Adopting a Deaf child

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Deni

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Hello Everyone,

My name is Denise and I am considering the adoption of a deaf child. I am in the waiting process in a second adoption from China. I will be in a position to request a child towards the end of next year but need to do a great deal of research. My first concern is my five year old hearing daughter and how to educate her on what to expect. I have a number of resources in my area, but honestly feel the more information one has the better. Could anyone help me with suggestions? Thanks so much.
 
Deni said:
Hello Everyone,

My name is Denise and I am considering the adoption of a deaf child. I am in the waiting process in a second adoption from China. I will be in a position to request a child towards the end of next year but need to do a great deal of research. My first concern is my five year old hearing daughter and how to educate her on what to expect. I have a number of resources in my area, but honestly feel the more information one has the better. Could anyone help me with suggestions? Thanks so much.
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Maybe take your daughter to a place where deaf kids are and let her interact and play with them.
 
Thanks so much for getting back to me. Finding some other children for her to interact with is definitely at the top of the list. I've made some inquiries on that as well. I can't thank you enough for responding. I appreciate the input. Deni
 
Also, you can check into any events that center to deaf children or hearing children of deaf parents. It is a great way to meet people.

How old is the child?

Best of luck!
 
Have you learnt sign language?
Check out a good deaf school for when adopted child comes.
best of luck.
 
Hi,

Thanks for getting back to me. In the area I live, deaf children are actually educated in the mainstream school system. The county here provides everything, tutors, sign linguists, pre-school, everything except medical treatment for the cause of the hearing loss. There is one school about four hours from here, if the hearing loss is profound, but other than that the kids are in the city school system.

I have not learned sign language yet, but the child will not be home for a year or more so I intend on starting very soon. I have been told that signed English is easier to relay to reading and writing than ASL. Do you know if that is accurate?

Thanks again for offering your input and advise. I really appreciate it.

Denise
 
Hi Shel,

I don't have a child in mind yet. I cannot be matched with a child until the end of next year at the earliest - paperwork... That is why I wanted to starting checking into things now. I want to be as up to speed as I can on what I need to offer the child I adopt. I have started checking with local organizations to start networking and I hope that helps my five year old understand the culture a bit more. The events calendar is a great idea! Thanks so much!

Denise
 
Deni said:
Hi,

Thanks for getting back to me. In the area I live, deaf children are actually educated in the mainstream school system. The county here provides everything, tutors, sign linguists, pre-school, everything except medical treatment for the cause of the hearing loss. There is one school about four hours from here, if the hearing loss is profound, but other than that the kids are in the city school system.

I have not learned sign language yet, but the child will not be home for a year or more so I intend on starting very soon. I have been told that signed English is easier to relay to reading and writing than ASL. Do you know if that is accurate?

Thanks again for offering your input and advise. I really appreciate it.

Denise
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If the child doesnt have a strong first language, then no, it probably wouldnt be easier. First, the child needs to establish a strong first language..preferably ASL and then the child uses the first language to transfer to learn the 2nd language which is English. When you get matched with the child, pls find out if the child has already established a language in his/her home.
 
shel90 said:
If the child doesnt have a strong first language, then no, it probably wouldnt be easier. First, the child needs to establish a strong first language..preferably ASL and then the child uses the first language to transfer to learn the 2nd language which is English. When you get matched with the child, pls find out if the child has already established a language in his/her home.
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The child will be from China. Would that suggest regardless of the child's L1 language, the parent should adopt that in lieu of English or ASL? While I am no expert I personally think you should do whatever will give you the fastest result in establishing communication which may take some trial and error. All the best!
 
rockdrummer said:
The child will be from China. Would that suggest regardless of the child's L1 language, the parent should adopt that in lieu of English or ASL? While I am no expert I personally think you should do whatever will give you the fastest result in establishing communication which may take some trial and error. All the best!
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I have worked with many children who were adopted from other countries.
 
shel90 said:
I have worked with many children who were adopted from other countries.
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I understand that but it didn't answer the question. If the child has a strong L1 native language, should the OP first learn the native language in lieu of English or ASL?
 
rockdrummer said:
:bump: Uhm... Shel. Care to answer the question? I belive it is an important one.
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I had forgotten about this thread. No, the OP doesnt HAVE to learn the native language of the child but can if he/she wants to. I just hope the child has a strong first language..if not, then the child will endure language delays/deficients that may be impossible to overcome. That's my only concern.
 
shel90 said:
I had forgotten about this thread. No, the OP doesnt HAVE to learn the native language of the child but can if he/she wants to. I just hope the child has a strong first language..if not, then the child will endure language delays/deficients that may be impossible to overcome. That's my only concern.
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I find this answer to be inconsistant. Why MUST a hearing parent of a deaf child learn ASL, when the child doesn't know that yet, but if a child is being adopted and already has a language, there is no need to learn that language??
 
faire_jour said:
I find this answer to be inconsistant. Why MUST a hearing parent of a deaf child learn ASL, when the child doesn't know that yet, but if a child is being adopted and already has a language, there is no need to learn that language??
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Becausse ASL is fully accessible and the sooner the child learns the language the better. You really do not know what it is like to be deaf, do you? You dont know what it is like to miss out on what is being said around you or misunderstand constantly, do you? :roll:

The child will have to learn ASL and English here in the USA so the sooner the better. If the parents want to learn their first language, then great!
 
shel90 said:
Becausse ASL is fully accessible and the sooner the child learns the language the better. You really do not know what it is like to be deaf, do you? You dont know what it is like to miss out on what is being said around you or misunderstand constantly, do you? :roll:

The child will have to learn ASL and English here in the USA so the sooner the better. If the parents want to learn their first language, then great!
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I find it tremendiously disrespectful to the child NOT to learn their language. How dare you take a child away from everything they know, AND steal their language at the same time. I know that adoption is so the child can have a better life, but if they CAN communicate, why wouldn't you? Why would you take away their only means of communicating if you can help it. I think that learning the child's language is NOT optional.
 
Actually, in this case (adopted from China) the child might not have any spoken language, since the Chinese languages are TONAL. Therefore that makes it very hard for a dhh (except for a unilateral loss) kid to aquire any spoken language.
 
Oh and Denise............I would strongly suggest you contacting your state's School for the Deaf AND your state's association of the Deaf. They can give you tons and tons of help and support!
 
It is because a child can transfer linguistic knowledge from their L1 language into the learning of ASL. Just because the spoken symbol isn’t English does not mean that it can be translated to the ASL sign that is nothing more than another symbol for the same concept. Parents who adopt hearing children that have a native language from another country don’t learn that child’s language to fluency before adopting them. They immerse them in English and the L1 skills transfer. You show a child that has an L1 language a chair, and then make the sign for chair, they will understand that the sign is the symbol for the concept of the chair no matter what their native spoken language is.
 
faire_jour said:
I find it tremendiously disrespectful to the child NOT to learn their language. How dare you take a child away from everything they know, AND steal their language at the same time. I know that adoption is so the child can have a better life, but if they CAN communicate, why wouldn't you? Why would you take away their only means of communicating if you can help it. I think that learning the child's language is NOT optional.
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Ok,then that's your opinion. If you feel strongly about it, why not tell that to the parents who adopt the child. I wont stop you nor criticize you for your opinion. I just have my opinion about whether the parents should learn the child's native language or not.

My primary concern is that the child has a strong first language and then go from there.
 
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