Only a Quarter of Parents to Deaf Kids Know Sign Language

GrendelQ said:
Why not? One of the greatest benefits to having access to sound via a CI as well as ASL is that my daughter can communicate easily with grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins (near and far, in person, by phone), with the children in the neighborhood, with her dentist, local shopkeepers. The thought of isolating her from family, neighbors, community members is pretty horrible. And it's a recurring issue among deaf adults: the misery of the Thanksgiving table, the isolation of family gatherings. What is the solution to that sense of "otherness", that isolation, if not providing ASL for those people with whom we interact daily?
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The solution..??? Other than everyone using ASL... none, really...

in this thread alone we've had people with CI, people who can hear and speak well, and deaf people... A whole spice cabinet of walks in life.. They all pretty much said the same thing...

I have to REALLY thank my parents right here..
I am the only deaf person in my family. Yet our thanksgiving and christmas was always filled with people who can sign. There was usually more deaf people there than hearing. My brother and I had our friends (all of them signed) over for the holidays. It was a blessing.

So from that experience.... I have to say everybody should be signing. Not necessarily fluent ASL. some of my bros and my friends were using the Rochester method but they could understand sign language.
 
faire_jour said:
You can NOT teach a child language with the limited about you would learn in two semester at college. My ASL classes didn't even cover farm animals. How are you supposed to teach a child morals and values and higher level concepts inckuding those used in math and science in school with a vocabulary of a few hundred signs?
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You had a sucky teacher, to be honest. There were a few signs you did and now this confirms it.

Come on over, I'll show you some ASL 2 students that I think can be interpreters. Hell, about 50+ of them from University of Colorado...

Also.. My mother keeps telling people that I knew more signs than her since day one basically. What she did was give me the sign language dictionary in printed form and I learned that myself.

And growing up you both grow into the language from eachother. Look at me.. My mom isn't even close to fluent ASL, but she understands me and I understand her very well. She also uses big words and such, no problem.

THEREFORE: YOU CAN. Not "NOT"..
 
posts from hell said:
You had a sucky teacher, to be honest. There were a few signs you did and now this confirms it.

Come on over, I'll show you some ASL 2 students that I think can be interpreters. Hell, about 50+ of them from University of Colorado...

Also.. My mother keeps telling people that I knew more signs than her since day one basically. What she did was give me the sign language dictionary in printed form and I learned that myself.

And growing up you both grow into the language from eachother. Look at me.. My mom isn't even close to fluent ASL, but she understands me and I understand her very well. She also uses big words and such, no problem.

THEREFORE: YOU CAN. Not "NOT"..
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I took 2 Deaf community classes as well as 6 ASL college courses. I have had many different teachers.

I do not find it acceptable that a child knows more language than the parents. The parent needs to be able to completely understand their child and communicate fluently...UNACCEPTABLE.
 
faire_jour said:
I took 2 Deaf community classes as well as 6 ASL college courses. I have had many different teachers.

I do not find it acceptable that a child knows more language than the parents. The parent needs to be able to completely understand their child and communicate fluently...UNACCEPTABLE.
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Cool.
 
Wirelessly posted

I feel sorry for you then.



By the time I was seven, I was more literate than my own mother and had much more extensive vocabulary-- in English.
 
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souggy said:
Wirelessly posted

I feel sorry for you then.



By the time I was seven, I was more literate than my own mother and had much more extensive vocabulary-- in English.
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Why on earth would that be a good thing? How do they help with homework? Read together? Explain the world to their child?
 
Wirelessly posted

faire_jour said:
souggy said:
I feel sorry for you then.







By the time I was seven, I was more literate than my own mother and had much more extensive vocabulary-- in English.
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Why on earth would that be a good thing? How do they help with homework? Read together? Explain the world to their child?
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I didn't say it's a good thing. My mother was almost never able to help me with homework anyway. She came from a family who didn't believe education was needed to make a living; we are talking about someone with grade 3 or 4 reading and mathmatics skills. Yet my sister graduated with honors and is going into a highly technical trades. I am not saying it's acceptable, but life is not always ideal.


And mother? She's far from stupid. And she raised us with a stepdad who was only home for a weekend every month or two; and holding down a full-time job.
 
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I knew far more sign than my parents ever did. And still do. And, I think that is actually very much the norm. Kids pick it up easily through any source, especially school, and if it's not taught back home, well, then the child already knows more sign than the parent.
 
AlleyCat said:
I knew far more sign than my parents ever did. And still do. And, I think that is actually very much the norm. Kids pick it up easily through any source, especially school, and if it's not taught back home, well, then the child already knows more sign than the parent.
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Exactly.

And who is to say that the parents will always be on the top of every subject the child is learning in school?
 
souggy said:
Wirelessly posted

I feel sorry for you then.



By the time I was seven, I was more literate than my own mother and had much more extensive vocabulary-- in English.
Click to expand...

faire_jour said:
Why on earth would that be a good thing? How do they help with homework? Read together? Explain the world to their child?
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why don't you explain the fact that many immigrant children are smarter - more literate, more educated than American-born Americans? and the fact that the majority of them end up in Ivy Leagues? :)

oh - they are more literate than their parents too.
 
It seems like a no-brainer. I don't know of a single deaf friend of mine whose parents know more sign than the child.

In the case of FJ wanting to know more sign than Miss Kat so she can teach her about morals and ethics, it isn't about the signs. It's about the concept behind what she wants to teach Miss Kat. To teach her that "sharing" is important, and why, is more important than the signs itself. Teaching concepts is something all parents do with their children, hearing or deaf, and it takes time for the child to register those concepts; signs don't change that.

I'm not trying to invalidate your concerns, FJ, about teaching Miss Kat what you want to teach her. We're only saying that it's almost not realistic that you would always know more signs than her in order to teach her these very concepts. I don't understand the "NOT ACCEPTABLE" part of your posts.
 
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My brother and I have good morals despite our parents not knowing ASL so what's your point?
 
It is unacceptable because I am her parent and I need to be able to fully communicate with my child, therefore if they are only fluent in a language I don't know, we will be unable to communicate. It is my job to teach her and help her with her homework, yes, ALL of her homework. It is unacceptable that she communicates in a way that I don't understand.

So, if my child uses ASL and their language is way ahead of mine, whose responsibility is it to teach her?
 
faire_jour said:
It is unacceptable because I am her parent and I need to be able to fully communicate with my child, therefore if they are only fluent in a language I don't know, we will be unable to communicate. It is my job to teach her and help her with her homework, yes, ALL of her homework. It is unacceptable that she communicates in a way that I don't understand.

So, if my child uses ASL and their language is way ahead of mine, whose responsibility is it to teach her?
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just like everybody else - mentors.
 
GrendelQ said:
If you were the hearing parent of a deaf child, how would you go about learning to sign and how quickly would you expect to be fluent?
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Classes, books, videos (I've worked at libraries so I know a lot about getting resources). Fluency with anything takes time; I'd set a goal and aim for fluency in a year. Language is one of my strengths though.
 
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