Should my HOH 4yo Learn ASL?

shel90 said:
I have a good friend who was born in El Salvador and moved to America when she was 15 years old. She said her parents never knew about the deaf school or sign language until they moved to America.

Since you live in El Salvador, is there a regional sign language like Spanish Sign language?
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I'm so glad you asked! Sadly, it's not surprising that your friend didn't have a chance to learn sign in El Salvador. There's a deaf woman, in her late teens, in my ASL class, and she never learned sign before now (she's also in the beginner class).

Deaf/HoH Salvadorans are very marginalized and do not have the resources/choices that we have in the U.S. In El Salvador, 35% of the population has no formal schooling whatsoever. Deaf/HoH Salvadorans have even lower access to education. Complicating matters is that in this very small country (about the size of Massachusetts), they have two sign languages - Salvadoran and ASL. ASL was for many years the only sign language (it was introduced by American missionaries). However, about 10 years ago, the Salvadoran government passed a law (controversial) requiring the use of Salvadoran sign language in all public schools (there are several public schools for the deaf).

My son's experience has really opened my eyes to the inequalities in El Salvador, and I've been thinking a lot about how to be more involved. While I have so much to learn from this forum, I also hope to share what I've learned in El Salvador and elsewhere.
 
sansalmom said:
Should he learn ASL, or do you think it will be too hard for him, or confuse him, to learn four languages at once?
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Children are amazingly adaptable creatures. Their natural thirst for knowledge can allow them to retain a host of different information. If he's feeling overwhelmed I'm sure you'll notice it. From what I have seen here, ASL would be a great advantage. I seriously doubt that ASL would confuse him. He may thank you for it in the future!
 
ut our plan is eventually to move back to the U.S., so that's why we're interested in ASL
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Which state? I know off the top of my head there's a Deaf Christian School : Broken Link idea if they have dorms (if that school turns out to be really good , and he really really wants to go there but you guys live too far away) or if you can request a relocation there or something. I also have a feeling that by the time you guys move back, the Deaf Schools and programs are going to be overall VERY hoh friendly. I do know that Virginia Schools for the Deaf and Blind have an organization called Deaf for Jesus...Just throwing ideas out there.
There are also a lot of good Deaf Schools out there too!
 
natty_4ever said:
YES! I was moderately HOH when I was little, and am now severe-profoundly deaf. I wish I had learned ASL sooner! Even though your son is HOH, I can tell you as a former HOH adult that hearing aids, FM systems, and any other technology is not enough. I know everyone is different, but at least give him the opportunity to have full accessibility. After learning ASL last year, it has changed my life so much.

Also, you won't overwhelm him. I can speak three languages and sign ASL. So don't worry--he can handle it!
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^^^^ Yeah, what she said.
 
sansalmom said:
I'm so glad you asked! Sadly, it's not surprising that your friend didn't have a chance to learn sign in El Salvador. There's a deaf woman, in her late teens, in my ASL class, and she never learned sign before now (she's also in the beginner class).

Deaf/HoH Salvadorans are very marginalized and do not have the resources/choices that we have in the U.S. In El Salvador, 35% of the population has no formal schooling whatsoever. Deaf/HoH Salvadorans have even lower access to education. Complicating matters is that in this very small country (about the size of Massachusetts), they have two sign languages - Salvadoran and ASL. ASL was for many years the only sign language (it was introduced by American missionaries). However, about 10 years ago, the Salvadoran government passed a law (controversial) requiring the use of Salvadoran sign language in all public schools (there are several public schools for the deaf).

My son's experience has really opened my eyes to the inequalities in El Salvador, and I've been thinking a lot about how to be more involved. While I have so much to learn from this forum, I also hope to share what I've learned in El Salvador and elsewhere.
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That was one of the biggest reasons my friend's parents decided to move to America so she could have a better education. They fought and fought to get her the education she deserved but I guess they werent able to hence moving the whole family. Now, she has a BA degree and was the first person in her family (all hearing) to get one. Amazing, isnt it?
 
deafdyke said:
Which state? I know off the top of my head there's a Deaf Christian School : Broken Link idea if they have dorms (if that school turns out to be really good , and he really really wants to go there but you guys live too far away) or if you can request a relocation there or something. I also have a feeling that by the time you guys move back, the Deaf Schools and programs are going to be overall VERY hoh friendly. I do know that Virginia Schools for the Deaf and Blind have an organization called Deaf for Jesus...Just throwing ideas out there.
There are also a lot of good Deaf Schools out there too!
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Thanks for all the ideas! It will be so nice to be back Stateside after 8 years overseas and to have access to services for my son. We'll suddenly have so many choices for his education! I don't know which state or when, but probably not for another couple of years.
 
I know it's gonna be awhile, before you return stateside, but I wonder if you could find out if you might be able to request placement near a good Deaf School/Dhh program.
 
Yes he should. Kids are very easy to teach at a young age, and they adapt well. When I was young I could speak different language but then my parents only spoke english, so I lost my French/Spanish/Italian languages.
 
Go for the ASL! At the very least you could add Signed Exact English, but if you have the capability for teaching ASL do it! I'm now a big believer in some form of manual communication for ANY child, HOH or not!
 
iowaboy said:
Go for the ASL! At the very least you could add Signed Exact English, but if you have the capability for teaching ASL do it! I'm now a big believer in some form of manual communication for ANY child, HOH or not!
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Yes, it is a big help!
 
This is the case of which came out first...the egg or the chick....Does it matter? Before the age of 4, I was a speaking hearing child. Then got severe meniningitis at 4 and was cured. The medicine of course damaged my ears and I became HOH as a result. Because I was speaking before, my parents thought it be best to go to a speech therapists and perfect my speech. Though, teachers knew I was HOH they shunned me because I didn't know ASL as did the kids. I didn't care as much as I was in mainstream schools and learned sign language in church ministries. All in all, I'm glad I learned to regain my speaking skills first. I don't feel like I'm playing catch up now learning ASL now. It's just the fact that I'm learning it...that's all that matters. However, everyone is different. If it was my son, I would get him to learn English first and then if he prefers ASL later. That's just me.
 
Before the age of 4, I was a speaking hearing child. Then got severe meniningitis at 4 and was cured. The medicine of course damaged my ears and I became HOH as a result. Because I was speaking before, my parents thought it be best to go to a speech therapists and perfect my speech.
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On the other hand, donotfeedsugar, you were postlingally hoh. NOT saying "you're not one of us" or anythign........but I do think postlingal kids face a different set of challenges then do pre or perilingal kids.
You're missing that the four year old already has exposure to English. The mom was asking if it would be a good idea to ADD ASL. Hardly anyone argues for dropping speech. We're pro full toolbox here!
 
donotfeedbsugar said:
This is the case of which came out first...the egg or the chick....Does it matter? Before the age of 4, I was a speaking hearing child. Then got severe meniningitis at 4 and was cured. The medicine of course damaged my ears and I became HOH as a result. Because I was speaking before, my parents thought it be best to go to a speech therapists and perfect my speech. Though, teachers knew I was HOH they shunned me because I didn't know ASL as did the kids. I didn't care as much as I was in mainstream schools and learned sign language in church ministries. All in all, I'm glad I learned to regain my speaking skills first. I don't feel like I'm playing catch up now learning ASL now. It's just the fact that I'm learning it...that's all that matters. However, everyone is different. If it was my son, I would get him to learn English first and then if he prefers ASL later. That's just me.
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The problem is that...


English is not fully accessible to deaf children

ASL is...
 
shel90 said:
The problem is that...


English is not fully accessible to deaf children

ASL is...
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Unfortunately, neither language is fully accessible to most deaf children -- without intervention. But both can be accessible, with intervention.
 
I'm wondering if one could put that ASL is much more "naturally" accessible < as in "gained"> as a visual medium - using the child's stronger sense assuming the child has no vision loss - than a spoken language.
 
dogmom said:
I'm wondering if one could put that ASL is much more "naturally" accessible < as in "gained"> as a visual medium - using the child's stronger sense assuming the child has no vision loss - than a spoken language.
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Because most deaf children are born into hearing families, there is often little or no ASL naturally in their homes, their natural environments -- they most often have no access, much less full immersion in the language in the way that a hearing child has full access to spoken language or a deaf of ASL deaf child has full access to signed language. That's why i think it's so important that parents do more tHan learn a handful of baby sighs and play signing time videos now and then: children need fluent language models and interaction with peers using the language. programs that help families provide this exist,but I wish they were more visible to new parents, and more common.
 
deafdyke said:
On the other hand, donotfeedsugar, you were postlingally hoh. NOT saying "you're not one of us" or anythign........but I do think postlingal kids face a different set of challenges then do pre or perilingal kids.
You're missing that the four year old already has exposure to English. The mom was asking if it would be a good idea to ADD ASL. Hardly anyone argues for dropping speech. We're pro full toolbox here!
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Ahhhh...I see I see...slept on that one@Already has exposure to English. Thanks for clarifying for me.

I do concur that the challenges are different for post and prelingual HOH kids. I hate to admit I was a bully coming up for the "RIGHT" reasons though. Because I was in a Hearing Resource Group in Elementary School (mainstream) some of the kids that I befriended were being teased daily because though they were HOH initially their speech was slurred, faltered and so on. Being that I was the tallest for my age at the time, I bullied the hearing kids that did make fun of them. You would say it's not bullying...it is to the point if they stopped bothering with the HOH kids after awhile *cringes and hides*
 
GrendelQ said:
Unfortunately, neither language is fully accessible to most deaf children -- without intervention. But both can be accessible, with intervention.
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I am not talking about the availability. I am talking about when spoken English is being used with a deaf child, a portion of it will be accessible to the child but when ASL is signed to the deaf child, it is fully accessible.


When I talk about accessibility, I do not mean the availability of the language. I am talking about the receptive end of the language.
 
shel90 said:
I am not talking about the availability. I am talking about when spoken English is being used with a deaf child, a portion of it will be accessible to the child but when ASL is signed to the deaf child, it is fully accessible.


When I talk about accessibility, I do not mean the availability of the language. I am talking about the receptive end of the language.
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Practically speaking, if no one is signing, there is no receptive end of the language. It's not something the child can access.

ASL is not hard-wired into our deaf children. I wish it were, and my daughter had had a full year of developing ASL on her own in her crib while everyone spoke Mandarin around her in the orphanage, instead of playing catch-up in so many ways. And ASL would have been at your fingertips regardless of your academic environment -- haven't you written about it being inaccessible to you all those years?
 
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