Father To Hard Of Hearing 7 Year Old

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mike williams

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Hi everyone,

I'm the father to a 7 year old hard of hearing daughter (severe in one ear, profound in the other). She has relied on hearing aids since she was 3 and just recently suffered several bouts of complete hearing loss in both ears due to a viral infection, enlarged vestibular aqueducts and an malformed formed cochlea. The way it looks, she will eventually lose most or all of her hearing. Trying to plan ahead, as we should of years ago, we are going to enroll our family in sign language courses.

My question - I'm seeing online hundreds of different opinions regarding ASL or SEE classes and wondering, which is better suited for our current situation and which for my daughter's eventual future of possible complete deafness? I understand the differences between the two, but I am hoping to gain a better understanding from a more expertly informed group as to which route to take. Thoughts on ASL vs. SEE classes, pros and cons to each... Any info is appreciated.

With so much information out there, it is extremely hard not to overthink things.

Thanks,

Mike
 
go for the ASL classes.
make sure from the start your using it at home, which is easy start with the very first signs you learn and keep using them at home in your home, when your out..you'll see how well sign is for Deaf. your daughter will pick it up like a sponge..

avoid see.
i cant stress that enough.
avoid see.

see is a very clumsy artificial construct designed by educators to essentially de-educate Deaf.
don't put your daughter into that trap.

it will take you and her years to get your heads straight again..

with allot of plms due to it..

really go for the ASL. its a language a power language, which is meant for her and those like her. us.

sign will....
set
her
free!!
 
mike williams said:
Hi everyone,

I'm the father to a 7 year old hard of hearing daughter (severe in one ear, profound in the other). She has relied on hearing aids since she was 3 and just recently suffered several bouts of complete hearing loss in both ears due to a viral infection, enlarged vestibular aqueducts and an malformed formed cochlea. The way it looks, she will eventually lose most or all of her hearing. Trying to plan ahead, as we should of years ago, we are going to enroll our family in sign language courses.

My question - I'm seeing online hundreds of different opinions regarding ASL or SEE classes and wondering, which is better suited for our current situation and which for my daughter's eventual future of possible complete deafness? I understand the differences between the two, but I am hoping to gain a better understanding from a more expertly informed group as to which route to take. Thoughts on ASL vs. SEE classes, pros and cons to each... Any info is appreciated.

With so much information out there, it is extremely hard not to overthink things.

Thanks,

Mike
Click to expand...

ASL, I always believe that when you learn a language, any language, you learn it correctly and in its entirety. ASL will be more beneficial for her in the long term as well.

Laura
 
SEE is somewhat helpful in learning English etc but since your daughter is 7 already she likely already has a good grasp on English anyway so ASL would be the better way to go- you can always go PSE leaning to ASL heavily. SEE is somewhat cumbersome to learn and is about as bad as spoken English in learning/remembering all the rules.


*I took a semester or two of SEE in grad school interestingly enough- yes at Gallaudet. So- not all bad- just one more tool to throw into the box of learning for the Deaf/HOH kid.
 
I would start with ASL fluency first. It's a lot easier to pick up on SEE after ASL than vice versa.
 
DeafDucky said:
SEE is somewhat helpful in learning English etc but since your daughter is 7 already she likely already has a good grasp on English anyway so ASL would be the better way to go- you can always go PSE leaning to ASL heavily. SEE is somewhat cumbersome to learn and is about as bad as spoken English in learning/remembering all the rules.


*I took a semester or two of SEE in grad school interestingly enough- yes at Gallaudet. So- not all bad- just one more tool to throw into the box of learning for the Deaf/HOH kid.
Click to expand...
This 100%! Excellent post. SEE is more of a formal educational tool. That's not to say it's not useful......just that it would be best for your family to learn the language of ASL.
 
mike williams said:
Hi everyone,

I'm the father to a 7 year old hard of hearing daughter (severe in one ear, profound in the other). She has relied on hearing aids since she was 3 and just recently suffered several bouts of complete hearing loss in both ears due to a viral infection, enlarged vestibular aqueducts and an malformed formed cochlea. The way it looks, she will eventually lose most or all of her hearing. Trying to plan ahead, as we should of years ago, we are going to enroll our family in sign language courses.

My question - I'm seeing online hundreds of different opinions regarding ASL or SEE classes and wondering, which is better suited for our current situation and which for my daughter's eventual future of possible complete deafness? I understand the differences between the two, but I am hoping to gain a better understanding from a more expertly informed group as to which route to take. Thoughts on ASL vs. SEE classes, pros and cons to each... Any info is appreciated.

With so much information out there, it is extremely hard not to overthink things.

Thanks,

Mike
Click to expand...
Have you looked into educational placements for your daughter as well? That can be a really good place for kids to pick up ASL. What I would do is contact your state's School for the Deaf, and see what is out there! You might be kind of far away from the Deaf School, but there also might be more local programs. There are also Deaf summer camps Maybe take the summer and research all the different programs and options. I really do think you' d be surprised at what is out there.....Most Deaf Schools and programs offer a comprehensive approach with lots of speech and HOH style interventions. Also, although there may be a lot of kids who are behind educationally, there's also usually a significent minority that is strongly academic. A semester or a year spent at a good deaf school or program will really help her! Hopefully you can find a good quality local day program! Also don't forget to join American Society for Deaf Children! http://deafchildren.org/
 
deafdyke said:
Why wouldn't it be a good path for this family to learn ASL?
Click to expand...

I think he's referring to SEE being an educational tool. He has a "thing" about SEE.

Reba said it more succinctly than I did. ASL first and SEE later (if one chooses to go that direction). I was able to pick it up fairly easily after my 4 years at Gally (I'm somewhere between PSE and ASL...)
 
deafdyke said:
Why wouldn't it be a good path for this family to learn ASL?
Click to expand...

i never stated that. if i ever DO state such. you will know its not me doing it..
thus i'm either possessed by agbells ghost or my account is hacked.

either way
not me

see is Not the best option for this girl
 
If you're going to be speaking to other members of the family in English then I would suggest using ASL signs in English grammar order but with opportunities to learn about ASL grammar. I would try to provide opportunities for her to use ASL with other people and to access the Deaf community.

That said, for you yourself I would take up ASL signs.

That's what I did, only with the British equivalents.

My reasoning is thus: if you're speaking to other members of the family in English then you cannot use ASL at the same time. For your child to have full benefit of expanding her vocabulary and learning indirectly (something which is generally not possible orally for children with that severity of hearing loss), you need to also sign when you speak to everyone else. This has one of the strongest associations with good learning outcomes.

If you're unlikely to use ASL all the time when your daughter could be in or potentially be in (ie., daughter is upstairs but could run down mid-conversation), then using English grammar consistently would be better.

Otherwise - whichever you pick will give your child access to visual communication but for your child to fully benefit you and your family need to use it all the time and not just to her.

Edited because there seems to be greater difference between SEE and ASL and SSE and BSL.
 
appleeater said:
If you're going to be speaking to other members of the family in English then I would suggest using ASL signs in English grammar order but with opportunities to learn about ASL grammar. I would try to provide opportunities for her to use ASL with other people and to access the Deaf community.

That said, for you yourself I would take up ASL signs.

That's what I did, only with the British equivalents.

My reasoning is thus: if you're speaking to other members of the family in English then you cannot use ASL at the same time. For your child to have full benefit of expanding her vocabulary and learning indirectly (something which is generally not possible orally for children with that severity of hearing loss), you need to also sign when you speak to everyone else. This has one of the strongest associations with good learning outcomes.

If you're unlikely to use ASL all the time when your daughter could be in or potentially be in (ie., daughter is upstairs but could run down mid-conversation), then using English grammar consistently would be better.

Otherwise - whichever you pick will give your child access to visual communication but for your child to fully benefit you and your family need to use it all the time and not just to her.

Edited because there seems to be greater difference between SEE and ASL and SSE and BSL.
Click to expand...

suing ASL and english at the same isnt conducive to acquiring true fluency.

use ASL using ASL
us english when using english

trying to use two languages at the same time is not productive
try using english and italian at the same time,
why?
or english and chinese?
why?

speaking and using true ASL is very very problematic it wont really happen unless eaither english or ASL during that conversations changes radically..
.
your better bet is to just speakie hearie or sign ASL.
not both at same time.

no need to voice and sign same time.
its better if you don't.
.
using a languages grammar while using that languages is the proper method.
not mixing languages and grammar radically different up
that's not going to lead to true and full fluency
 
Well you pretty much insulted some deafies by saying "speakie and signing together is no good" Nice job.

I know many deaf (with and without hearing aids mind you) who either verbalize or at least mouth english and sign in PSE fashion using ASL signs. I also know many who can slide between PSE and straight ASL without a problem (one of them grew up oral and didn't learn sign until age 19). Doesn't matter where they came from school wise either- deaf, oral programs, deaf services within mainstream, maybe even home school for all I know. What matters is what the signer is most comfortable with.

In this family's situation it COULD be a benefit to start out with PSE and evolve to ASL thus keeping the ability to use PSE when needed.

It isn't an all or nothing approach.
 
It's a fact that when trying to use simultaneous signing and speaking, the communication completeness and fluency of one or both languages will suffer. There are times when that may be a tolerable loss but it's not something beginners in a new language should attempt on a regular basis. One has to be fluent in a language before one can safely "play with" that language.
 
Reba said:
It's a fact that when trying to use simultaneous signing and speaking, the communication completeness and fluency of one or both languages will suffer. There are times when that may be a tolerable loss but it's not something beginners in a new language should attempt on a regular basis. One has to be fluent in a language before one can safely "play with" that language.
Click to expand...

You have a point there. I was viewing it from the angle of my own experiences- having been 'fluent' in English for years then learning ASL(or sign..?) at age 18.
 
I speak and sign. I can speak my words but sign in total ASL. I think my brain understands the difference and I'm able to do both simultaneously. Maybe because I've been doing both since before even being 2 years old so I guess I've plenty of practice at this.
 
AlleyCat said:
I speak and sign. I can speak my words but sign in total ASL. I think my brain understands the difference and I'm able to do both simultaneously. Maybe because I've been doing both since before even being 2 years old so I guess I've plenty of practice at this.
Click to expand...

you can truly speak full english and sign true ASL fully without either of those languages interfering? an don't losing any of each

thats very very difficult to do

thats not stating one cant use signs and speakie at same time,
but thats not ASL

its good you can, its rare though
the grammars are so fundamentally different
its juts easier to use languages separate for me anyway
 
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