Deaf who do not know ASL

[j_a_a_zavala]

I am not sure how to start this so here goes.

I met a girl who is deaf. She is about 17 or 18 and works as a waitress at a race track with my sister. She has compleat hearing loss in one ear and profound loss in the other. I have gotten the chance to talk with her a few times and was sad to hear that her family never taught her ASL. My 3yr old son knows more than she does, but what is really sad is that she told me she can only understand about half of any conversation that she is a part of. She also said that she usualy just nods her head like she understand. If she cannot she someones face than she is compleatly lost.

She was never a part of the deaf community and it wasnt untill she was in her teens that she realized that she wasnt alone. When she was about 16 she went to a camp for the deaf and could not talk to very many people because most of them only used sign language

She is now trying to learn ASL but she said that it has not been easy. I have talked to her about Signing Time and she seemed really interested to check it out.

It is really heartbreaking watching someone strugle to communicate with others when I know it doesnt have to be like that. I understant that with the general public that doesnt know sign language it would not make a difference if she signs or not but I think it would be nice to at least be able to commuicate well with friends and family and other members of the deaf community

[aligreat]

Most families do not teach their deaf children ASL as 69% of deaf children in the US grow up in homes where there is no signing on a regular basis. Many deaf children are introduced to sign language when they go off to school, but some are in oralist schools, which teach speech-reading.

You are right. It is sad to see. I'm glad that ST! teaches that ASL is great for everyone. Even if you do not need it for two-way communication, it is a great 2nd language to have.

[j_a_a_zavala]

I have heard for a very long time about spanish becoming a second language for the U.S. because of how many imigrants that come here and cannot speak english. What about all of the people who are americans and do not speak english. The ones who use ASL. It is a language and should be Americas second language. It should be taught in high school as a second language. I know that when I was in school they had french, spanish, german, and even latin. Who speaks Latin? It is very upseting thinking about how much the U.S. Government goes out of its way to help the people from other countries yet does so little for its own. And this is coming from someone who is married to a Mexican and has made her child a Mexican citizen.

[TLit]

I have heard for a very long time about spanish becoming a second language for the U.S. because of how many imigrants that come here and cannot speak english. What about all of the people who are americans and do not speak english. The ones who use ASL. It is a language and should be Americas second language. It should be taught in high school as a second language. I know that when I was in school they had french, spanish, german, and even latin. Who speaks Latin? It is very upseting thinking about how much the U.S. Government goes out of its way to help the people from other countries yet does so little for its own. And this is coming from someone who is married to a Mexican and has made her child a Mexican citizen.

I agree with you 100% -Here in Co. in the past year or so ASL has been offered as a second language in some of the high schools and in some collages. If we all let the U.S. Gov. know how much this language helps not only the deaf community but also the hearing community maybe just maybe ASL could become a official second Language. The preschool that I teach at offers Spanish and sign language.

[jenml]

Most families do not teach their deaf children ASL as 69% of deaf children in the US grow up in homes where there is no signing on a regular basis. Many deaf children are introduced to sign language when they go off to school, but some are in oralist schools, which teach speech-reading.

You are right. It is sad to see....

Yes, Ali, you hit the nail on the head... many Deaf children live with parents who (for whatever reason: ignorance, neglect, apathy, no parenting skills, no common sense....) do not allow their child to participate in the visual language, nor do they make an effort to learn it themselves even if the child has accessed ASL in school (by the grace of God, or by schools insisting).

This is personal for me, so I should not say any more... :o

[j_a_a_zavala]

I don't understand how this could be. Don't the docters stress how benifical learning ASL is? It helps with so many things like reading and spelling. You would think that every deaf or hoh child would be taught ASL.

[fia's mom]

I don't understand how this could be. Don't the docters stress how benifical learning ASL is? It helps with so many things like reading and spelling. You would think that every deaf or hoh child would be taught ASL.

Unfortunately, that is wishful thinking. I have met many Deaf who have said that they didn't learn their language until they went to school. You can tell it's a sore spot to talk about. Then again, I have Deaf friends whose families all learned ASL so there was always constant communication.

When I go to Deaf events, you wouldn't believe how many people I encounter that are shocked and surprised (in a good way) at the fact that we have 1 child who is Deaf and 4 other hearing children, yet our entire family is learning ASL. My sister started taking ASL classes specifically because of my daughter and my mother and step-father will be enrolling in ASL classes at DSD in the Fall. As well, they said while waiting they are going to buy some ST! videos to help them get started. My father-in-law told us on Sunday that he "needs" to learn.

On the other end of the spectrum is my father. I don't know that he has any intention of learning ASL. Many times I have heard him say that no matter what, she still needs to be able to speak and lip-read because she lives in a "hearing world." His thoughts and opinions not only upset me, but are also based off of his friend's experience/frustration with a child who became Deaf due to illness, married a Deaf man and they have children who are Deaf and they are completely comfortable as a family and as people living in the Deaf community. My father even went so far as to call me on the phone and tell me that his friend's grand-daughter is a good candidate for a CI, but the parents said no. In fact, his exact words to me were, "They want her to remain Deaf." I had to explain that CI or not, she would always be Deaf and it's not his right to pass judgement. A CI is not for everyone and he needs to respect their rights as humans and parents to the decisions that they make for their children and themselves.

Long-winded as this is, unfortunately not all parents choose to give their children the gift of communication. To those parents I would pose the question, "If your child were about to be hit by a car, would you push them from harm's way?" I don't know of any parent that would say no. "So then, if you say yes you would push them from harm's way, why would you not nurture them by giving open communication and language?" People don't always realize that emotional neglect can be worse than the physical pain of being hit by that car.

[Lezliej]

Ali, I'm surprised that it isn't higher than 69% of kids have little or no sign language at home. But worse than that is that, if they choose not to sign, they have to talk, talk, talk directly to their child! They MUST give their child language, some language, any language!!

I'd like to recommend a book for anyone with a deaf child, if I haven't done it already :) "Literacy and Your Deaf Child" by by David A. Stewart and Bryan R. Clarke. It addresses this very thing! Here is the link from Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Literacy-Your-Deaf-Child-Parent/dp/1563681366/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/002-8040355-7420052?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1177468235&sr=8-1

[jenml]

I don't understand how this could be. Don't the docters stress how benifical learning ASL is? It helps with so many things like reading and spelling. You would think that every deaf or hoh child would be taught ASL.

Well, it is a sore subject for some people... and some of it is historical... the whole oral movement when parents were told under no circumstances were they to sign to their child (A.G. Bell, Conference of Milan, etc, etc).

Perfect example is in th emovie "Mr. Holland's Opus" when the family was told DO NOT SIGN, and the doctor even said "I notice that Cole uses little gestures to make himself understood... do NOT USE THEM BACK... if you ever want him to fit into the hearing world....."

My husband's family is a perfect case of this (my husband was born around a big BOOM of Deaf people due to an outspread of German Measles... and he was born the same time as the Holland movie takes place, when that fictional child was born). No one in my husband's family can sign. No one. Not one. When it comes up in conversation (which it does not often, as you can imagine), I have been told by his 45 year old brother, "we didn't sign with him so that he could improve his oral speech". Well, my husband is 42... his speech is not going to get better!!! And his parents say that they are too old to learn... but they were not "old" when they had him and raised him..... (frustrated sigh). They're not very educated themselves, and English is their third language (of which they don't practice much anyway... so all that much harder for my husband).

When my family knew that I was marrying someone Deaf, they all (5 siblings, some spouses, father and step mother) all took ASL classes. They all got "conversational" for the wedding, and enough to use to talk to him even now (but the ol' use it or lose it does apply when we live 3,000 miles away and don't see each other often). Two of my sisters have become completely fluent, and they all embrace it, and at least understand the cultural and lingustical implications of being Deaf. If he were raised in my family, they would have all been fluent for sure. i am fortunate to have such a wonderful and insightful family.

If my child were blind, I would become an expert in O&M and Braille. It doesn't make sense to me that you wouldn't provide an alternate language to a child who cannot access spoken language. It's very hard to understand. It's sad. So many Deaf kids miss out on so much early learning because they don't acquire a signed language until well after that critical window... Oh, I could vent about this unitl the cows come home...... sorry....

[j_a_a_zavala]

So many Deaf kids miss out on so much early learning because they don't acquire a signed language until well after that critical window... .

This is why it is so important to spread the good word about signing. Not only with Signing Time but any way possible. And not just for kids who are deaf, also for those who have other verbal communication problems.

It makes me so mad that you hear all the time on the news about new drugs that can save lives or help with other problem only for the drug to be recalled a year later but how offten do you hear about the life changing affects of learning ASL at an early age.

In mexico there is an even lower percentage of kids who learn SLM, and what is really sad is that they do not learn to speak, read, or write. They simply do not have the resorces or money to do so but here in the U.S. where almost anything is avalibale there is NO EXCUSE!