Read?

Southern · 11-09-2006, 11:04 AM

Okay this may fall in the stupid question catigory but here it is. I have been wondering how Deaf children are taught to read. I know hearing children are taught to sound it out when they don't know a word. It takes many years for hearing children to become proficent readers. Even as an adult i "sound words out" even if just in my head if they are new and particularly hard, like vituperative. I love new words. Deaf children, and adults for that matter, cannot sound out words. I can only imagine you would just memorize words from vocab lists which would mean Deaf people have excellent memories. I don't like to assume things though and i don't like to be ignorant on subjects. Could anyone let me know how it works, and maybe your personal experience with it? Was it difficult getting the concept from ASL to written words or easy? Does having hearing parents and seeing how they form words assist in learning to read?

**Jolie77** · 11-09-2006, 11:58 AM

I'm the same way as you are with new words, I do love new words as well. I don't know about how others would do but based on my experience; When I do read and see a new word, I would break the letters out in 2 or 3 groups and finger spell it separately and get to the point to combine all the group together to blend it into a word which makes it easier for me to be able to memorize how it is spelled and to read it much better.

For me, It was pretty much easy to get the concept from ASL to written words because of the tip that I had learned when I was a little girl. I don't think if I had learned that tip when I was younger, I might have been dumbfounded but when I started to pick up on that tip, It helped me greatly in my reading skills.

jillio · 11-09-2006, 05:11 PM

I used a lot of signed English story books with my son. The printed word has a picture of the sign underneath. It helped him to understand that the printed word was the same as the sign, that both were symbols for the thing they represented. When he started kindergarten, he was already reading at second grade level. I give a lot of the credit to the books I used. And to the fact that ASL gave him a solid foundation in language, so he could understand that a chair was still a chair and didn't matter if you put it into printed word, or sign, or just pointed at it. All meant the same thing.

**deafskeptic** · 11-13-2006, 03:26 AM

Since I come from an oral background, I've always thought of a picture for each word. Phonics is not always reliable when it comes to the English language because words are not always spelled the way they sound.

I notice that with more recent words that I learn, I'll often combine signs with a mental picture representing the word.

I also use compound words as well and then break it down so I can learn it. Raincoat would be a good example.

I've a very good vocabulary even though I rarely use big words in my writing.

SxyPorkie · 11-13-2006, 10:14 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by zxvasdf

i ve noticed deaf children are a little behind hearing children in terms of language development (due to the absence of the constant exposure to the spoken language that hearing children experience from birth), but wait until these little tykes get the hang of alphabet! they sure catch up in a hurry.

You are RIGHT... I was born HOH.. but my parents were deaf.. they forced me to read books.. Now i am thankful...I love to read..It surely beat TV... i used to read 7-8 books a day.. until i had eye surgeries.. now one book a week... it helps improving english and grammars...

sr171soars · 11-14-2006, 10:51 AM

Yea, I come an oral background too. I learned the old fashioned way... phonetically. I agree with Deafskeptic, doing phonics isn't the most reliable way to pronounce things especially when you couldn't always hear the subtle differences.

Being an avid reader, starting very young, was my door to understanding English in its myriad expressions. As you can tell, I love and use big words all the time. It is very useful in bringing forth concise and clear thinking when writing or conversing one's thoughts. Sometimes though, I have to moderate that tendency by adjusting one's vocabulary to one's audience!

**shel90** · 12-09-2006, 01:12 PM

That is a question I ask myself everyday! I am a teacher for deaf students and I ask myself "How the hell did I learn how to read without knowing ASL??" I am profoundly deaf and I have been asking my mom how??? How did I aquire a strong language foundation through oral education with my degree of deafness especially reading and writing? I consider myself lucky that I love to read cuz it definitely did help with my writing skills.

I guess I must have learned it thru the phonetic way by lipreading cuz I remember my teacher pointing the letters and then pointing to her lips to form the sounds

. What about the letters that look the same on the lips such as the b's and p's????

Anyways, I am teaching my kids to get into the habit of reading and trying to make it fun. They are showing some motivation about reading and I plan to keep it up.

The problem is many of my students have hearing parents who do not know sign language and I emphasize to the parents to label their homes with words cuz the students dont have access to language at home and as a result, their language development is seriously impacted. How do u teach them to figure out all the grammatical rules of English when their L1 language is weak in the first place? And parents blame us teachers for their poor reading skills? Get real! It is mostly due to not having a full acess to lanugauge during the critical years from birth to 5 years. I will never give up on my students but it takes motivation on their part to be willing to tackle on the complexity of the English language.

Yesterday, I gave a spelling test to my students and one of my students couldnt remember a word and as he was sitting there trying to make a mental image of the word, I was thinking "Lucky them hearing kids can rely on decoding to figure out the correct spelling of the words. while my students have to use their memory"

I remember as I child, those spelling tests were a nightmare to me cuz I relied on lipreading so when the teacher would say each word, I always waited for her to use the word in a sentence to identify the word cuz my school used a lot of word families for spelling and when they would say words like "bat" and "pat" I would be totally lost so I relied on them using them in sentences to know which word is being used. GEEZ!

Why do u think I oppose to oral education only for deaf children? I think sign language should be the primary language used and spoken language used as a tool. Like someone else said, give the deaf child the full toolbox!

Malfoyish · 12-09-2006, 01:31 PM

I do think that hearing aids are helpful when they're used - that is, if it is at all possible to use them to help sound out the words.

I do not recall learning how to read and how teaching me was executed, however I do remember my mother putting my hand onto her throat. Then with one finger, she would point over a written word and sound it out...then if it was possible, she would show me what it was, etc...(if was not a picture book)...but it does help to have a good sense of language too.

I was also lucky to have closed captioning, and that helped, too...I was born deaf but raised with an oral means of communication, which means that naturally, when someone is speaking, I will automatically look at their lips. When they hooked up my closed captioning unit, I would speed-read the text, then read the actor's lips, too. There are still times where I mispronounce words, LOL. (Just ask my father how I used to pronounce 'Budweiser'!)

Anyway, it's safe to say that when it came to learning to read, it was very helpful for me to have had these visual and sound tools.

11-09-2006, 11:04 AM	#1 (permalink)
Southern Registered User Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Florida Posts: 646	Read? Okay this may fall in the stupid question catigory but here it is. I have been wondering how Deaf children are taught to read. I know hearing children are taught to sound it out when they don't know a word. It takes many years for hearing children to become proficent readers. Even as an adult i "sound words out" even if just in my head if they are new and particularly hard, like vituperative. I love new words. Deaf children, and adults for that matter, cannot sound out words. I can only imagine you would just memorize words from vocab lists which would mean Deaf people have excellent memories. I don't like to assume things though and i don't like to be ignorant on subjects. Could anyone let me know how it works, and maybe your personal experience with it? Was it difficult getting the concept from ASL to written words or easy? Does having hearing parents and seeing how they form words assist in learning to read?

11-09-2006, 11:58 AM	#2 (permalink)
Jolie77 Premium Member Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Kentucky, USA (The Bluegrass State) Posts: 8,514 Blog Entries: 1	I'm the same way as you are with new words, I do love new words as well. I don't know about how others would do but based on my experience; When I do read and see a new word, I would break the letters out in 2 or 3 groups and finger spell it separately and get to the point to combine all the group together to blend it into a word which makes it easier for me to be able to memorize how it is spelled and to read it much better. For me, It was pretty much easy to get the concept from ASL to written words because of the tip that I had learned when I was a little girl. I don't think if I had learned that tip when I was younger, I might have been dumbfounded but when I started to pick up on that tip, It helped me greatly in my reading skills. __________________ Isaiah 33:6 - "He will be the sure foundation for your times, a rich store of salvation and wisdom and knowledge; the fear of the Lord is the key to this treasure."

11-13-2006, 03:26 AM	#4 (permalink)
deafskeptic Premium Member Join Date: Sep 2006 Posts: 14,512	Since I come from an oral background, I've always thought of a picture for each word. Phonics is not always reliable when it comes to the English language because words are not always spelled the way they sound. I notice that with more recent words that I learn, I'll often combine signs with a mental picture representing the word. I also use compound words as well and then break it down so I can learn it. Raincoat would be a good example. I've a very good vocabulary even though I rarely use big words in my writing. __________________ Left ear implanted with Med-El on April 24 2007. Activated on May 9th. Upgraded to Opus 2 9/10/2010 Think Pink. FREE JILLIO!

11-14-2006, 10:51 AM	#6 (permalink)
sr171soars Registered User Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: Raleigh, NC Posts: 2,700	Yea, I come an oral background too. I learned the old fashioned way... phonetically. I agree with Deafskeptic, doing phonics isn't the most reliable way to pronounce things especially when you couldn't always hear the subtle differences. Being an avid reader, starting very young, was my door to understanding English in its myriad expressions. As you can tell, I love and use big words all the time. It is very useful in bringing forth concise and clear thinking when writing or conversing one's thoughts. Sometimes though, I have to moderate that tendency by adjusting one's vocabulary to one's audience! __________________ But trailing clouds of glory till He comes... Foolishness is not a virtue

12-09-2006, 01:12 PM	#7 (permalink)
shel90 Let It Snow!!!! Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: A place where crabs are popular Posts: 40,286 Blog Entries: 3	That is a question I ask myself everyday! I am a teacher for deaf students and I ask myself "How the hell did I learn how to read without knowing ASL??" I am profoundly deaf and I have been asking my mom how??? How did I aquire a strong language foundation through oral education with my degree of deafness especially reading and writing? I consider myself lucky that I love to read cuz it definitely did help with my writing skills. I guess I must have learned it thru the phonetic way by lipreading cuz I remember my teacher pointing the letters and then pointing to her lips to form the sounds . What about the letters that look the same on the lips such as the b's and p's???? Anyways, I am teaching my kids to get into the habit of reading and trying to make it fun. They are showing some motivation about reading and I plan to keep it up. The problem is many of my students have hearing parents who do not know sign language and I emphasize to the parents to label their homes with words cuz the students dont have access to language at home and as a result, their language development is seriously impacted. How do u teach them to figure out all the grammatical rules of English when their L1 language is weak in the first place? And parents blame us teachers for their poor reading skills? Get real! It is mostly due to not having a full acess to lanugauge during the critical years from birth to 5 years. I will never give up on my students but it takes motivation on their part to be willing to tackle on the complexity of the English language. Yesterday, I gave a spelling test to my students and one of my students couldnt remember a word and as he was sitting there trying to make a mental image of the word, I was thinking "Lucky them hearing kids can rely on decoding to figure out the correct spelling of the words. while my students have to use their memory" I remember as I child, those spelling tests were a nightmare to me cuz I relied on lipreading so when the teacher would say each word, I always waited for her to use the word in a sentence to identify the word cuz my school used a lot of word families for spelling and when they would say words like "bat" and "pat" I would be totally lost so I relied on them using them in sentences to know which word is being used. GEEZ! Why do u think I oppose to oral education only for deaf children? I think sign language should be the primary language used and spoken language used as a tool. Like someone else said, give the deaf child the full toolbox! __________________ "Wine improves with age. The older I get, the better I like it." --- Anonymous

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11-09-2006, 05:11 PM	#3 (permalink)
jillio Banned Join Date: Jun 2006 Posts: 60,296	I used a lot of signed English story books with my son. The printed word has a picture of the sign underneath. It helped him to understand that the printed word was the same as the sign, that both were symbols for the thing they represented. When he started kindergarten, he was already reading at second grade level. I give a lot of the credit to the books I used. And to the fact that ASL gave him a solid foundation in language, so he could understand that a chair was still a chair and didn't matter if you put it into printed word, or sign, or just pointed at it. All meant the same thing.

12-09-2006, 01:31 PM	#8 (permalink)
Malfoyish Registered User Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: New York Posts: 2,685	I do think that hearing aids are helpful when they're used - that is, if it is at all possible to use them to help sound out the words. I do not recall learning how to read and how teaching me was executed, however I do remember my mother putting my hand onto her throat. Then with one finger, she would point over a written word and sound it out...then if it was possible, she would show me what it was, etc...(if was not a picture book)...but it does help to have a good sense of language too. I was also lucky to have closed captioning, and that helped, too...I was born deaf but raised with an oral means of communication, which means that naturally, when someone is speaking, I will automatically look at their lips. When they hooked up my closed captioning unit, I would speed-read the text, then read the actor's lips, too. There are still times where I mispronounce words, LOL. (Just ask my father how I used to pronounce 'Budweiser'!) Anyway, it's safe to say that when it came to learning to read, it was very helpful for me to have had these visual and sound tools.

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