Miss-Delectable
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timestranscript.com - Deaf adults have lifetime literacy needs
Emerging through the awakening phase of their adulthood, some deaf people face difficulties with literacy and feel inferior when using English. Their English skills are not equal to those of some hearing students receiving a Grade 12 diploma when they have graduated.
I often hear the statement, "I have poor English," made by the deaf adults with minimal literacy, and they don't feel confident to write sentences to communicate with the hearing.
They feel intimidated by the idea that the hearing may think they are stupid. They recognize the need to improve their literacy skills.
The Deaf Adults Literacy Program can help achieve this and is an essential part of the provincial Community Adult Learning Network (CALNet).
Deaf adults, born deaf or deafened at an early age, naturally assimilate information visually from their social environments. In the first five years of their lives, some deaf children have successfully developed their ability to communicate before they are ready for the literacy learning that takes place in the home and at school. Their literacy successes are based on the effectiveness of parental commitment and diligence in raising their children in friendly ways through role modelling, planned educational programs, involvement in social communities, communication in the home and community, cognitive capabilities, highly visual stimulation to social environments and placements in educational systems.
In the absence of the necessary support and encouragement some children will experience only minimal language before they enter preschool or primary school.
Without strong communication skills, they don't readily absorb the language, and from there, they continue struggling with learning throughout their school years.
Medical and educational professionals don't always recommend alternatives for communication and language opportunities to dismayed parents when they discover that their children cannot hear.
The professionals, familiar with the needs of the speaking population, usually recommend speech and hearing development for children.
Some deaf children, placed in oral settings, acquire the language successfully due to the commitment and diligence of their parents. But some children, being more visually oriented, may continue to miss essential information through oral ways.
Parents should be aware of other options to meet the visual-oriented, deaf children's communicative needs.
For instance, American Sign Language (ASL) is a natural visual language used in deaf communities, and children usually find it helpful for communicating. But it requires a dynamic interaction from family members and friends who also know sign language. It is a form of non-written language, different from the spoken English language we use when learning to read and write.
Today, a bilingual approach, including a blend of ASL and the English language, is used in schools for the deaf in most provinces across Canada. It also works well for deaf adults taking deaf adult literacy programs. Some deaf adults sign fluently and vividly, but they have trouble putting words into their essays and comprehending passages.
That shows the need for improving their literacy skills. As I recall from my past experiences, most of their teachers were not fluent signers as they signed, finger spelled a little bit, but spoke words mostly. As a result, they did not really give the deaf much information through signing and writing as they could have. Some of the students had trouble lip-reading, but they could have received information through fluent signing.
American Sign Language (ASL) is an effective communication tool for deaf adults in the deaf literacy program. It helps them learn how the English language works. They need time to understand word meanings, main ideas of passages, structures, phrases and idioms through different levels of reading and writing.
Literacy and related skills are necessary for deaf adults. All visual media require them to read and to respond verbally or in writing. The deaf have to read captions on TV news, documents and movies while hearing people are listening. Newspapers are an essential source for understanding what has been happening locally, nationally and internationally. Some adults are denied the opportunity to participate in community events because they don't know about them as they don't or can't read newspapers.
Novels or stories are read for pleasure. Non-fiction for further learning and information. The deaf often find reading complicated to follow and therefore need to upgrade in all skills through the adult literacy program. With improved literacy skills there is a corresponding improvement in self-sufficiency.
We are all lifetime learners like hearing people, for there is no limit in learning our language. With improvement in our literacy skills, we can continue to assimilate information independently through printed language.
n Kathern Bernice Lawrence is a teacher with the Deaf Adult Literacy Program in Moncton. More information on literacy programs, tutoring and training is available from Laubach literacy New Brunswick at 384-6371 or 1-877- 633-8899.
Emerging through the awakening phase of their adulthood, some deaf people face difficulties with literacy and feel inferior when using English. Their English skills are not equal to those of some hearing students receiving a Grade 12 diploma when they have graduated.
I often hear the statement, "I have poor English," made by the deaf adults with minimal literacy, and they don't feel confident to write sentences to communicate with the hearing.
They feel intimidated by the idea that the hearing may think they are stupid. They recognize the need to improve their literacy skills.
The Deaf Adults Literacy Program can help achieve this and is an essential part of the provincial Community Adult Learning Network (CALNet).
Deaf adults, born deaf or deafened at an early age, naturally assimilate information visually from their social environments. In the first five years of their lives, some deaf children have successfully developed their ability to communicate before they are ready for the literacy learning that takes place in the home and at school. Their literacy successes are based on the effectiveness of parental commitment and diligence in raising their children in friendly ways through role modelling, planned educational programs, involvement in social communities, communication in the home and community, cognitive capabilities, highly visual stimulation to social environments and placements in educational systems.
In the absence of the necessary support and encouragement some children will experience only minimal language before they enter preschool or primary school.
Without strong communication skills, they don't readily absorb the language, and from there, they continue struggling with learning throughout their school years.
Medical and educational professionals don't always recommend alternatives for communication and language opportunities to dismayed parents when they discover that their children cannot hear.
The professionals, familiar with the needs of the speaking population, usually recommend speech and hearing development for children.
Some deaf children, placed in oral settings, acquire the language successfully due to the commitment and diligence of their parents. But some children, being more visually oriented, may continue to miss essential information through oral ways.
Parents should be aware of other options to meet the visual-oriented, deaf children's communicative needs.
For instance, American Sign Language (ASL) is a natural visual language used in deaf communities, and children usually find it helpful for communicating. But it requires a dynamic interaction from family members and friends who also know sign language. It is a form of non-written language, different from the spoken English language we use when learning to read and write.
Today, a bilingual approach, including a blend of ASL and the English language, is used in schools for the deaf in most provinces across Canada. It also works well for deaf adults taking deaf adult literacy programs. Some deaf adults sign fluently and vividly, but they have trouble putting words into their essays and comprehending passages.
That shows the need for improving their literacy skills. As I recall from my past experiences, most of their teachers were not fluent signers as they signed, finger spelled a little bit, but spoke words mostly. As a result, they did not really give the deaf much information through signing and writing as they could have. Some of the students had trouble lip-reading, but they could have received information through fluent signing.
American Sign Language (ASL) is an effective communication tool for deaf adults in the deaf literacy program. It helps them learn how the English language works. They need time to understand word meanings, main ideas of passages, structures, phrases and idioms through different levels of reading and writing.
Literacy and related skills are necessary for deaf adults. All visual media require them to read and to respond verbally or in writing. The deaf have to read captions on TV news, documents and movies while hearing people are listening. Newspapers are an essential source for understanding what has been happening locally, nationally and internationally. Some adults are denied the opportunity to participate in community events because they don't know about them as they don't or can't read newspapers.
Novels or stories are read for pleasure. Non-fiction for further learning and information. The deaf often find reading complicated to follow and therefore need to upgrade in all skills through the adult literacy program. With improved literacy skills there is a corresponding improvement in self-sufficiency.
We are all lifetime learners like hearing people, for there is no limit in learning our language. With improvement in our literacy skills, we can continue to assimilate information independently through printed language.
n Kathern Bernice Lawrence is a teacher with the Deaf Adult Literacy Program in Moncton. More information on literacy programs, tutoring and training is available from Laubach literacy New Brunswick at 384-6371 or 1-877- 633-8899.