You are right, Mountain Man. Before I went deaf I worked with 'special needs' kids. I was told not to encourage use of sign language in two of the kids I worked with...DISPITE the fact that their mothers were trying to teach them sign. I did not stay long at that job, for that and many other reasons. But, unfortuntely, this is a growing problem. When I pointed out to my boss that the parents wanted these kids to sign, she told me quite cooly that (basically, not a direct quote) that these people were uneduacted, poor and didn't know what was best for their kids. Yes, they were poor (that was part of the program), but they knew what they wanted for their children. Both mothers of these kids were deaf, and they signed but they also spoke, obviously, because I was able to communicate with them and at the time I didn't know how to sign anything. I was literally told to ignore the kids when they signed and wait until they verbalized. How wrong was that? How unbelievable is it that people treat children like this?