Deaf people bashing ASL?

Yea, there were a few ADers who bashed ASL. However, that was a few years ago but now...I can only think of one. The rest of the deaf people here on AD who don t see ASL as equal as English are those who said they grew up orally.

However, I feel that a majority of deaf people here on AD support ASL. That's the impression I got.
 
Daredevel7 said:
Even though I was born deaf, I am somewhat new to the Deaf community. I have made a few deaf friends here and started going to Deaf coffee chats, etc. (Although, lately, I haven't been going.)

Recently, someone talked about deaf people (who are NOT raised orally) looking down on ASL here on AD. So I started asking around about what they think of ASL, SEE, etc. I was shocked to hear what they said. All of those people have been signing all their lives.

One person thought ASL was "dumb and backwards". She thought it was pointless to teach them a whole 'nother language when they can just teach them something very similar to English (SEE). Then you don't have to make them learn two different languages.

Two people didn't mind ASL, but thought ASL was for "low functioning" people. One of them starts off signing SEE (honestly, it seems to be more PSE to me) and if the "listener" doesn't understand, he reverts to ASL.

Another person likes ASL because it is "quick and easy" but hates the environment that ASL brings. He went to an ASL based school and hated the environment (the people, the teachers, etc).

Dang.... is this common?
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I think I understand where you are coming from. Here is my opinion, whether anyone likes it or not....


I did not know ASL until I was 18 when I went to college.

No offense to anyone, but I was shocked at how awful many of the other deaf students' reading & writing skills were. At first I thought it was a result of using ASL instead of SEE, but later on I realize it is a result of many things, including their education, environment, learning levels, etc.

I've met a handful, and I mean a handful of deaf (not HOH) people that have excellent writing & spoken speech. What do they all have in common? All of them came from mainstream and/or public schools, all of them had speech therapy for many years, and all of them had parents that did not allow ASL in the home.

Many of them "looked down" on the deaf who use ASL and don't speak. Am I one of them? Sometimes.

Does that mean I think ASL is bad? No. I think ASL is fun & easy to understand. I am not the kind of person that thinks the world, which is 99% hearing and utilizes spoken speech, needs to learn ASL for me, I believe I need to adapt to the world. When I am with hearing people, I am 100% oral and talk like a hearing person. When I am with deaf, I am 50/50 ASL & oral.
 
green427 said:
I think I understand where you are coming from. Here is my opinion, whether anyone likes it or not....


I did not know ASL until I was 18 when I went to college.

No offense to anyone, but I was shocked at how awful many of the other deaf students' reading & writing skills were. At first I thought it was a result of using ASL instead of SEE, but later on I realize it is a result of many things, including their education, environment, learning levels, etc.

I've met a handful, and I mean a handful of deaf (not HOH) people that have excellent writing & spoken speech. What do they all have in common? All of them came from mainstream and/or public schools, all of them had speech therapy for many years, and all of them had parents that did not allow ASL in the home.

Many of them "looked down" on the deaf who use ASL and don't speak. Am I one of them? Sometimes.

Does that mean I think ASL is bad? No. I think ASL is fun & easy to understand. I am not the kind of person that thinks the world, which is 99% hearing and utilizes spoken speech, needs to learn ASL for me, I believe I need to adapt to the world. When I am with hearing people, I am 100% oral and talk like a hearing person. When I am with deaf, I am 50/50 ASL & oral.
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Seems like you forgot about many ADers here who grew up in an ASL environment, going to Deaf schools and all that but are very proficient in written English. Cant stereotype.
My brother doesnt have any oral skills but he gets along fine in the hearing world. He drove across the country all alone.

ASL ..easy and fun? It is hard to become proficient in it just like English is. I am not proficient in it like a native ASL user no matter how hard I try.
 
GrendelQ said:
It's an ASL-based school. She's getting a formal education IN ASL, not about it. They don't currently have a class subject called "ASL" in the PreK or K curriculum. But then, there's no English or Math at that level either :) . ASL is the primary language of nearly every, if not every child at the school.

As you said, ASL is not being formally taught nationwide as are other languages. But Gallaudet's Clerc Center and the consortium, including TLC, is working to change that.
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Yeah, and I think it'd be awesome if it were taught formally.
 
shel90 said:
Seems like you forgot about many ADers here who grew up in an ASL environment, going to Deaf schools and all that but are very proficient in written English. Cant stereotype.
My brother doesnt have any oral skills but he gets along fine in the hearing world. He drove across the country all alone.

ASL ..easy and fun? It is hard to become proficient in it just like English is. I am not proficient in it like a native ASL user no matter how hard I try.
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Psssh, IMO, ASL is much easier for me to learn than Chinese and Spanish, FYI :P :P :P :P
 
posts from hell said:
:) welcome to the world where the outsiders muddle with people.

Now you see why there are so many problems.

Now, the biggest problem with that is education. Why is there English classes, and NO ASL classes for the deaf? Sure, there's ASL for hearing people but when a deaf student is present - they almost never are in the ASL classes.

They are not taught that ASL is just like any other language.
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RMDS has ASL classes.... Don't most schools? (not referring to mainstream of course) :hmm:
 
green427 said:
When I am with hearing people, I am 100% oral and talk like a hearing person.
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Do you view yourself as being inferior to the hearing? I'm just asking because you seem to emphasize quite a bit on the hearing. Otherwise, you wouldn't have picked something to compare yourself to.

You shouldn't have to compare yourself to anyone. Just be yourself.
 
green427 said:
I think I understand where you are coming from. Here is my opinion, whether anyone likes it or not....


I did not know ASL until I was 18 when I went to college.

No offense to anyone, but I was shocked at how awful many of the other deaf students' reading & writing skills were. At first I thought it was a result of using ASL instead of SEE, but later on I realize it is a result of many things, including their education, environment, learning levels, etc.

I've met a handful, and I mean a handful of deaf (not HOH) people that have excellent writing & spoken speech. What do they all have in common? All of them came from mainstream and/or public schools, all of them had speech therapy for many years, and all of them had parents that did not allow ASL in the home.

Many of them "looked down" on the deaf who use ASL and don't speak. Am I one of them? Sometimes.

Does that mean I think ASL is bad? No. I think ASL is fun & easy to understand. I am not the kind of person that thinks the world, which is 99% hearing and utilizes spoken speech, needs to learn ASL for me, I believe I need to adapt to the world. When I am with hearing people, I am 100% oral and talk like a hearing person. When I am with deaf, I am 50/50 ASL & oral.
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lol buddy, I am your ASL user that is a moron. My English sucks major because I went to an institute. *gasp* And no, it was not for just 1 or 2 semesters. I went for a very very very long time. I didn't have much of a speech therapy. My parents embraced the use of ASL at home. Being the only deaf person in the family - my family made it a point to have MORE deaf people at our thanksgiving table. Usually the deaf outnumbered the hearing and everyone signed! *Gasp again*

I don't interact much with hearing people. Wow, my English must suck. Want to educate me in bettering my English?
 
shel90 said:
Are you 100% able to sign pure ASL? It is not easy.
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She picks up quick, I'll tell you guys that. Its been her like 3rd class or something.

I can say this - if I slow down, and expanded on some words she didn't know - I can have a conversation in sign language with her.

One day she'll be able to say she has flying hands, no doubt.
 
posts from hell said:
lol buddy, I am your ASL user that is a moron. My English sucks major because I went to an institute. *gasp* And no, it was not for just 1 or 2 semesters. I went for a very very very long time. I didn't have much of a speech therapy. My parents embraced the use of ASL at home. Being the only deaf person in the family - my family made it a point to have MORE deaf people at our thanksgiving table. Usually the deaf outnumbered the hearing and everyone signed! *Gasp again*

I don't interact much with hearing people. Wow, my English must suck. Want to educate me in bettering my English?
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I would hate to get into an argument with you. You would drive all your points home with such clarity and use language as a blunt instrument! :lol:
 
posts from hell said:
lol buddy, I am your ASL user that is a moron. My English sucks major because I went to an institute. *gasp* And no, it was not for just 1 or 2 semesters. I went for a very very very long time. I didn't have much of a speech therapy. My parents embraced the use of ASL at home. Being the only deaf person in the family - my family made it a point to have MORE deaf people at our thanksgiving table. Usually the deaf outnumbered the hearing and everyone signed! *Gasp again*

I don't interact much with hearing people. Wow, my English must suck. Want to educate me in bettering my English?
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I must admit that years ago, SOME teachers do not know how to teach academics deaf kids when most teachers did not know much ASL at the deaf school. I had no idea how did they get away with from the higher level people to observe teachers teaching skills. Thanks to the hearing teachers who hurt deaf schools that are going to shut down.
 
Frisky Feline said:
I must admit that years ago, SOME teachers do not know how to teach academics deaf kids when most teachers did not know much ASL at the deaf school. I had no idea how did they get away with from the higher level people to observe teachers teaching skills. Thanks to the hearing teachers who hurt deaf schools that are going to shut down.
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To be honest... Much more of them in the mainstream system.

This is recent. A friend of mine had to teach a deaf senior in the mainstream what the sign for improve meant, and actually had to start by teaching him the word itself. By that I mean - the English word improve and it's meaning.

A senior that was capable, but just ignored in the ranks. A cash cow that was put in the pen and left there. Very sad, but it happens often.
 
posts from hell said:
To be honest... Much more of them in the mainstream system.

This is recent. A friend of mine had to teach a deaf senior in the mainstream what the sign for improve meant, and actually had to start by teaching him the word itself. By that I mean - the English word improve and it's meaning.

A senior that was capable, but just ignored in the ranks. A cash cow that was put in the pen and left there. Very sad, but it happens often.
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Yeah I have heard some stories about this similiar situation as yours through my friends who work in the mainstream school. My other friend is working on getting classes for kids with ci to take ASL and identify themselve who they are.
 
posts from hell said:
She picks up quick, I'll tell you guys that. Its been her like 3rd class or something.

I can say this - if I slow down, and expanded on some words she didn't know - I can have a conversation in sign language with her.

One day she'll be able to say she has flying hands, no doubt.
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:-o Oh no -- and here I was thinking Sheila and I could meet for coffee this weekend on some common ground, some nice, slow toddler-level ASL. Now I'll be holding onto the table with both hands while she and Li-Li take it up to 100mph. intimidating.
 
GrendelQ said:
:-o Oh no -- and here I was thinking Sheila and I could meet for coffee this weekend on some common ground, some nice, slow toddler-level ASL. Now I'll be holding onto the table with both hands while she and Li-Li take it up to 100mph. intimidating.
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:) :)

You'll be fine.
 
posts from hell said:
lol buddy, I am your ASL user that is a moron. My English sucks major because I went to an institute. *gasp* And no, it was not for just 1 or 2 semesters. I went for a very very very long time. I didn't have much of a speech therapy. My parents embraced the use of ASL at home. Being the only deaf person in the family - my family made it a point to have MORE deaf people at our thanksgiving table. Usually the deaf outnumbered the hearing and everyone signed! *Gasp again*

I don't interact much with hearing people. Wow, my English must suck. Want to educate me in bettering my English?
Click to expand...

I cant read anything you post. Its horrid. You must not be able to cope in the "real" world at all.
 
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