Why ASL? Let your deaf child learn to sign. (Youtube Video)

Lily7

Lily7

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My apologies if this video has been posted elsewhere, I did a search and scanned this forum and didn't see it. It's just too good not to post. I wish someone had said something like this to my mother when I was a child. This is a matter close to my heart since she didn't let me learn to sign and it more or less ruined my life. I know she meant well, but she didn't know any better. I am so, so glad this video exists.

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Br6LLP_j_Ec&feature=related]Why ASL? - YouTube[/ame]
 
I only got to watch part of the video as I really should be getting ready to go, but... What I saw was great. It was also good that there were subtitles for newly identified parents who aren't familiar with ASL. He made some really good points.
 
Lily7 said:
My apologies if this video has been posted elsewhere, I did a search and scanned this forum and didn't see it. It's just too good not to post. I wish someone had said something like this to my mother when I was a child. This is a matter close to my heart since she didn't let me learn to sign and it more or less ruined my life. I know she meant well, but she didn't know any better. I am so, so glad this video exists.
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Thank you for posting this - I just re-posted on my Facebook wall.
 
posts from hell said:
He's a nice guy, glad to see him :)

Wonderful video.
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how is it that you know everyone? I've wondered that for some time... I don't doubt you know him... but still... how do you seem to know... everyone...
 
Thank you for posting that!

It make me wonder if reason I seem to do well academically is *because* I have sign for at least first 4-5 years of life. :hmm:

Frustrate, always, that language taken away but, wow, he brings up great points about how kid with ASL excel, proven in studies, over kids who are not given access to natural language for them.

:ty:
 
posts from hell said:
I just think Lavender is one of these non ASL users feeling threatened. :)
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I'm curious to hear her elaborate. I didn't learn ASL growing up either and only started learning English when I was nearly four. I did well because I had AVT 3-4 hours a day, 7 days a week, my mother was an English teacher and there was absolutely nothing to do way out in the countryside but read books since there were no computers or CC's or anything like that when I was a kid.

However, that was my own upbringing and it's not like that for other deaf kids, some read more or less than others, some had more intensive AVT than others, some had no social life whatsoever and books were their own salvation whereas for another kid, it might be jumping out their bedroom window to go hang out with horses at the farm up the road or whatever. We are all different and grew up differently and it's very easy to understand why, generally speaking, it would have been advantageous to a deaf child to learn ASL that would make it easier for them to acquire cognitive language abilities that would make learning English (or other languages) far easier. If I hadn't had a very very intensive AVT upbringing combined with reading a book a day, I'm dead certain I would have been more delayed in English language skills especially since it was my first language that I only started learning nearly 4 years after birth.

One can't use their own upbringing and think it's the same for everyone else. It all depends on factors and variables.
 
DeafCaroline said:
One can't use their own upbringing and think it's the same for everyone else. It all depends on factors and variables.
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I agree, and my story is similar to yours, but I still don't think ANY deaf child should EVER be denied the ability to learn and use sign language, regardless of whatever else their parents are doing. I'm glad I can lip read as well as I do because of my oralist upbringing but it would have been nice to be able to learn sign alongside that, and I'm not just judging all this based on my upbringing. It's just kind of common sense. I can't imagine nor have I ever seen anyone say "well, my upbringing is different than yours, I am glad I wasn't allowed to learn sign". :hmm:
 
ash345 said:
how is it that you know everyone? I've wondered that for some time... I don't doubt you know him... but still... how do you seem to know... everyone...
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My deaf brother is the same way. He seems to know everyone and everyone seems to know him.
 
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