dreamchaser

That is a great idea! thanks.

Deafness

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jillio

YW!

Interpretrator

Great idea! And maybe approach the theatre department about having interpreted performances of their productions.

traciedowell

I am a CODA and I do help. Just not for free. I do not believe that ANY teacher should volunteer their valuable time and expertise for zero reimbursement.

The school I work for contacted me and asked me to create a curriculum and adopt a program in the school that would offer ASL as a foreign language. You can check their website out here.

They consider it a foreign language and offer their hearing high school students the option of choosing it instead of Spanish and French. I am so happy to be working there and educating young hearing adults about Deaf culture and the beauty of my mother's language.

I have another website Creative Hands - American Sign Language Resource so you can see what else I do to try and promote what you are talking about.

dreamchaser

OMG! This is great. I so thank you for your suggestions. That theater idea rocks, and maybe it could be done in the main student hangout area which is used for lots of musical events and such... Lots of people can just meander through and they get exposed to whatever is going on on stage. Exposure is the main idea. Let people see the beauty. Thanks so much!

dreamchaser

Wow. I so wish I would have taken more time to write my original post. It has gotten so misunderstood because I said it all wrong.

Originally, I was doing a writing class assignment. The assignment was to write a proposal to better your community, state or world. We had to look at the obstacles to our proposed improvements and address those issues.

I use all of my writings as an excuse to inform my classmates and teachers of Deaf issues. We do peer reviews on all assignments, and I am pleased that most of my classmates are getting very interested in Deaf issues. They had no clue that they were ignorant about Deafness, because heries are going to stay ignorant until somebody informs them.

Anyway... My proposal was this. I wanted to introduce ASL into the preschools and lower grades. I wanted to use a few experimental schools for about a year, so we could gather data about any problems and successes. If ASL was catching on, and the little kids were able to learn it easily, then it could start to expand to other schools. But first, I had to find a way to gather the data about how successful it was going to be, and that little kids could indeed learn it without interfering with their English skills. So, the first obstacle I saw, was that the school board is not going to give up any money unless they just have to.

So, I proposed that maybe the research data could be obtained by starting a volunteer based program for one year. I was thinking that Deaf people love ASL, and they want to promote it, so they might be willing to volunteer a short time a month to help. I didn't think it would be too difficult to teach youngsters basic signs, right along with english vocabulary... like toilet, mom, dad, dog etc. Would it be that hard to teach the word and sign for red at the same time? Anyway, if the experiment were successful, then I assumed that if the program were expanded, these volunteers could then get paid for their time and expertiese. I was thinking that it would be a good way for senior signers to supplement their income, and maybe Codas too, or maybe ASL students and terps could help. I was in no way suggesting that Deaf people should work for free... hell no. I was suggesting that the experimental part could be done through volunteers so the school couldn't object on the grounds of money.

Now, please bear with me. My main objective in this is this.... I may be totally wrong, because I have not yet had to make a school choice for my granddaughter and I don't know that much about mainstream education on a first hand basis,, But, that having been said...

*I am worried that too many Deaf children, born to hearing parents are attending mainstream schools, and they are having trouble communicating. I think that they get isolated and depressed in public schools because they stand out as different. Why do they stand out as different? Because hearing kids don't know how to make friends with them if they can't communicate and socialize easily. If little kids of the future were automatically taught to sign in school, then our mainstreamed kids would not be so alone. Maybe the only way to kill prejudism is to kill it from a young age.

I really don't know how to fix the problems of Deaf kids feeling isolated in public schools, and I don't pretend to be an expert on deafness, but damn it I care to try to protect any of these children from being teased or isolated in school where they will be spending much of their time trying to learn to be oral just to please the hearies. I think it is time that hearies recognize that Deaf people are beautiful just as they are, and that it is time to meet them half way by learning their language.

Unfortunately, ASL can be very complicated for an adult to learn, especially after thinking in English for all of your life. The sentence structure is hard to reverse for hearies. They have to work at it. But, little kids, can become bilingual much easier than adults, becasue they pick up vocabular at age appropriate levels. Just like they do English. I was just hoping that maybe we could teach them a visual language as a second language automatically. I realize that in the higher grades, it would require professional instructors to teach the more complicated aspects of ASL, but the basic vocabular and structure could be taught sooner. Maybe I am wrong. I am not a linguist, and that is why I was asking for input. I really don't know how to break down the barrier between the hearing and the Deaf, but I am praying that something can be done. Now that CIs are becoming a trend, there will many more Deaf children mainstreamed, and many of those may never get exposed to ASL or Deaf culture unless we put it into the public school system as a second language, and also, I think that the history of Deaf culture should be included in history class. How else will some of the mainstreamed kids ever come to know of it? How will they ever learn to be just as proud of their deafness as hearies are of their hearingness? That sounded stupid, but I think you understand. If we don't take it to them where they are, they may remain isolated and alone in a world that they can barely communicte in. Please let me know what you think can be done to protect Deaf kids from being isolated in the mainstream realm? I really want to know if there is a solution.

jillio

Add that one to the list!

dreamchaser

Thanks Jilio, I did. I think that is an exciting way to expose hearies to ASL. I hope there is a way I can orchestrate it. I have lots to look into now, and some avenues that I hadn't even consdered before. I truly thank you all for your imput.

traciedowell

Dreamchaser:

Thank you for the clarification. I see what you are saying. You are absolutely right about childen being able to learn ASL much easier than adults. Their brains are still forming many connections and it's a valuable time to expose them to ASL and Deaf culture. My girls are high school age and they impress me all the time with how they learn so fast.

You have good intentions and I really do hope you can institute a program like what you are describing. The school system would benefit tremendously from a program like that.

Two years ago I was hired by a teacher who worked at a Montessori elementary school. I went there and taught kids who were between 6-9 years old. I taught them basic signs like colors, foods/drinks and a few songs. Also, I volunteer at my daughter's preschool and teach the preschoolers some signs. I just did it a few weeks ago and it was so much fun. Every time they see me, they start signing and it is incredible how much they remember.

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~Tracie Dowell
LifeMark Career Development
http://www.deafcareer.com

"For a few years I will set aside the time that most people won't so that I can live the rest of my life the way most people can't."

rockdrummer

I agree that sometimes it takes a grass roots effort to get things off the ground and that in many cases would include volunteer work.

dreamchaser

I hope everybody can forgive me for having my feet and my signing hands in my mouth most of the time.! My original post did not at all say what I was trying to say. I think it was my first thread. I was trying to keep it short, and I was nervous to impose my questions on you.

I think you understand what i was trying to say. My grandkids started learning ASL about 4 years ago as little bitty kids, around a year old and younger. I hadn't even gotten into ASL school yet. They were teaching me. One of my daughters in law, Jen, is totally Deaf in one ear, and has a slight loss in the other. She took ASL 111 because she fears that she could lose the other ear,,, If she is on the phone, or in a noisey room etc, she misses a lot. Anyway, through her, she started teaching all the kids.

My grandkids took to it like bees go to flowers. They are way above their reading levels now in english, and they have absolutely no prejudice against Deaf kids. One of my granddaughters, Lolly, wanted to be Deaf... so cute. She was about 3 then. Now she is six and excelling in literacy. I attribute that to how ASL works in the brain. I mean visual language stimulates more of the brain than spoken, from my understanding. It reinforces words and spelling memorization too, because it is stored in more places. I only know that it works.

One of the most important things I found was that the prejudice never developed in my grandkids, and if taught at a young age, if little kids could communicate with each other, much of that wall may never get built.

Thanks for your response.

ericers

I think that ASL should not be offered as an elective. While I don't think that it should be in the "foreign" language category, I think that schools should require that each student completes a "language track" with at least two years of language courses. This way, ASL would not be pushed aside as an "extra" class but it would be offered to those who are interested in it.

At my high school, there were ASL classes offered by a hearing teacher who was learning ASL herself. (It was considered an elective so I still had to take Spanish! ) While it was a nice gesture to offer the class, the school should have been aware that it was not appropriate. Had they brought in a Deaf teacher, I believe the students would have benefited more from the class. I recently found out that they have dis-continued this class at my high school because the teacher left. There was obviously an interest! Why can't they bring in a qualified Deaf individual to spread Deaf culture/ASL awareness!?

rockdrummer

That all sounds good but sometimes taking the least path of resistance is best for introducing something into the system. Having deaf folks volunteer to start out with might be a good way to get ASL into the system. That is not to undermine their value but meerly to take a path that would stand a better chance of success in meeting the objective of getting ASL into the program. Also making it an elective to start out with might also prove beneficial towards that end.

dreamchaser

Hey guys, my idea is to start ASL in the young grades, so that by the time a kid gets older, when the lessons start getting harder, like grammar and syntax etc, they will already have a working vocabulary and think it is normal..

One of my main objectives to try to research this and maybe actually try to implement is this. 90 percent of our Deaf/deaf children are mainstreamed. Most are without sign language. So if sign was a normal curriculum, right along WITH English, both languages should develop and compliment each other.

Another objective is this... I am sick of the wall that exists between hearies, Deafies, and oral only.... It literally sickens me to see that wast... How much love is missed out on... How many creative ideas may never have birth due to the lack of communication of our next generation. ??? How are we ever gonna get rid of the ignorance and prejucice against the deaf, if we don't show they who we are? It is not a hearies fault that he doesn't know ASL,,, It is hard to learn as an adult, especially when you have never had access to it. A night class is time consuming for an adult, and expensive... But, if the schools taught it as a secondary language,,, it would just evolve and expand on its own... Am I making any sense here?

God Bless you all.... Jeanie.. still chasing the dream for a better tomorrow for ALL!

Wokamuka

At the risk of drawing fire, I believe that when American Sign Language is spoken in the classroom (as when a teacher speaks in a classroom), formal-proper American Sign Language is to be used. Casual American Sign Language can be spoken between students and outside of the classroom.

There is such a thing as formal ASL and casual ASL - just like formal/casual [insert language here].

Perhaps, if formal ASL was recognized/distinguished in the classroom, perception of language would be influenced (and respected)?

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~♥~Pinky~♥~

ASL in public schools?? Yeah of course! Some deaf asl teacher get a job at public school for hearing students to learn sign language. That's nothing wrong with it! Do you anyone know who is Gina Coleman?? She died by motorcycle crashed. It was happened last April 6th. She was work at Carmel High School for ASL teacher. Her all students will miss her. They love her so much! Gina was my biology teacher from High School. :-) She is deaf. That's great for ASL Teacher can get job for all public and mainstream school!

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dreamchaser

[quote=Pinky678;967200]ASL in public schools?? Yeah of course! Some deaf asl teacher get a job at public school for hearing students to learn sign language. That's nothing wrong with it! Do you anyone know who is Gina Coleman?? She died by motorcycle crashed. It was happened last April 6th. She was work at Carmel High School for ASL teacher. Her all students will miss her. They love her so much! Gina was my biology teacher from High School. :-) She is deaf. That's great for ASL Teacher can get job for all public and mainstream school![/QUOTE





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shel90

I know what you mean about formal and casaul ASL. I find myself using more formalized ASL when teaching than the ASL I use in social settings. I think it is just a natural thing for teachers to do when teaching a class.

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~Shel~

~♥~Pinky~♥~

Check it out. I miss my old teacher.

Counselors available Wednesday at Carmel | IndyStar.com | The Indianapolis Star

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dreamchaser

I am sorry for the loss of your teacher. I love my teacher soooo much too. Next term I will not be in her classes anymore. She is my ASL teacher. But, we have a good relationship out of class and hang out sometimes at her friend's and familie's houses, so I guess I won't be losing her. But she is a good teacher and I fear that my classes at University will be harder without her.

~♥~Pinky~♥~

Hello. Do you know her? How did you meet her? Gina is great personality and teacher. She is in the heaven now.

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dreamchaser

No I haven't met her. But I know how I would feel if I lost my favorite teacher. She is much more than my teacher. She is my friend and an inspiration. SHe loves me even if I can hear... LOL... She has taught me about much more than just ASL too. Her kindness and her sense of humor are priceless to me.

I lost my husband a couple of years ago, and when the angels took him, I thought I would literally die from a broken heart. I spent 18 months in total depression and tears. I try really hard not to go back to that depression. I want to throw all of my love into heping the Deaf get their rights and in supporting their issues.

I really am sad for you to lose someone you love. You are right, she is in heaven and she is probably chatting with my husband about how special you were to her too. A part of her will live on in you, and you can teach others the things that she taught you. Knowing that is good, but it doesn't fix the pain inside. I will be praying for you to have extra strength now, and that somehow joy will replace your tears. God Bless,,, Jeanie..still chasin the dream for a better tomorrow for all!

~♥~Pinky~♥~

I understand how do you feeling about lost your husband. I am sorry to hear. My dad was died I was 15 years old. I really miss my dad so much! I was very depress. By the way, I am getting marry next month. I am so happy with him. He don't want me to be depress or crying about dad.

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