Have Things Gotten Better or Worse?

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deafdyke

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I was thinking about the state of Deaf culture today...It's amazing...Here it is 2005, and Deaf Culture/Deaf Schools/ASL are all still around despite claims and predications to the contrary. What do you think about the state of Deaf culture today? Do you think parents are a little more receptive about their dhh kids learning Sign and Deaf culture? There are still some extreme Auditory-Verbals who worship at the shrine of Daniel Ling and Alexander Graham Bell.....but I have noticed that parents of dhh kids are tending to be a little more open about their dhh kids learning Sign! I mean...I know of several parents of kids with UNILATERAL losses or relatively mild losses who are seeing ASL and Deaf culture as an enriching experiance rather then as a sign of (OH NO!!!! Disabilty!)
 
I think ppl are becoming more acceptable of it - and i don't know if 'acceptable' is the right term to use, but i think that because there is a lot more Deaf Awarness now that ppl's eyes are opening up to a whole new culture, and it's amazing. Ppl i work with are amazed that i'm HOH and that i 'function' so well. They're amazed at how i use ASL, they're so facinated and INTERESTED in deaf culture and ASL. It's so cool. I def. (no pun intended) think that ppl aren't seeing deafness or being HOH as a 'disability' anymore, but rather as a door to be opened to new and useful oppourtunities.
 
Breezy,but do you think PARENTS of dhh kids are being more accepting of ASL and Deaf Culture? I mean even some of the hardcore prooral parents say that they're not going to be resisant to their dhh kid learning Sign....they simply want spoken English to be their kids' first language.
 
deafdyke said:
Breezy,but do you think PARENTS of dhh kids are being more accepting of ASL and Deaf Culture? I mean even some of the hardcore prooral parents say that they're not going to be resisant to their dhh kid learning Sign....they simply want spoken English to be their kids' first language.
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Yea, I think parents are more receptive and accepting of their children wanting to learn sign. My only problem is making the kids' first language spoken language. I dont like the idea of that cuz too many times, it was discovered 3 or 4 years later that their children arent picking up on spoken English and then having to revert to ASL full time to play "catch up". Would be nice if both were exposed at first like Codas are exposed to both.
 
I think that today's parents have become ignorant and avoided the use of sign language and taken advantage of the cochlear implant situations.

At RIT/NTID, there are a lot of oral students and students with cochlear implants.

Back then, parents didn't exactly know that deaf people were like hearing people... so they treated them inferiorly.

Years later, parents began to realize that their deaf kids are like hearing people... so they were treated more equally... along with learning sign language.

Today, they see their kids and feel that it's better to just buy them cochlear implants than to learn sign language themselves.
 
I think, in general, people are becoming more accepting. Parents are definately more accepting than in the past. Twenty years ago, I was accused of being lazy and neglectful for allowing my son to sign instead of forcing him to be oral. (Little did they know how much work it was for me to learn a new language and culture in order to accommodate my son! LOL). And, I think parents are beginning to realize the implications of being deaf--that learning oral skills simply do not address all the needs of the deaf child.
 
jillio said:
I think, in general, people are becoming more accepting. Parents are definately more accepting than in the past. Twenty years ago, I was accused of being lazy and neglectful for allowing my son to sign instead of forcing him to be oral. (Little did they know how much work it was for me to learn a new language and culture in order to accommodate my son! LOL). And, I think parents are beginning to realize the implications of being deaf--that learning oral skills simply do not address all the needs of the deaf child.
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That is so interesting cuz we call the parents who havent learned sign language lazy and neglectful. In fact, they are cuz their children control them and get what they want and then they bring that behavior to school. :ugh3: I see future problems for those deaf children cuz they are very cruel to the other kids and just very negative in general.

Anyways, there is this one family of 6 children. One of the children became deaf due to mengities at the age of 2 and became completely deaf. The whole family learned sign language and said that they wont get her a CI cuz they didnt believe in choosing for her. Anyways, 8 years later, the girl is reading and writing above grade level and she got to be one of the most confident deaf child ever. She is very very very lucky that she has a wonderful family like that. The family is very involved with the deaf community..just great to see something like that instead of parents whining about not knowing sign nor not being able to communicate with their own kids!
 
shel90 said:
That is so interesting cuz we call the parents who havent learned sign language lazy and neglectful. In fact, they are cuz their children control them and get what they want and then they bring that behavior to school. :ugh3: I see future problems for those deaf children cuz they are very cruel to the other kids and just very negative in general.

Anyways, there is this one family of 6 children. One of the children became deaf due to mengities at the age of 2 and became completely deaf. The whole family learned sign language and said that they wont get her a CI cuz they didnt believe in choosing for her. Anyways, 8 years later, the girl is reading and writing above grade level and she got to be one of the most confident deaf child ever. She is very very very lucky that she has a wonderful family like that. The family is very involved with the deaf community..just great to see something like that instead of parents whining about not knowing sign nor not being able to communicate with their own kids!
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It is always so good to hear stories like that! But it also reminds us of what is pssible, and what still isn't being done.
 
jillio said:
It is always so good to hear stories like that! But it also reminds us of what is pssible, and what still isn't being done.
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I know but there is only so much I can do..the rest is up to those parents to change things. Whenever they whine or complain or even ask me to tell their children to be good at home, I just nod my head. They already know the answer to fix their problems and I am not their children's mommy..
 
VamPyroX said:
I think that today's parents have become ignorant and avoided the use of sign language and taken advantage of the cochlear implant situations.

At RIT/NTID, there are a lot of oral students and students with cochlear implants.

Back then, parents didn't exactly know that deaf people were like hearing people... so they treated them inferiorly.

Years later, parents began to realize that their deaf kids are like hearing people... so they were treated more equally... along with learning sign language.

Today, they see their kids and feel that it's better to just buy them cochlear implants than to learn sign language themselves.
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:werd: !! Sign languages have always been endangered languages in the deaf community, as far as I can see it, Just because the device for CI is working for the child, signals as noise/speech backgrounds, doesn't mean the child shouldn't have to learn sign language. I would hate to see a CI child growing up not given an opportunity to learn sign language and have no knowledge about the deaf world.

I would like to see a child have an opportunity to learn sign language, communicate orally, and read lips and be involvement in both worlds hearing and deaf. ;) I know the child would be very much appreciated if we give them that opportunity.
 
Cheri said:
:werd: !! Sign languages have always been endangered languages in the deaf community, as far as I can see it, Just because the device for CI is working for the child, signals as noise/speech backgrounds, doesn't mean the child shouldn't have to learn sign language. I would hate to see a CI child growing up not given an opportunity to learn sign language and have no knowledge about the deaf world.

I would like to see a child have an opportunity to learn sign language, communicate orally, and read lips and be involvement in both worlds hearing and deaf. ;) I know the child would be very much appreciated if we give them that opportunity.
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:gpost:
 
shel90 said:
I know but there is only so much I can do..the rest is up to those parents to change things. Whenever they whine or complain or even ask me to tell their children to be good at home, I just nod my head. They already know the answer to fix their problems and I am not their children's mommy..
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Well, if they can use you as the intermediary for communication between them and their children, it relieves them of responsibility, doesn't it? The path of least resistance!
 
jillio said:
Well, if they can use you as the intermediary for communication between them and their children, it relieves them of responsibility, doesn't it? The path of least resistance!
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I have already told them no and yet they do it again and again so I just nod my head but dont do it anyway. If they dont want to listen, I am not gonna repeat myself.
 
shel90 said:
That is so interesting cuz we call the parents who havent learned sign language lazy and neglectful.
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I used to think this of Josh's mom at first, because her signing never progressed passed what she needed to talk to a child. Then he explained that he moved to a farther school when he was 12, and her sign skill stopped there because that's when they stopped talking as much as he got older, more independent, etc. She'd stagnated because--well, kids grow up and residential schools sometimes cause some distance. But it was his choice to be there (she'd wanted to mainstream him at a local school and he didn't want that) and so I understood it better after realizing that. I applaud her making sure he would be an independent person.
 
Capmeister said:
I used to think this of Josh's mom at first, because her signing never progressed passed what she needed to talk to a child. Then he explained that he moved to a farther school when he was 12, and her sign skill stopped there because that's when they stopped talking as much as he got older, more independent, etc. She'd stagnated because--well, kids grow up and residential schools sometimes cause some distance. But it was his choice to be there (she'd wanted to mainstream him at a local school and he didn't want that) and so I understood it better after realizing that. I applaud her making sure he would be an independent person.
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The parents tell me that they cant help their kids with homework nor can control them at home cuz they dont know how to communicate with them. Simple as that..learn sign language??
 
shel90 said:
The parents tell me that they cant help their kids with homework nor can control them at home cuz they dont know how to communicate with them. Simple as that..learn sign language??
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Mind-boggling. I don't understand it. Really, to me, a form of child abuse/neglect.
 
Shoot I would want to communicate with my child - I would want to be able to sit down with her and have a conversation and know whats going on in her world. If she's having a problem at school I would want her to feel more than welcome to come to me and talk with me about it. If Maddie was born deaf, then yes I would very much learn sign and teach it to her along the way. I wouldnt want something simple as a communication barrier prevent us from having a meaningful parent/child relationship.
 
My parents didn't learn sign language as I was only HOH while I was growing up, although I really wish they did but HOH aren't considered to need sign language. Sadly a lot of people seem to see it that way which is a shame with all the kids having CI and being taught orally instead of sign language.

I wouldn't call it child abuse though. That's something totally differant. They just did what they thought was best but it wasn't.
 
dreama said:
My parents didn't learn sign language as I was only HOH while I was growing up, although I really wish they did but HOH aren't considered to need sign language. Sadly a lot of people seem to see it that way which is a shame with all the kids having CI and being taught orally instead of sign language.

I wouldn't call it child abuse though. That's something totally differant. They just did what they thought was best but it wasn't.
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No..those kids' only way of communicating is thru sign language and their parents know that because they werent successful with speech therapy or putting their CIs in good use so isnt that awful that the parents are still willing not to learn sign language? I think it is cruel!


I wish parents would listen to deaf adults instead of listening to these so called "specialists" who claim to have so much training in deafness. They dont know jack shit if they have never been deaf or if they dont have any deaf relatives themselves. :roll:
 
Amen to that, shel. There are some out there that are great and understanding of Deaf culture and needs and what not, but many out there claim they are the expert in deafness, but truth is they treat everyone as textbook case and not individuals, which is sad.
 
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