Teach Your Children?

adamnjessic

adamnjessic

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I lost my hearing in a car accident 6 years ago and never really learned ASL. No one in my family knew it and none of my friends did, so I just picked up how to read lips. That works fine for me (most of the time). My 11 month old son has failed the hearing screening twice (but opposite ears each time) and the doctor thinks it may just be a fluke. In the event that he is deaf or hoh, should I take the time to learn ASL well and teach him, or should we both rely on reading lips?
 
IMO you both should. No matter how well you can hear by yourself or with devices there will be something missing. ASL will enable you to understand 100% always.
May come useful in many situations for example when your dr have mustache or beard - you can always use an interpreter..

Think of it as of foreing language - you are not losing anything by learning something new, only gaining.

Fuzzy
 
In the event that he is deaf or hoh, should I take the time to learn ASL well and teach him, or should we both rely on reading lips?
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The debate really shouldn't be about methodology. It's always great to have a second language! If he's hoh he'll probaly be able to master spoken language pretty easily, but as I said before, it's always nice to have a second language. He'll have a fuller communication toolbox if he learns Sign as well. Plus I mean most of the time hoh kids just get boring old Hearing Health 101.....
If he's deaf then the debate is speech vs. sign for the first language.
But, sign is good for ANY kid who's dhh! You always hear about kids/parents who say they wish they'd done Sign at an early age.
 
I think it's just a fluke because he's just a baby. Your child can't be possibly have your hearing loss from a car accident unless you born deaf or hoh.
 
I realize he didn't get the hearing loss from me. It's just coincidence.

Does anyone have suggestions on learning ASL. I took classes in college, but I have the vocabulary so they bored me learning things like the alphabet and simple words, but I do not know enough for advanced classes. When I lived in Maine and went to local deaf and hoh events, I picked it up really fast, but here in G'ville, there doesn't seem to be much going on.
 
One thing I should add is that I am teaching Adam what I know (simple phrases). I get a huge kick out of it when he is loud and banging one second :hyper: and then sitting quietly reading a book the next :angel: . People don't realize that I signed to him and they think he is just amazingly well behaved.
 
adamnjessic,

I am not suggesting that you not learn ASL. I would suggest, if I may, that you look into Cued English/Cued Speech.

Cued Speech is a visual communication system that uses eight handshapes in four different placements near the face in combination with the mouth movements of speech to make the sounds of spoken language look different from each other.

Explanation:

The cueing of a traditionally spoken language is the visual counterpart of speaking it. Cueing makes available to the eye(s) the same linguistic building blocks that speaking avails the ear(s). Until the advent of cueing, the term spoken language accurately described what had been the only way of distinctly conveying these building blocks: speaking. In fact, until that time, the sounds of speech and the building blocks were thought of as one and the same.

Nevertheless, speaking is simply a process of manipulating tongue placement, breath stream, and voice to produce a sound code that represents these building blocks. The blocks are assembled by way of the stream of sounds produced by these manipulations. Cueing is a process of manipulating handshapes, hand placements, and non-manual signals to produce a visible code representing the same building blocks. The blocks are assembled by way of the stream of cues produced by these manipulations. Because cueing is the visible counterpart of speaking, cued language is the visible counterpart of spoken language.
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http://www.cuedspeech.org/sub/cued/definition.asp

If you have any question you can pm me. :)
 
I agree that it's probably a fluke, especially since the "loss" keeps switching ears. It's more likely that the ear is a little stopped up. Up until children are 18-24 months old, their eustachain (sp?) tube -- that tube between the ear and nasal passages -- is straight across; it doesn't slope towards the nose as it does in adults. That's one reason babies get so many ear infections.

I think it would make sense to begin learning ASL and teaching it to Adam. That way you're prepared if he does have a hearing loss, or if you're hearing should worsen. Best case scenario: his hearing is fine, and you have enriched both your lives by learning a new language.

I too relied exclusively on lipreading for many years, and it's still my main method of communication with my family and old friends. But because my hearing loss is progressive, I started learning ASL several years ago, and now have made new friends within the Deaf community. We've been teaching my grandson (whose hearing is fine) ASL signs; he knows the signs for milk, more, finish, and bed. It makes dealing with him soooo much easier. Now, instead of throwing his food on the floor when he is finished eating, he signs "finish" and we don't have to go thru all the disciplining and cleaning up his mess.
 
DeafInTX said:
I agree that it's probably a fluke, especially since the "loss" keeps switching ears. It's more likely that the ear is a little stopped up. Up until children are 18-24 months old, their eustachain (sp?) tube -- that tube between the ear and nasal passages -- is straight across; it doesn't slope towards the nose as it does in adults. That's one reason babies get so many ear infections.

I think it would make sense to begin learning ASL and teaching it to Adam. That way you're prepared if he does have a hearing loss, or if you're hearing should worsen. Best case scenario: his hearing is fine, and you have enriched both your lives by learning a new language.

I too relied exclusively on lipreading for many years, and it's still my main method of communication with my family and old friends. But because my hearing loss is progressive, I started learning ASL several years ago, and now have made new friends within the Deaf community. We've been teaching my grandson (whose hearing is fine) ASL signs; he knows the signs for milk, more, finish, and bed. It makes dealing with him soooo much easier. Now, instead of throwing his food on the floor when he is finished eating, he signs "finish" and we don't have to go thru all the disciplining and cleaning up his mess.
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That is what the doctor said. I do teach Adam some signs. I have great vocab and teaching him allows me the opportunity to learn words I wouldn't ordinarily use. I love being able to communicate with him without having to vocalize. Especially when I am talking to a client on the phone (I'm a WAHM) and he is banging the remote on my glass table.
 
adamnjessic said:
I lost my hearing in a car accident 6 years ago and never really learned ASL. No one in my family knew it and none of my friends did, so I just picked up how to read lips. That works fine for me (most of the time). My 11 month old son has failed the hearing screening twice (but opposite ears each time) and the doctor thinks it may just be a fluke. In the event that he is deaf or hoh, should I take the time to learn ASL well and teach him, or should we both rely on reading lips?
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GEt a book on baby signs. Many people who'w babies have no heaaring problems use them early and their childrent actually start signing back earlier then they begin talking. Signing does help some kids get through the period when their verbal expression really lags. He will choose which one works best for him and gradually drop one. If he does have problems hearing you will give him a way to communicate and can concentrate on working on spoken language without having him get frustrated when he can't get his point across verbally.
 
On the other hand, wouldn't it be wonderful if he did turn out to be hoh and grew up with ASL?
loml, most audilogically hoh kids don't need the intensive intervention that deafer kids need. You can do all three with hoh kids, and they will grow up fluent in all the tools.
 
Oh... Adam signs a lot! He used his first sign of more at about 5 months old and signed mom shortly after that. He uses about 15 signs and understands MANY more. I love being able to communicate so freely with him. He uses some vocal words, but mostly just uses his own secret Adam language. I think sometimes he signs in his own secret language. He just looks so intentional when he uses his hands. It's so cute... he even signs to the dog!
 
I think it is great idea to anyway teach your children to sign even if they themselves don't have hearing loss, but you or anyone in the family have.
I don't sign but if I did I would like my hearing kid to sign too.

Fuzzy
 
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