Oral

I learned to speak when i was 4, cuz my parents wanted me to learn to speak cuz i was HOH and i could hear fairly well with my hearing aids but over the years, i gradually lost some more hearing and in order to be able to communicate with non-oral deafies, i learned ASL so i can speak and sign both. Mostly i speak but my husband and i sometimes sign cuz we dont want other people to hear what we are talking about ha!! Hes hearing but has some hearing loss in one ear due to constant loud noises at work over the years and he wanted to learn sign language in case he loses more hearing..smart guy! well, thats the truth, he is very intelligent!
 
I think there's a difference between being oral and having oral skills. The definition of an oral person isn't someone who can speak...it's someone who prefers when given a choice between ASL and speech, always chooses speech. The term preference indicates a choice, and most kids raised orally, didn't have a choice between using ASL or using speech. There are some...I would say Ginnette is definitly oral (and not extreme oral either...she doesn't look down on Sign, she just doesn't use it)
 
Hard to decide whether if I'm oral as I, too, sign. Hmm, I talk quite often with mother and family orally with some signings. But more often I speak and sign at the same time which I feel more at ease with. If I'm speaking with hearies, I'll talk some though not much at first. :)

I believe it's each person's choice how they want to communicate. It doesn't bother me
 
I was oral till high school. I thought it would be fun to transfer to the Total Communication for the deaf. Altho I'm still very oral, but I am married to a guy who only speaks sign language and all my close friends (except one) do sign. It's really nice to be able to be in both worlds (deaf and hearing) It expands the oppiturnity in both ways.

My husband, who's opinon is different than mine. He feels that all deaf people should only sign that's it. Not speak. Which gets on my nerves, but I can't change his mind. He gets mad at me when I don't sign. ( I don't blame him but I can't sign and talk at the same time!)

I feel that ASL should be improved so we can speak better, rather than speaking (Litterally) ASL. and Write better! I notice here in UTAH, most deaf (Signing people)people have the lousiest grammer and spelling.. I think there should be something done about that.......... But that's my opinon.
 
BabyPhat21 said:
some deaf people said that Oral is evil :(
I am proud to be Oral deaf but should not be shunned by deaf people cuz of that - I talk and sign at same time
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cuz they are jealous of you and others who can speak well and can communicate in the real world.

I am deaf and use ASL. I wish I could learn to speak well or Oral like y'all and my husband is oral deaf. He communciated w/ his family and our daughter Lisa orally and he signs very well in ASL w/ me. He told me sometimes he envied my ASL skills cuz they are beautiful to him. also He can see I got meshed w/ other deafies well cuz of my ASL skills. He envied that too. Some deafies thought he is hearing cuz of the loss of his facial expressions. He just learned how to use them properly.. come on ! he s trying his best! geez, I love one day to see Oral deaf and Deaf mesh together well ! that d be awesome! :p
 
Pretty Woman said:
I feel that ASL should be improved so we can speak better, rather than speaking (Litterally) ASL. and Write better! I notice here in UTAH, most deaf (Signing people)people have the lousiest grammer and spelling.. I think there should be something done about that.......... But that's my opinon.
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I understood your point about that. Not "most" . Some deaf people don't have good grammar in English cuz' of their education.

I am signing ASL all of my life and went mainstream at public school. I'm a top student in my English class with other hearings. They are shocked and surprised at that. Who knows? no one know how well or lousy ASL users can write in English. I m avid reader and love to write poetry. God can give amazing gifts to us, ASL users, the skills of using English. :) You still have good point but don't jump fast to the conclusion. :) :dunno:
 
I guess you can say im oral deaf I was born hearing but by age 7 was HOH. I grew up talking and lip reading I did not know ASL at all. When I was 17 I stoped understanding the teachers and so transferd to OSD and learned ASL there. I still usually order my food in resturants and only my mom knows ASL so I talk to my family. Don't always understand them tho. I tend to Use the VCO feature on Video Relay and only sign around my deaf friends. if hearing know ASL I usually talk and let them sign back although I'm trying to sign to them too to help em learn faster.
 
geez, I love one day to see Oral deaf and Deaf mesh together well ! that d be awesome! :p
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Most Oral as kids deaf do eventually pick up ASL/Sign. The debate right now really isn't over methodology, but rather which language should be the child's first language.

but by age 7 was HOH. I grew up talking and lip reading I did not know ASL at all. When I was 17 I stoped understanding the teachers and so transferd to OSD and learned ASL there.
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Very cool that you're postlingally deaf, but still know ASL. I've noticed quite a few posties around our age getting into ASL and Deaf culture! :)
 
Would a postlingal deafie be classified as oral or not under the definition I proposed? Yes, many of them don't Sign and are not into deaf culture, but on the other hand they wouldn't be oral b/c there was no reason why oral fluency would not have developed prior to the loss of hearing. I mean even posties who go totally deaf have an advantage over even kids who were born with a mild unilateral loss.
 
Waz said:
that good for u babyPhat21,

I Prefer British Sign Language coz that the only one Language can give me a easy communication, i can lipread wat family or HOH friends say but i often ask them to repeat!
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BSL -- I noticed it's VERY similar to AUSLAN (Australian Sign Language). AUSLAN has a mixture of BSL and ASL. I know ASL as well. :)

Remember, I'm an American! :lol:
 
i am hoh but went to a school for D/deaf/hoh/hearing kids so i learned ASL from early age but i went to all hearing highschool and am now in a small liberal arts college.
learning ASL from an early age helped me with understanding language because i could see the parts i missed because of bad hearing.
even now, in the "hearing" world i still instinctively use ASL if i cant remember a word in english. people get confused but my friends understand. i still kind of "think" in sign, i enjoy being able to use either oral or sign (although my ASL is getting rusty)
 
I am profound deaf, i went school and learned total communication (oral, lipreading and SEE signs - I am originally from Dallas, Texas) until I attended RIT, learned ASL was a complete new thing to me.

I met my DH at RIT, he grew up oral and learned how to sign at RIT which was only few years ago. His parents made that choice for him to do oral and prohibited signs, another story when his parents met me. They did not Like it at all, but over the years they gradually accepted sign language.

In our daily lives now, we use all combination of ASL, SEE, Oral, even homemade signs since our little boys are hearing. As long there is a open of communication.
 
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