jillio
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When Bonet developed the one handed alphabet to teach deaf school children in France to read, write, and communicate, the majority considered his efforts to be a waste of time. The hearing population believed that deaf people could not be educated. He was called a fool. He was told that his methodology would never work. He had little to no support from either the deaf or the hearing communities. What he had was the unshakable belief that deaf children could be educated if only the inforamtion was provided to them in a manner which they could readily understand. He had a firm belief that it was not a problem with a deaf child's ability to learn, but the problem was in the way we were attempting to teach them. Today, despite all of the early resistance, and the naysayers who continued to buy into the stereotype of the deaf individual as uneducable, we know today that Bonet was right, and we celebrate the accomplishments he made for the cause of deaf education.
When Edward Miner Gaulladet and Abbes L'Eppe and Sicard were colaborating on methodology for educating the deaf, they encountered the same resisitance that Bonet had encountered. The abiding belief, particularly in the U.S., was that deaf children could not be educated. The stereotype was that the deaf were intellectually inferior to the hearing, and that it was a waste of time and effort to try to provide them with an education. We know now that these men held the same inuitive belief that the stereotype applied to the deaf by the majority was very wrong. The vision they held was that the deaf would be educated to the same level as the hearing, and that the deaf were completely capable of receiving that education. Today, we celebrate the vision these men held, and we recognize that, despite the resistance from the majority, their vision and their beliefs were accurate. They had the courage to perservere despite the resistance they received. They held to their conviction, and because they had the courage to do so, great strides were made in the education of young deaf students.
When Helen Keller was diagnosed the professionals reccommended institutionalization. They believed she was capable of neither learning nor caring for herself. She was labled an "idiot". But for the conviction of her family and a dedicated tutor, the majority would have prevailed and her potential would have been lost forever. Because her family and her tutor had the courage to stand up and say, "You are wrong. This is an intelligent child and she can learn. We just have to find the proper way to teach her" Helen Keller was able to be educated and develop her abilities to highest degree possible. Today, we call her a heroine, and we openly celebrate her accomplishments.
When William Stokoe declared ASL a complete language in and of itself, the majority continued to beleive that the language of signs was nothing more than crude pantomine inferior to spoken English. His research was considered useless. Today, we know that Stoke had a vision and the belief that ASL was more than what most considered it to be. He held fast to that vision, proved the majority wrong, and today, we celebrate the contributions he made not just to the Deaf community, but to the field of linguistics.
When TC first came into existence as the method of instruction for deaf children, the oralists said it was a dumbing down of the curriculum. The majority held fast to the belief that deaf children must be educated orally. We were told that TC would never work. Today, we know that TC made great strides in improving the quality of education for deaf children.
Yesterday, we celebrated the birthday of one of the greatest civil rights leaders this nation has ever known, Dr. Martin Luther King. His ideas were considered to be radical. The majority believed that African American people were by nature of their ethnocentricity, were inferior in all ways to the majority white. Despite the resistence he encountered, he perservered. One by one, people began to get behind him, and the majority began little by little to see how much sense what he preached was making. They began to support him. We now celebrate his very life as a national holiday. Even the fact that he was murdered by the very people who called him radical and refused to see the wisdom in his words could not dampen the message he preached.
My whole point of this is that every time someone has come up with an idea or a message that will in some way improve the conditions of the oppressed, they encountered resistance from the majority. They were called fools. Some of them were even murdered for their ideas. But in the end, we have all had to admit that their ideas, even though different, were right.
I see the same thing happening with the support of Bi-Bi education. People resist because it is different from what they have all been led to believe. Are any of us the equal of the great people that I have used as examples. The answer to that is "no". We are average people who see the vision of those who developed the Bi-Bi method as something viable, and therefore we support their efforts, much the same as, one by one, white individuals began to see King's vision as viable and began to suppport him. One by one, people began to see that Dr. King's vision would improve not just the conditions of society for African American people, but would improve society as a whole.
I have a strong conviction and a belief in the system of Bi-Bi education. I see the vision as a way to improve not jsut the education of deaf children as a population, but as a benefit to society as a whole by producing well educated productive adults. Perhaps there are those who disagree, but there are those that disagreed with Bonet, de'Lepee, Gaulladet, and Dr. King, as well. I can only hope that with perserverence, Bi-Bi will prove to make the same contributions that the visions of those we celebrate in history have made.
JMO.
When Edward Miner Gaulladet and Abbes L'Eppe and Sicard were colaborating on methodology for educating the deaf, they encountered the same resisitance that Bonet had encountered. The abiding belief, particularly in the U.S., was that deaf children could not be educated. The stereotype was that the deaf were intellectually inferior to the hearing, and that it was a waste of time and effort to try to provide them with an education. We know now that these men held the same inuitive belief that the stereotype applied to the deaf by the majority was very wrong. The vision they held was that the deaf would be educated to the same level as the hearing, and that the deaf were completely capable of receiving that education. Today, we celebrate the vision these men held, and we recognize that, despite the resistance from the majority, their vision and their beliefs were accurate. They had the courage to perservere despite the resistance they received. They held to their conviction, and because they had the courage to do so, great strides were made in the education of young deaf students.
When Helen Keller was diagnosed the professionals reccommended institutionalization. They believed she was capable of neither learning nor caring for herself. She was labled an "idiot". But for the conviction of her family and a dedicated tutor, the majority would have prevailed and her potential would have been lost forever. Because her family and her tutor had the courage to stand up and say, "You are wrong. This is an intelligent child and she can learn. We just have to find the proper way to teach her" Helen Keller was able to be educated and develop her abilities to highest degree possible. Today, we call her a heroine, and we openly celebrate her accomplishments.
When William Stokoe declared ASL a complete language in and of itself, the majority continued to beleive that the language of signs was nothing more than crude pantomine inferior to spoken English. His research was considered useless. Today, we know that Stoke had a vision and the belief that ASL was more than what most considered it to be. He held fast to that vision, proved the majority wrong, and today, we celebrate the contributions he made not just to the Deaf community, but to the field of linguistics.
When TC first came into existence as the method of instruction for deaf children, the oralists said it was a dumbing down of the curriculum. The majority held fast to the belief that deaf children must be educated orally. We were told that TC would never work. Today, we know that TC made great strides in improving the quality of education for deaf children.
Yesterday, we celebrated the birthday of one of the greatest civil rights leaders this nation has ever known, Dr. Martin Luther King. His ideas were considered to be radical. The majority believed that African American people were by nature of their ethnocentricity, were inferior in all ways to the majority white. Despite the resistence he encountered, he perservered. One by one, people began to get behind him, and the majority began little by little to see how much sense what he preached was making. They began to support him. We now celebrate his very life as a national holiday. Even the fact that he was murdered by the very people who called him radical and refused to see the wisdom in his words could not dampen the message he preached.
My whole point of this is that every time someone has come up with an idea or a message that will in some way improve the conditions of the oppressed, they encountered resistance from the majority. They were called fools. Some of them were even murdered for their ideas. But in the end, we have all had to admit that their ideas, even though different, were right.
I see the same thing happening with the support of Bi-Bi education. People resist because it is different from what they have all been led to believe. Are any of us the equal of the great people that I have used as examples. The answer to that is "no". We are average people who see the vision of those who developed the Bi-Bi method as something viable, and therefore we support their efforts, much the same as, one by one, white individuals began to see King's vision as viable and began to suppport him. One by one, people began to see that Dr. King's vision would improve not just the conditions of society for African American people, but would improve society as a whole.
I have a strong conviction and a belief in the system of Bi-Bi education. I see the vision as a way to improve not jsut the education of deaf children as a population, but as a benefit to society as a whole by producing well educated productive adults. Perhaps there are those who disagree, but there are those that disagreed with Bonet, de'Lepee, Gaulladet, and Dr. King, as well. I can only hope that with perserverence, Bi-Bi will prove to make the same contributions that the visions of those we celebrate in history have made.
JMO.
