green427
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This thread should now be titled "Which is better, ASL or Oral?"
I am fluent in ESL, ASL, and oral communication.
Which is best for me?
Depends. On many things.
In the workforce, which is 99.9% hearing, oral communication works best for me. Why? 'Cuz that is the language being used by 99.9% of hearing people (Duh!)
When I am with old-school deaf people, ESL is best since that is what they are used to.
When I am with deaf people my age and younger, ASL works best.
Now, if you ask me which one I like best, there is no 'best'. Different languages apply to different environments.
However, what I WISH is, when I was in grade school, having an ASL interpreter would have helped me get through life better.
Of course, FJ is going to ask me why.
To all of you hearing people with deaf children who still don't get it:
Deaf means "cannot hear like a normal person". You can slap on hearing aids, CI's, and everything else that is presumed to be a "cure", but your child DOES NOT hear what everyone is supposed to hear.
Your child is depending on VISUAL clues to communicate. Lipreading is unbelievably hard and draining on your child. You have no clue as to how much effort it is to pay attention to everything someone says by concentrating on someones upper torso, face, and lips nonstop. My family thought I was a whack-job since I was always nervous, tired, and confused. They did not understand what the hell I was going through (and probably did not give a shit either). I still get migraine headaches after meetings & discussions with hearing people.
ASL (or any kind of sign language) makes a HUGE difference in a deaf child's ability to understand what the hell you are saying. You can teach your child to lipread and send him/her to speech therapy, yes, however, using sign language is still the most important way to get communication started.
Of course, there are some hearing 'specialists' out there that preach differently. My parents were told that I will become retarded if I learned sign language.
For me, ASL eliminates most humiliating misunderstandings, especially when discussing serious, detailed topics.
My opinion, but when it comes to sign language, late-deafened people are much more difficult to teach, and are less inclined to learn the language.
I am fluent in ESL, ASL, and oral communication.
Which is best for me?
Depends. On many things.
In the workforce, which is 99.9% hearing, oral communication works best for me. Why? 'Cuz that is the language being used by 99.9% of hearing people (Duh!)
When I am with old-school deaf people, ESL is best since that is what they are used to.
When I am with deaf people my age and younger, ASL works best.
Now, if you ask me which one I like best, there is no 'best'. Different languages apply to different environments.
However, what I WISH is, when I was in grade school, having an ASL interpreter would have helped me get through life better.
Of course, FJ is going to ask me why.
To all of you hearing people with deaf children who still don't get it:
Deaf means "cannot hear like a normal person". You can slap on hearing aids, CI's, and everything else that is presumed to be a "cure", but your child DOES NOT hear what everyone is supposed to hear.
Your child is depending on VISUAL clues to communicate. Lipreading is unbelievably hard and draining on your child. You have no clue as to how much effort it is to pay attention to everything someone says by concentrating on someones upper torso, face, and lips nonstop. My family thought I was a whack-job since I was always nervous, tired, and confused. They did not understand what the hell I was going through (and probably did not give a shit either). I still get migraine headaches after meetings & discussions with hearing people.
ASL (or any kind of sign language) makes a HUGE difference in a deaf child's ability to understand what the hell you are saying. You can teach your child to lipread and send him/her to speech therapy, yes, however, using sign language is still the most important way to get communication started.
Of course, there are some hearing 'specialists' out there that preach differently. My parents were told that I will become retarded if I learned sign language.
For me, ASL eliminates most humiliating misunderstandings, especially when discussing serious, detailed topics.
My opinion, but when it comes to sign language, late-deafened people are much more difficult to teach, and are less inclined to learn the language.
