faire_jour
New Member
- Joined
- Apr 26, 2008
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- 7,188
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I grew up orally..I did NOT have full access to communication and language so did so many other deaf people and I continue to see it this day with deaf children coming from oral programs with language delays and deficits. U also see it with new members coming to AD upset about not feeling like they fit in. It still happens! How can that be the untruth? You have been applauding oralism and been critical of the Deaf community and ASL for a long time now so anything u say is gonna be taken with a grain of salt.
I can only say what I have seen and experienced in my life, just like you can only speak to your experiences.
I have the perspective of a parent who has chosen to raise my Deaf child with ASL and now, a cochlear implant. She has access to speech in a way that you (and many others) obviously did not. She hears, and she hears very well. Many deaf children today are able to hear. You may not believe that, but it is a simple fact. If a child hears, they have access to spoken language. I am not saying it is perfect access, but there is no such thing as perfect. I am simply stating that deaf children today hear. They have very good access to spoken language through audition. They are not lipreading and guessing, they are hearing.
That being said, I personally believe that children with a hearing loss should be given sign from the start. If they don't need it, fine. But it they do, at least they never fell behind.
BUT, the things being said about "oralists", "oral parents", and "oral schools" simply are not true. Parents who choose spoken language are not only interested in speech, they are just as interested in language as a parent who chooses ASL. Good oral school focus on the whole child and their overall development not just their ears and mouth. I have seen it first hand.