I know it sometimes seems like the Deaf community is dying and that ASL will be extinct in a few years...however there are signs of positive change!!!! I know of several little girls who are "only" HOH (and as a matter of fact, one of them only has a mild loss) but they are learning ASL and going to schools for the Deaf, along with becoming fluent in spoken English and going to schools for hearing kids! Yeah!!!!!Finally some parents aren't falling for the "either or" language choice crap!!! Finally, some hoh kids are going to get the best of both worlds, rather then feeling that they don't belong in either world!
I also know of a little girl who has a severe loss, and her mother went to college to become an interpreter!!!! (and for you lurkers yes, Olivia is also learning spoken English)
Oh, and I am VERY proud to report that my parents now say that they shouldn't have listened to the experts and pursued ASL for me. My mom actually wants to learn ASL with me!!!!!!! (My dad knows some as his cousin whom I've never met is Deaf and went to Clarke way back when, and my sis knows ASL too as her best friend (who was our next door neighbor) when we were very little was Deaf...AH MAN! If we hadn't moved,when I was seven I would be totally fluent in ASL! )
If you have any great stories of hearing parents realizing that it's not an "either or" language choice for their deaf/hoh kids, post them here!
I also know of a little girl who has a severe loss, and her mother went to college to become an interpreter!!!! (and for you lurkers yes, Olivia is also learning spoken English)
Oh, and I am VERY proud to report that my parents now say that they shouldn't have listened to the experts and pursued ASL for me. My mom actually wants to learn ASL with me!!!!!!! (My dad knows some as his cousin whom I've never met is Deaf and went to Clarke way back when, and my sis knows ASL too as her best friend (who was our next door neighbor) when we were very little was Deaf...AH MAN! If we hadn't moved,when I was seven I would be totally fluent in ASL! )
If you have any great stories of hearing parents realizing that it's not an "either or" language choice for their deaf/hoh kids, post them here!