Kaitin
New Member
- Joined
- Oct 7, 2007
- Messages
- 845
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Kaitin - Perhpas you have forgotten this, so I shall post it again. I have not said the family shouldn't learn ASL. In fact I believe that the family should learn ASL, preferably from a Deaf adult who is fluent in ASL so that the child/family learn the language of ASL.
I don't forget your posts. Usually you talk about how hard ASL is for hearing parents and nothing about how hard communication is for deaf kid. Or deaf kid should learn ASL after learning English - many years later, so probably not so fluent and with years lost without ASL. And often you write about just the deaf kid learning ASL, not the whole family to support the deaf kid in the language of deaf culture and understand the kid's struggle to communicate.
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From September 8, 2007: This is a scenario that Cued Speech could be a significant support. If the child aqauired language through the CS system, they could learn ASL from a native user (deaf teacher) and continue learing English via CS for reading and writing.
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December 10, 2006, about ASL:
The "professionals" that the parents meet as they try to do what is best for their child, in their circumstance, are overwhelmed with biased information.
IMHO, to suggest the parents learn a "foreign language", which in fact can/does take years to become fluent in, and historically has not proven itself to develop literacy, is actually oppressing deaf children.
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November 22, 2007L
Accurate modeling of ASL is not the real world of deaf children with hearing parents.
Hearing people are NOT using SIGN LANGUAGE, they are using signs borrowed from ASL in "plunking" it into their English spoken sentence. The jury is out regarding the "boosting of IQ".
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December 6, 2007: shel90- What you say is true, but it is not the reality of a deaf child in a hearing family. CS is easy to learn and given incentive a family can be proficient in 6 months. To insist a family learn ASL at the time of diagnosis when an option like Cued Speech is available is simply unrealistic for most families. I can invision that if families were provided CS , the deaf child in result will be given the communication/inclusion in the language of their family via CS. The relationships with their deaf children may, or more likly will be quite different.
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December 6, 2007:
Kaitin - In a hearing family with a deaf child, yes I would say 100 % English via CS. If the family can provide access to a native ASL user then the child should be provided both.
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December 15, 2007:
fredfam- When a hearing parent learns to cue they already know the language, they simply need to learn the system of Cued Speech. This is not the case as you are aware with ASL. Learning a new language is a difficult process for an older person even if it is "just for fun".
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December 24, 2006:
Do not misunderstand me here, I value ASL for the wonderful communication tool that it is, beyond doubt. I do however, struggle with hearing people expending their energy with advertising ASL. The promotion of ASL, imho, is simply missing the needs of the young deaf child. If you have been enlightened in this regard, then indeed, I am pleased.
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December 29. 2005:
The number of users of CE/CS, imo, is not relevent to this discussion, for me. If a child has the opportunity to learn the language of his/her family via CS, the simple fact that they are able to communicate in whole sentences, phonetically, (the same way that a hearing child does), learning their families language, within their own family unit, imho, is a win win situation. Once a child has mastered their own family language, both in reading and writing, after all as parents we do wish our children to accomplish this, with as little pain as possible, then learning a second language is that much easier.
Deaf children must pay an exhausting amount of attention. no matter what communication method they use. Deaf children should learn ASL, from native signers, but imho, after they have mastered the language of their family. To insist that hearing parents learn ASL upon diagnosis of their deaf child, imo, is simply unfair to everyone, including the deaf child.
Language/communication should start at home, with the people who are most influential in a childs life; his/her parents.
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May 25, 2006 (about hearing parents learning ASL and teaching deaf kids): Why would you want deaf children to struggle with learning ASL from hearing people who often are not good models of ASL?
SM, yet again I will say: The best time for children, deaf and hearing to learn a language prior to 6 years of age. Deaf children of hearing parents are often not given access to the complete language, ASL or English. This happens for many reasons, this is simply the way that it is.
You do not want deaf children to know their families language, why?
ASL is a great communication tool. ASL, in a hearing family with a deaf child.. deaf child can read and write English? No
Do you get it?