jillio

Couldn't agree with you more. And that is the whole point.

Deafness

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banshe333

I have both deaf kids an a hearing child. and i honestly spend more time paying attention to my deaf childrens education than my hearing child's education. my reasons? because I know if i don't catch a problem with my hearing child's education, someone else will. there are so few people looking out for deaf students... its accually kind of sad...
and another point. I have NEVER had to fight to get a good education for a hearing child. you have to claw your way in to get a good education for the deaf it seems.

and parents that don't sign to their kids?
SHAME ON THEM!
all a child ever wants is their parent's attention. what better way than to have conversations about what bugs do and why flowers bloom?

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you should never try to change perfection.

deafdyke

Sounds like she got brainwashed by the Auditory-Verbal/ Audist/hearing impaired types. There's a site out there, Listen-Up, and it is SO filled with "dhh kids need to have speech and listening therapy 24/7" philosophy.
Have you talked with the parent? You could say something like " Hearing aids and being able to listen is important. I grew up that way and am happy that I can hear and have the abilty to hear and talk. But, what they don't tell you is that having an exclusive "oral and listening only" approach can have quite a bit of downsides. Yes, I know that they prolly have told you that things have changed.......but I see a lot of the same stuff happening to the young dhh kids of today. Definitly continue with the aids and other auditory stimulation things.....those will benifit your baby. I'm not one of those extremists who is all "dhh kids should only do ASL. Rather maybe it might make your baby's life easier if they had access to a full toolbox. I mean for example, with ASL they'll be able to function both with and without their hearing aids. You can also point out, that if he learns ASL, her baby will be BILINGAL!!!! (I just really find it really funny that the same parents who shirk away from ASL for their dhh kids, would be the first on the bandwagon to enroll their kids in a bilingal program)

jillio

jillio

I have always found it interesting that hearing parents who refuse ASL for their deaf child will usually readily admit the advantages of being bilingual.....as long as bilingual means 2 spoken languages and does not include ASL.

Interpretrator

Right, or baby sign is fine for hearing kids but don't teach ASL to deaf babies.

faire_jour

I belong to that site! As a parent of a Deaf child you are told many things but you are NEVER told that your child will be just fine if they never learn to talk. I had to seek out Deaf adults and see for myself that Miss Kat will be just fine with ASL.
That being said, the reason I belong to that site and the reason I have chosen to give her hearing aids and do speech/listening therapy is because it never hurts to offer. I am giving her the opportunity to develop some oral skills, but ASL will probably always be her primary language.

Interpretrator

shel90

Nothing wrong with giving her an opportunity to develop oral skills. Important she has the full access to language for language development.

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~Shel~

jillio

I think you have found a fan club, faire jour! (And 2 of us are hearing!)

faire_jour

Thank you all!
I have a friend who has 2 Deaf kids with CI's, (she was the first parent I ever met that I didn't want to smack) she had researched and decided that she wanted to give her children everything, so she implanted them and then used ASL (well, more like CASE, but COME ON, she tried!) at home. She has one child who is totally oral, she signs with him, but he refuses. He is mainstreamed at a local school. Her other child doesn't speak and attends the bi-bi school with my daughter now. She told me she wished she had been brave enough not to implant her kids. She told me she still looks at them and cries, she told me that we "are the family we wished she had been strong enough to be". That was a huge compliment because by all outside observers her son is exactly what people think all Deaf people should become. He is mainstreamed and a hearing/speaking child....and is mother wishes he would sign

jillio

You know, I have been told by a couple of members of this board that by not implanting my son and insisting on a bi-bi atmosphere for him that I took the "easy" way out. Of course, they were also parents of implanted children, and were using oral only education and home environment for their chidlren.

My own son is now 22, is a college student with a 3.5 GPA, and has oral skills if he needs them. He prefers sign. He is happy and well adjusted. If he wants to be implanted, he is free to make that decision. However, because he was raised with an environment that gave him skills in both languages, and the ability to achieve no matter the environment he finds himself in, he does not see how an implant would improve the quality of his life. He chooses not to be implanted at this time.

faire_jour

Easy? Maybe. Right? For sure.

jillio

No doubt. And it was easier for him to acquire language in the manner that was most natural for him. It was easier for him to find his identity when he had role models and others around him who supported who he was, rather than having to pretend to be something he wasn't. Was it easier to raise a deaf child without an implant. Heck, it isn't easy to raise any child! LOL.

shel90

I will never understand how undertaking a new language and culture for your son would be the "easy" way out. That just doesnt make sense at all.

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~Shel~

faire_jour

Because we don't out the time and effort into drilling words into our child's head until they are able to parrot them back!

jillio

Exactly!

deafdyke

Excellent!!! And I agree.....oral skills are an awesome thing to have! Continue with developing them. Virtually all the orally skilled dhh kids I know are very glad we have that particualr skill. It's just that we are mad that it was our ONLY tool for such a long time. And the opposite can be true too............I know of Sign only teens who wish they'd had the opertuntity to have some oral skills/training as kids.
The key is: Make it FUN! The trouble with speech therapy is that it can get very tedius and boring. Don't over therapize her aquastion of oral skills. Also, don't be afraid to supplement with private therapy, such as some auditory-verbal therapy. You could go and see the speech therapist at your daughter's school, and see what they say, and if they have any ideas or anything.