You do not need to be apologetic. Illiteracy in deaf children and adults IS a problem. Everything is reading. I don't go a day without reading to get my information. I don't go a day not needing to write apropriately off-site. I think that the Deaf Community is too attached to their language to even bother to change. Deaf children can learn SEE which can make up for that fact without bringing up another way just because you don't want to let go off a long legacy of ASL Just use it, stick with one language. Children will pick up. If other children in other countries can pick up their own different signs in whatever grammar form, then deaf children in the USA are capable of learning SEE. Make them read, write, use SEE to make English a part of your language. ASL is not a 'technical' or 'official' language in my PERSONAL opinion. It's a form for the deaf to communicate. I don't see ASL written in books, so that's why I don't believe it's a true language like English, Creole, Mandarin, etc.
I am not sure about the system you're implying about symbols since I don't know or see how it is done, but if it might help with English, then teachers need to be strong to stick to one sign language for the 99 percent of their time in school and home with parents. I think the problem is laziness because it's too difficult and daunting to teach some deaf people to understand and write English. We need more bright and dedicated teachers who never give up.
