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The Forces Pushing Deaf Kids Away From Sign Language
The Forces Pushing Deaf Kids Away From Sign Language - Technology - The Atlantic Wire
Future deaf Americans could do a lot less signing and a lot more speaking. Cuts in Indiana could slash budgets for state schools for the deaf, forcing some children to attend "mainstream" schools, where they have less exposure to sign language. Sign language advocates are outraged. “Speaking and listening classrooms across the nation are known for their forced exclusion of A.S.L. and expressly forbid any contact with the culturally deaf adult role models,”Marvin Miller, the president of the Indiana Association of the Deaf, told The New York Times's Monica Davey. This means more talking, less signing. And the phenomenon isn't unique to Indiana. "Today less than 20 percent of all families choose traditional American Sign Language," claims Hear Indiana, a group that supports deaf people who use listening and spoken language to communicate, reports the Times. "The remaining 80 percent want their children to enjoy the full range of sounds and to be able to listen and speak." But are strained state budgets the real backbone behind these numbers, or are more deaf children and their parents shying away from signing for other reasons? Yes, budget cuts are pushing students away from sign language. Parents can choose to send their children to a deaf school or not. But as the economy has worsened, tightening budgets have caused states like Indiana, Kansas, North Carolina, Oregon, South Dakota and West Virginia to cut money for state-funded schools for the deaf. “Kids in the mainstream save society, taxpayers, a significant amount of money in the short-term and in the long-term when it comes to being integrated into the hearing world,” Naomi S. Horton, executive director of Hear Indiana, told Davey. The costs of a separate facility and transportation makes educating these children costlier than sending them to their neighborhood public school. Putting deaf students in these schools encourages other types of communication besides sign language. “We view this as inflicting violence upon thousands of innocent deaf and hard-of-hearing babies — taking away their language and pinning their hopes on dismal success rates of cochlear implants,” Miller explained. No, technology is the really behind these changes. Even if budget cuts force deaf children into mainstream schools, with better technology deaf students have new methods of communication, other than sign language. Cochlear implants, a small, electronic device that provides a sense of sound to a deaf person, have helped the hard of hearing communicate better. "Advanced technology is transforming the way the deaf relate to the hearing world, most notably in the form of cochlear ear implants which can restore significant measures of hearing, especially in young recipients," Yahoo's Will Stape explains. Not all agree on the benefits of the device. "Cochlear implant advocates say the devices have a far higher success rate than critics claim, while A.S.L. advocates say the popularity of such devices is drastically overstated," reports Davey. No matter how impactful, neither side can deny that the technology exists and it will probably only get better. No, parents decide how to raise their kids. Ultimately, parents decide how to raise their children. Some parents of deaf children see benefits in sending their kids to mainstream school. "I know that my husband and I wish very much for our 14-year-old son Charlie to be as integrated into mainstream society as possible," explains Kristina C., comparing the situation to the one she manages with her autistic child. "For years, we insisted that he be educated in the public schools in our towns," finally deciding he had to be moved. If parents choose to place their children in situations where there's less of an emphasis on signing, that's their choice. They don't see it as an attack on sign language. “No one wants to take the ASL option away; we simply want to see that parents who choose listening and spoken language instruction (over placement at the Indiana School for the Deaf) have equal access to a free and appropriate public education," Naomi Horton, the executive director of Hear Indiana told the Times. Whether it's budgets, technology or personal choice, sign language isn't for everyone.
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#3 (permalink) |
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oral classrooms do not forbid contact with culturally Deaf people. That is ridiculous. My daughter's school has culturally ***********s with deaf children with CIs. They certainly have NEVER expressed any sort of preference about who she socializes with. None of her schools have. They have all expressed that they completely support our goal to have a bilingual bicultural child and they are key in providing that bilingualism by helping to teach her english. |
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What word got starred out? Can you re-type, leaving a space between each letter? There's something about AD programming that seems to randomly censor certain words, for no clear reason.
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Been saying it for years. We are seeing a revival of the same old type of oralism we saw years ago as a result of technology. People just do not get it. And the kids continue to suffer the consequences. Same old consequences, same old methodology, same old rhetoric.
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I mean 1930s.
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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! |
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the word i typed was deaf parent. a child who is bilingual needs to learn BOTH languages, so yes, a spoken english setting certainly can support bilingualism. Last edited by faire_jour; 07-30-2011 at 09:10 PM. |
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Who does Mary Hare Primary School cater for? faire jour, they may not be as anti ASL as they were back in the old days. Heck, a lot of the private oral programs have pretty much accepted that a lot of us will learn ASL as a second language. But the unspoken attitude is " the most important thing is speech, speech and more speech." They accept ASL, but it's VERY tokenist. It's still " Oh whatever, it's just for oral failures or a backup." Speech therapy is the only thing kids need. |
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And you know what? I predict that while implanted kids are doing pretty well...ie they don't need years and years of attending Clarke and CID and other schools , a lot of them are going to discover ASL and Deaf schools and be all " I wish I'd gone to deaf schools." Jillo is already seeing it! And quite frankly I think that oral deaf education/mainstreamers are BEYOND clueless about what life is like in the mainstream for dhh kids.
It's like they have this fanasty that kids who are mainstreamed and oral have this glorious white picket fence experiance....all I can say is that I went to the Clarke School conference and they were parrotting the same crap they did when I, shel90, and Bajagirl were in the system. |
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It just frustrates me that sign languages are STILL inferior and unworthy. Sighs.
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"Pragmatic language is a vital social skill that enables the school-aged child to navigate their way through demanding social situations." -- R. Owens |
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i certainly feeeeel sorrrrry for the little kids that they would misss out for the comforty cozy relaxing converation to their own world and are force to be like hearing people.
I am so glad that i was born in my time where i have TONS of friends who are in the similiarity life as mine. I have a freaking good life that we have beautiful ASL. I have seen most of deaf or hoh who have not experience with ASL and their life seems too hard. I feel bad for the little kids no matter what if they speak wonderfully but soul and self signism that is so screw up.. i mean it! |
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Let It Snow!!!!
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Iknow I know some deaf kids who speaks good and feel no need to learn ASL. that is cool for me but wonder how do they handle by struggling like saying "what, can you repeat or oh no my batteries die or go on" while asl users chats non stop alllllll the way and makes beautiful noises. i said enough lol |
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Let It Snow!!!!
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Also, deaf children are just as good enough as hearing kids but with this view, it is like other deaf children arent good enough for their kids to associate with. See the irony here? It can send a message to these kids that they arent good enough.
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Let It Snow!!!!
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Also, dont these stupid idiots realize that by shutting down deaf schools or programs, they are putting many deaf people out of jobs. Deaf people who are actually working instead of collecting SSI. Jesus!
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True. LIke I am an ASL user and have a job. Thanks to the deaf school who taught me how to search for a job when I was in high school. I remember when I was a kid and thought deaf school is not good enough because of hearing people told me so. But I look at my past, sure i have some negative experiences with deaf school but overall, i have great experiences with deaf school is confidence, thanks to deaf school.
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Let It Snow!!!!
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"Wine improves with age. The older I get, the better I like it." --- Anonymous |
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Let It Snow!!!!
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These idiots are failing to realize that deaf people who work at the schools are contribuiting to the economy. Putting them out of jobs will just further drain the economy. STUPID STUPID STUPID!
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wait, where is this article are they advocating closing down Deaf schools? I certainly did not see that. Just because you do not choose a specific placement for your own child does NOT mean that you want that school closed. That is a ridiculous idea. i chose a bi-bi school for my child, but that doesn't mean it is the right place for all deaf kids. Later, my child's needs changed, so she is in a different school. I am thankful that we have so many choices because every child has different needs and will have different strengths and they will suceed with different placements. |
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It is sad to see that the Deaf culture don't get alot of respect around these days especially when the economy is pretty bad they just go cut off budgets on sign language and force them to talk is NOT a ****ing walk in the park. Sign language is MEANT to be used as a very useful communication tool not just by deaf people but by hearing people where they can see eachother but cant hear eachother in such distance so they show some forms of signs of communication like you see in sports such as baseball, football, and even the military. It takes years of work to talk, believe me I've been there and it wasn't fun at all but as long as you take time and patience your speech could improve over time but still, you can't force them whether they want to talk or not. It is up to them to decide. As for the cochlear implant, I am quite disgusted to hear parents wishing them to get one immediately right after they discovered their child is deaf without even taking time to learn the deaf community or the sign language, yet they find the cochlear implant as a "time saver" for them to catch up on speech and sound as they grow up shows me that they are the most incredibly lazy shallow parents I ever seen. The cochlear implant should be viewed as a very personal choice for the deaf person to decide whether he/she wants one or not. I am aware that there are alot of deaf people who just LIKE to be deaf, no matter what. That's fine. that's their life and their business but forcing them to speak and getting cochlear implants only makes things worse.
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It is easy for people to claim they won't take ASL away when they're quietly search for supporting the improvement on stem cells, hearing aids devices, speech therapies, and medical treatments for hearing loss that may end the Deaf Community in future. Have ever heard you of treatments for hearing loss in about 9 years from now? There you go. They can do just advocates for hearing loss treatment and oralism without put ASL down, so they silently discourages sign languages without say a word about the Deaf community. I can go on...
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