No asl for deaf baby?

What language should be taught to deaf/hoh babies?

  • Verbal only

  • ASL only

  • Verbal and ASL at the same time

  • Verbal first, ASL second

  • ASL first, verbal second

Results are only viewable after voting.
So what IS the 'reality' of today's world? Chances are the 'reality' is through the lenses of your own personal view.

I have no beef in the whole AVT deal, but can say my upbringing centered on oral... all day every day. Several programs between the ages of 2 and 5 (quite frankly I'm amazed at the level I'm at considering I was profoundly deaf and pretty much legally blind from birth to about 2 years old- so little to no communication.. interaction through touch I guess?

The reality is that Deaf/HOH kids still feel isolated when they're the only deaf kid in the school if they are in mainstream/oral paths. The reality is that many times they DO do better when mingling with other deaf/HOH kids.. in general.

Truth be told- I wish I had sign language growing up. Would have helped all those summers when I was on the swim team (that was fun.. deaf and pretty much blind without HAs and glasses...). Some day if I remember I may have to take a poll of my friends, most of whom were raised oral then went to Gallaudet. Two of them ended up working at Gallaudet! One said he found his 'home' and his identity there.
 
Waitbird said:
I wish it were as simple as switching. He’s the nearest ENT available and already a 3 hour drive from our home. I also liked him a lot other than the “no ASL” advice.:dunno:
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A lot of people share that kind of struggle. That's why it's important to do your own research too. There is a lot of research nowadays about how ASL increases a child's capacity for language when they are prelingually deaf. The brain wants language at a young age and doesn't care what language it is. It is important for your daughter to have access to language. Even if you are forced to stay with that ENT because of location, if you find out what is best for her you can do it. Some people think that bilingualism causes a slower advance in language, but that is because they only look at one language. Bilingual children may initially appear to have less vocabulary than a monolingual peer, but if you look at the amount of vocabulary they have across both languages, they actually have more. Also, it doesn't stay that way eventually both languages end up being more developed than their monolingual peers. ASL will provide your daughter the access to language she needs to acquire English. Don't be afraid to stick to your guns.
 
DeafDucky said:
So what IS the 'reality' of today's world? Chances are the 'reality' is through the lenses of your own personal view.

I have no beef in the whole AVT deal, but can say my upbringing centered on oral... all day every day. Several programs between the ages of 2 and 5 (quite frankly I'm amazed at the level I'm at considering I was profoundly deaf and pretty much legally blind from birth to about 2 years old- so little to no communication.. interaction through touch I guess?

The reality is that Deaf/HOH kids still feel isolated when they're the only deaf kid in the school if they are in mainstream/oral paths. The reality is that many times they DO do better when mingling with other deaf/HOH kids.. in general.

Truth be told- I wish I had sign language growing up. Would have helped all those summers when I was on the swim team (that was fun.. deaf and pretty much blind without HAs and glasses...). Some day if I remember I may have to take a poll of my friends, most of whom were raised oral then went to Gallaudet. Two of them ended up working at Gallaudet! One said he found his 'home' and his identity there.
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I don't disagree that some people feel the way you do. Absolutely that is the case. I have never advocated for one choice over another. One path may work extremely well for one student but would cause another irreparable emotional damage. One methodology might allow one student access to the world while causing another to be delayed both linguistically and cognitively. I don't believe there is one story or one choice for all deaf people.
 
here are my two cents since everyone here has their own opinion. If you are deaf, they should be taught ASL first if they want to use their voice and they should, but not to force it on them, time will tell when they are comfortable to use their voices or not.
I was born deaf and I didn't have a choice in the matter. I had to learn oral for 3 1/2- 4 years as a small child. Now I am HOH sitting on a fence don't know where I belong. Deaf world / Hearing world.. I don't fit in either one, because in reality The hearing world sees you as deaf but knows you can speak and hear, but pity you when you are not to their level of speech and hearing, in the deaf world they see you as HOH who has a hearing loss but not really deaf only if you know ASL or some form of sign language. If I had a choice... I would MUCH Rather be DEAF so that way I know who my identity is as a whole and not try to be someone I am not in a hearing world because the truth of the matter is... Just because I can hear some does not mean I hear everything! I just wished that they would just LET US BE US and not THEM because, in the end, we are not them. We are US. Deaf!
Sorry, I am ranting on, I just feel like the hearing world will never truly accept us, all they want to do is change us.
We were made this way and we should not apologize for that. :)
 
peekaboo said:
here are my two cents since everyone here has their own opinion. If you are deaf, they should be taught ASL first if they want to use their voice and they should, but not to force it on them, time will tell when they are comfortable to use their voices or not.
I was born deaf and I didn't have a choice in the matter. I had to learn oral for 3 1/2- 4 years as a small child. Now I am HOH sitting on a fence don't know where I belong. Deaf world / Hearing world.. I don't fit in either one, because in reality The hearing world sees you as deaf but knows you can speak and hear, but pity you when you are not to their level of speech and hearing, in the deaf world they see you as HOH who has a hearing loss but not really deaf only if you know ASL or some form of sign language. If I had a choice... I would MUCH Rather be DEAF so that way I know who my identity is as a whole and not try to be someone I am not in a hearing world because the truth of the matter is... Just because I can hear some does not mean I hear everything! I just wished that they would just LET US BE US and not THEM because, in the end, we are not them. We are US. Deaf!
Sorry, I am ranting on, I just feel like the hearing world will never truly accept us, all they want to do is change us.
We were made this way and we should not apologize for that. :)
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THANK YOU!!! THIS!
 
@AlleyCat I had speech therapy all through school, technically it was AVT. My speech is actually really good for a DHH person. But I also think of what I could have learned instead of all those hours spent pulled out of my homeroom class and sitting with the speech teacher, with her beside my ear, whispering. I wasn't allowed to look at her to "reduce visual dependence" and I wasn't allowed to sign in any form. I would spend an hour working on mouth shapes for one or two words I struggled with reading aloud. It was torture. My speech teacher was a super nice lady and gave us treats but that didn't make the process any better.
 
Teacherofthedeaf said:
I am a listening and spoken language practitioner. I have never heard of "auditory oral interventions". That is a term that you made up. Again, AVT is a rehabilitation technique used to develop the auditory cortex of the brain. No one is talking about speechreading distracting from spoken language. It is a therapy, once a week for one hour, that is meant to help the brain develop in a very specific way. No one is "fixated" on speechreading or not except you.
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What I have added the bold to is what I would expect today; but I have no personal knowledge.

But, deafdyle seems to assume the AVT in the past and now means not using anything else at any time during any part of any day rather than the once a week for one hour that you just mentioned. I don't think though that the limited time for the therapy has been mentioned in this thread.
 
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Teacherofthedeaf said:
What? Therapy is always part time. Most school age children don't get AVT. Hell, most kids with hearing loss don't get AVT! There are so few certified AVTs and AV Eds that getting AVT is actually the exception rather than the rule. But back to school age children, no, most children are dismissed from AVT by first grade. They might still get therapy, but it would be more language or articulation based than listening habilitation.
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I agree with that. Could be that I'm just deaf enough that AVT would practically have been a wasted effort on me (120 db loss.)

I still did get speech therapy all through my school years, and like you said, it was language/articulation based rather than anything else.
 
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