gbthepsychocat

I am doing a research paper in one of my classes, it is on the current battle over which language a deaf child should learn to communicate. Should they learn asl or should they be taught oral. My personal opinion is ASL all the way. But I need some pros and cons for asl as well as for its counterpart oralism. So if you guys wouldnt mind spilling information about your experiences I would really appreciate it and if anyone wouldnt mind me interviewing them or referencing their opinion or stories in my paper I would really appreciate that as well. Just so you know more about me, I am hearing, I am a deaf studies major possibly deaf education maybe interpreting...I really havent decided yet...I just love sign language more then any other language I have ever experienced..... Thanks for your help.

Kathryn

Deafness

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deafdyke

Kathryn,
Can you do your paper from a "it's better to give kids a full toolbox?" perspective?
It really shouldn't be an "either or" thing. We need to strive to make sure that ALL dhh kids get a FULL toolbox of communication options so that THEY can choose which tools they want to use.
It's not up to us or the parents or the experts to decide which methodology is the best. However it IS their job to equipt kids with a FULL range of tools.

VamPyroX

It depends on what you want to use it for.

If you want the child to learn proper English, I would recommend SEE. If you want to use ASL, then I encourage you to ensure that the child learns proper grammar through other means of communication.

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Chase

Kathryn,

I'm an old college professor of English. I think you or your instructor have put the cart before the horse in choosing your thesis. As those posting before have said, many of us deafies don't think it's one world or the other, and most of us don't think much of those who insist that it should be one or the other.

In the arts and in many sciences (I realize it's different in some sciences) the premise doesn't come first--certainly never an either-or premise.

What comes first is as much reading or experience in the field as you can do in the time allotted. Then and only then do you have enough information to develop a thesis and to offer proofs.

However, what you're doing here at this community is a terrific start in studying the field. (If you'd like, PM me about your pronouns agreeing with your antededents. Those are dissertation-killers, and the easy solution will astound you and please your instructors.)

Anij

Seriously, as someone who's hoh/Deaf it's not about "isms"

Being able to communicate in ASL is AWESOME - but speechreading and other English Skills (especially reading skills) are very important too.

As someone who was raised oral , and then learned ASL (and SEE/PSE etc) I can say that I wouldn't want to give up ANY of the skills I have. That being said it's important to realise that not all people will be equally successful or happy with speaking/speechreading.


I think one of the most fundamental mistakes we make is the "either/or" mistake... ASL OR Speech, Cuing OR sign, SEE OR ASL, Hearing world OR DEAF WORLD...

knowledge is a powerful tool, not only in becoming individually successful happy people, but also in showing the world that deafness/hearing loss is NOT this horrible thing that we cry over at night.

If it were me, I'd see if you could rework you're research paper around the importance of multiple forms of communication (BTW not meaning SimCom) in the hoh/deaf population or something of that sort

JMHO

ismi

shel90

That's the problem with the education of the deaf. People think it must be either instead of both. I believe in both. It is not impossible and many deaf children were able to become fluent in both when exposed to them early.

However, I would never ever go for oral only.

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jillio

Yeah, what shel said.

Bebonang

OH, well. We all have different point of view of how we want to use the tools to help us deafies and HOHs. If we are not happy with the oral method, go for the ASL method. I was mainstream high school. I prefered to use ASL method instead of oral method because I need to know what is going on in the classroom with the help of an interpreter. That way, I can get a good grade like +A instead of grade D. **Sigh**

GarnetTigerMom

Yep, I second that too! :-)

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jasin

Oral is not a language its a communication method. The deaf should be taught Asl as its our language. Asl is the offical language of the deaf in America! According to the National Association of the Deaf,

"ASL is the recognized sign language of the deaf community in the United States of America. As is the case with standardized spoken, written, and signed languages worldwide, ASL conforms to linguistic principles (e.g., semantics, syntax, morphology, phonology, and pragmatics). The complex visual-spatial linguistic structure of ASL is distinct from English, a linear, sequential language based on auditory processes."

NAD President’s Blog » Blog Archive » NAD Releases American Sign Language Position Statement