if it makes them happy, great. I just haven't met a deaf person in person that have said he/she feels connected to the hearing world like they do in the deaf world. That's why if possible, expose the child to both. Believe me if the child grows up feeling a void or something's missing even though the child doesn't know what it is, it can lead to serious emotional problems. I believe that it would be good to have a balance instead of one over the other. If I had that balance, maybe I won't feel this amniosity about interacting with non signers. I am working on it cuz it would be nice for me to have a good balance but it is hard to keep from all the old bitter feelings from my past coming back.

If there is no deaf community in wherever the deaf child lives in then yea, less choices. I just try to encourage parents to try to expose the child to both and the child will find his/her identity in whichever world.

I know what you are saying and I relate to those feelings that you describe when I attended a mainstream school too. However, I recall from a previous post of Rick's that his daughter has lots of deaf friends and they are involved in group activities.

I'm just wondering if you are using the term "deaf community" in a very broad sense (access to other deaf people of a similar age no matter their situation) or whether it involves having to go to deaf schools, colleges, clubs, be part of deaf theatre etc etc. Personally, I have no desire to be part of the community as I find the norms and values too strong for me and there seems to be difficulty in accepting different personal choices. I hate conforming, I guess! However, I really value my deaf friends because of our shared experiences.

 

[shel90]

I know what you are saying and I relate to those feelings that you describe when I attended a mainstream school too. However, I recall from a previous post of Rick's that his daughter has lots of deaf friends and they are involved in group activities.

I'm just wondering if you are using the term "deaf community" in a very broad sense (access to other deaf people of a similar age no matter their situation) or whether it involves having to go to deaf schools, colleges, clubs, be part of deaf theatre etc etc. Personally, I have no desire to be part of the community as I find the norms and values too strong for me and there seems to be difficulty in accepting different personal choices. I hate conforming, I guess! However, I really value my deaf friends because of our shared experiences.

I just would like the children to meet deaf adults and other deaf children and be exposed to sign language so the children can be aware of it rather than feeling like they are the only ones who are deaf or the only ones who need a CI and be aware that there is another language that they can use if their CI is not available due to whatever reasons. I just think it would be very helpful to have both and the children can decide on how they want to be involved or use the languages. Some choose to be with hearing people and use oral languages only, some choose both, and some choose to be with other signers and use sign language at all times.

I didnt have that option..I was forced to be in the hearing world full time and denied being exposed to sign language. Instead, I was told by many specialists and teachers that I was too smart for sign language clouding my views on it growing up. I think that is very wrong.

 

[Capmeister]

I was forced to be in the hearing world full time and denied being exposed to sign language. Instead, I was told by many specialists and teachers that I was too smart for sign language clouding my views on it growing up. I think that is very wrong.

Too smart for signing?

 

[rick48]

I just would like the children to meet deaf adults and other deaf children and be exposed to sign language so the children can be aware of it rather than feeling like they are the only ones who are deaf or the only ones who need a CI and be aware that there is another language that they can use if their CI is not available due to whatever reasons. I just think it would be very helpful to have both and the children can decide on how they want to be involved or use the languages. Some choose to be with hearing people and use oral languages only, some choose both, and some choose to be with other signers and use sign language at all times.

I didnt have that option..I was forced to be in the hearing world full time and denied being exposed to sign language. Instead, I was told by many specialists and teachers that I was too smart for sign language clouding my views on it growing up. I think that is very wrong.

Shel,

I think one would be hard pressed to expose their child other deaf adults and children and not have them be aware of sign langauge as well. Years ago, we attended our first AGBell convention and met a woman whose teenager daughter was deaf. She introduced us and we had a nice conversation with her. A few days later we saw the girl at the pool flirting with a boy who did not have her oral skills so she was just signing away. My wife and I laughed because her language "methodology" was obviously being dictated by other "priorities"!
Rick

 

[shel90]

Shel,

I think one would be hard pressed to expose their child other deaf adults and children and not have them be aware of sign langauge as well. Years ago, we attended our first AGBell convention and met a woman whose teenager daughter was deaf. She introduced us and we had a nice conversation with her. A few days later we saw the girl at the pool flirting with a boy who did not have her oral skills so she was just signing away. My wife and I laughed because her language "methodology" was obviously being dictated by other "priorities"!
Rick

That's a funny one.

I dont know if things are different today with more awareness among the specialists. The parents of our students have expressed that they were hard pressed to go the oral-only route and there was no mention of the deaf community. It was only later when their children werent doing well with the oral-only route that they started inquiring about sign language and then discovering that there is a deaf community. Some of them expressed wishes that they had known from the beginning. I am not sure if that varies state to state or hospital to hospital about the first specialists the parents of a newly diagnosed deaf child first meet.

 

[shel90]

Too smart for signing?

These specialists and teachers strongly believed the oral-only route so I am not surprised that they would say stupid things like that about sign language.

 

[highlands]

These specialists and teachers strongly believed the oral-only route so I am not surprised that they would say stupid things like that about sign language.

I wish I had been taught sign language
I sometimes feel that some of my world was stolen off me :|

 

[shel90]

I wish I had been taught sign language
I sometimes feel that some of my world was stolen off me :|

Yea, that's how I feel sometimes too. I grew up too busy trying to fit in. Wasnt fun.

 

[Capmeister]

I wish I had been taught sign language
I sometimes feel that some of my world was stolen off me :|

I learned to sign at age 29. It's never too late.

 

[jillio]

I learned to sign at age 29. It's never too late.

Agreed, it is never too late. I think part of the point is that autonomy and a sense of identity is one of the developmental tasks of childhood. Many deaf adults are still working on this as young adults because they were denied the opportunity to do so as children because they were not exposed to the people they could relate to or the language that was natural for them. In development, Erik Erikson taught us that unless the previous stage of development is reconciled at the proper time, the individual cannot move on to the next developmental task, and therefore, this problem is something that deaf adults have had to work through and it has caused difficulties for them. The posts stating that they never felt whole until they found the deaf community, or that signing is like coming home to them, etc. etc. is evidence of that. I just find it sad that it seems to be acceptable, in the name of oral skills, to risk not only a child's educational success, but to risk creating a stiuation that restricts an individual from functioning on an optimal emotional level as well.

 

[Capmeister]

Agreed, it is never too late. I think part of the point is that autonomy and a sense of identity is one of the developmental tasks of childhood. Many deaf adults are still working on this as young adults because they were denied the opportunity to do so as children because they were not exposed to the people they could relate to or the language that was natural for them. In development, Erik Erikson taught us that unless the previous stage of development is reconciled at the proper time, the individual cannot move on to the next developmental task, and therefore, this problem is something that deaf adults have had to work through and it has caused difficulties for them. The posts stating that they never felt whole until they found the deaf community, or that signing is like coming home to them, etc. etc. is evidence of that. I just find it sad that it seems to be acceptable, in the name of oral skills, to risk not only a child's educational success, but to risk creating a stiuation that restricts an individual from functioning on an optimal emotional level as well.

It's a common story. One of the reasons my brother was in deaf schools through highschool (other than some afternoon classes he was mainstreamed into--and he chose that because the busride took some time out of his day ) was because he wanted the social connection. He decided, for college, not to go to Gally and instead went to Eastern Carolina U because he wanted to focus more on quality of education than socialization and feared Gally would be a bit of a party school for him. He wanted to experience both but only after 11 or 12 years of being in deaf schools.

 

[jillio]

It's a common story. One of the reasons my brother was in deaf schools through highschool (other than some afternoon classes he was mainstreamed into--and he chose that because the busride took some time out of his day ) was because he wanted the social connection. He decided, for college, not to go to Gally and instead went to Eastern Carolina U because he wanted to focus more on quality of education than socialization and feared Gally would be a bit of a party school for him. He wanted to experience both but only after 11 or 12 years of being in deaf schools.

***nodding agreement***

 

[R2D2]

It's a common story. One of the reasons my brother was in deaf schools through highschool (other than some afternoon classes he was mainstreamed into--and he chose that because the busride took some time out of his day ) was because he wanted the social connection. He decided, for college, not to go to Gally and instead went to Eastern Carolina U because he wanted to focus more on quality of education than socialization and feared Gally would be a bit of a party school for him. He wanted to experience both but only after 11 or 12 years of being in deaf schools.

That's interesting and positive. I wish my nephew had that same confidence to try something new and go out into the unknown. He only knows how to sign and has attended a deaf school, which he loves because of the social connection. However, the educational standard there is very poor and his mum has been trying to get him to consider going to other colleges for his senior education. But he is very fearful of going to an unknown environment without his deaf friends and does not want to talk about future careers, which is frustrating for my sister.

Unfortunately his hearing father (estranged from my sister) is a controlling type and has encouraged that fear of the hearing world (probably so that he can control him). He signs very well but discourages him from believing that he can achieve anything in the hearing world.

 

[Capmeister]

That's interesting and positive. I wish my nephew had that same confidence to try something new and go out into the unknown. He only knows how to sign and has attended a deaf school, which he loves because of the social connection. However, the educational standard there is very poor and his mum has been trying to get him to consider going to other colleges for his senior education. But he is very fearful of going to an unknown environment without his deaf friends and does not want to talk about future careers, which is frustrating for my sister.

Unfortunately his hearing father (estranged from my sister) is a controlling type and has encouraged that fear of the hearing world (probably so that he can control him). He signs very well but discourages him from believing that he can achieve anything in the hearing world.

How old is he? Tell him about my brother. He is profoundly deaf, doesn't speak, doesn't read lips, and has a bachelors degree in English from ECU, and next week gets his bachelors in Special Education from Michigan State University. He's worked for the post office as a mail carrier, building computers for a local company, as a teacher at the community college, and a substitute teacher at the Michigan School for the Deaf. He never let being deaf limit him in any significant way, and when handed a problem, he recovered by finding an opportunity.

 

[shel90]

That's interesting and positive. I wish my nephew had that same confidence to try something new and go out into the unknown. He only knows how to sign and has attended a deaf school, which he loves because of the social connection. However, the educational standard there is very poor and his mum has been trying to get him to consider going to other colleges for his senior education. But he is very fearful of going to an unknown environment without his deaf friends and does not want to talk about future careers, which is frustrating for my sister.

Unfortunately his hearing father (estranged from my sister) is a controlling type and has encouraged that fear of the hearing world (probably so that he can control him). He signs very well but discourages him from believing that he can achieve anything in the hearing world.

Wow that sucks about how your nephew's father put that fear in him. No child deserves that..geez. Hopefully, someday he will overcome his fears of the hearing world. Maybe take him on a tour of hearing colleges?