Why my wife and I want our children to hear and speak a little.

DefLord said:
Actually I work in the IT industry - its simple you don't keep up with technology you WILL find your way out the door. This is why it is essential to keep up with technology and your field. Don't assume what you know will be enough - you have to keep on learning otherwise you will end up unemployed. I have worked in the technology field for over 11 years - and have been blessed. Technology is a rapidly turning environment and there are alot of unemployed individuals deaf and hearing - because they didn't keep up. I have interviewed plenty of candidates and they didn't qualify because they weren't keeping up with technology and were clueless they were still back in the dinosaur ages.
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Yes, skills and ongoing training is becoming more and more important, not just in IT but for any industry really. Many professional bodies (including mine) require their members to do continuous professional development every year as a condition of membership. Agism is less of an issue than it used to be due to the fact that the workforce is becoming smaller but more skills are being required.
 
Fragmenter said:
Doofus, thanks for the post. I appreciate it... I grew up in mainstream schools because my parents refused my wishes to go to a residental school. My father went to a residental school all his life and even he said NO to me.

Looking back, I couldn't be happier with their decision since I can sign ASL fluently yet write sastifactory English.
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And to be able to sign fluently yet have a mastery of written English is a goal Ihave for all deaf children.
 
jackiesolorzano said:
WOW, this is all that I ever want for my oral deaf children. I want to be part of the Deaf community. I do not want them to be rejected. I want people to accept for who they are. This is what I cannot understand why can't both sides accept each other and learn from each other.
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Do you understand that Deaf Culture has at its very foundation the language of signs?
 
jillio said:
Do you understand that Deaf Culture has at its very foundation the language of signs?
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I agree...Growing up, I couldnt interact with people in the Deaf community cuz of my inability to communicate with them. Some of those who had oral skills did try to talk to me but once everyone started signing, they forgot about "interpreting" for me just like heairng people did to me when in a large group..once everyone started chatting away, they forgot to "interpret" for me so in either worlds, I didnt fit in. I didnt fit in anywhere growing up and it sucked!
 
jackiesolorzano said:
You are so right. Both of my children have been raised orally. In middle school they have learn sign language on a social level. My daughter actually interpeters a lot for the parents of her friends. My daughter has a lot of friends that only know sign language. When my daughter and her friends are out alone, my daughter is the one that is interpeting for them in stores and other such places. By my daughter having a soild base in oral language has help her deaf friends that just signs.
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Just a question here....if your daughter is fluent enough in sign to be able to function as a terp, how is it that she is unable to understand a terp in the classroom? That one just doesn't compute.
 
shel90 said:
I agree...Growing up, I couldnt interact with people in the Deaf community cuz of my inability to communicate with them. Some of those who had oral skills did try to talk to me but once everyone started signing, they forgot about "interpreting" for me just like heairng people did to me when in a large group..once everyone started chatting away, they forgot to "interpret" for me so in either worlds, I didnt fit in. I didnt fit in anywhere growing up and it sucked!
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That is exactly what I mean. If you don't know the language you cannot participate in the culture. The cultural experience is transmitted through the language.
 
jillio said:
Just a question here....if your daughter is fluent enough in sign to be able to function as a terp, how is it that she is unable to understand a terp in the classroom? That one just doesn't compute.
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Yea, I thought that too but I think she answered cuz something about a terp not being able to have signs for each word said. Ok..
 
jackiesolorzano said:
Mookie is kind of right it is hard for my children to understand people with heavy accents but this is where we as parents teach our children. .
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I have found that the forgein accents are much much easier to understand then before CI. As for those that I have problems with, well others to have problems with them and the others don't have hearing problems. The more familiar one becomes with someone's speech the eaiser it becomes to understand them. I found that to be true even with HA's.
 
jillio said:
Just a question here....if your daughter is fluent enough in sign to be able to function as a terp, how is it that she is unable to understand a terp in the classroom? That one just doesn't compute.
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OH I don't know, it computes about as much as Shel interpeting for her bother but not being able to be included with a bunch of deaf friends who were ASL only.
 
shel90 said:
Yea, I thought that too but I think she answered cuz something about a terp not being able to have signs for each word said. Ok..
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Yeah...that's why its called "interpreting". There isn't a French word for every English word either, but if you don't undertand French, you can't use it in a social situation either.
 
jag said:
I have found that the forgein accents are much much easier to understand then before CI. As for those that I have problems with, well others to have problems with them and the others don't have hearing problems. The more familiar one becomes with someone's speech the eaiser it becomes to understand them. I found that to be true even with HA's.
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I've noticed that I've an easier time understanding accents too with my CI. However, Indian (Not Native American) accents are still hard for me to understand.
 
jag said:
OH I don't know, it computes about as much as Shel interpeting for her bother but not being able to be included with a bunch of deaf friends who were ASL only.
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Nope, not the same situation at all, because shel was talking about cultural inclusion, not comprehension.
 
jag said:
OH I don't know, it computes about as much as Shel interpeting for her bother but not being able to be included with a bunch of deaf friends who were ASL only.
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Maybe she is distracted by the presence of the teacher?

I could imagine that if one day I became fluent in sign, I would still find it hard to be interpreted for unless it was at a big place such as a packed conference. That's because I would rather focus my attention on the teacher or the person communicating with me than on the interpreter, who is the medium. I always found with teachers in classroom situations that they just don't use words to teach but also tone of voice, body language, the way they look at you and other non verbal messages, since they are talking about a subject that they really know about and is close to their heart. I had some teachers at school that I had such a connection to in that way that I could not imagine having an interpreter there. Maybe your daughter feels she loses that relationship when she is interpreted for?
 
jag said:
OH I don't know, it computes about as much as Shel interpeting for her bother but not being able to be included with a bunch of deaf friends who were ASL only.
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I interpreted for my brother orally using spoken English since I didnt know any sign language myself. Big difference than the question Jillo was asking about Jackie's daughter...
 
R2D2, The first time I used an terp, I had a hard time focusing on the terp as I was used to watching the teacher but now I'm used to having terps for class. I had to learn to focus on the terp instead of the teacher.
 
deafskeptic said:
R2D2, The first time I used an terp, I had a hard time focusing on the terp as I was used to watching the teacher but now I'm used to having terps for class. I had to learn to focus on the terp instead of the teacher.
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Thanks for sharing your experience. I can imagine it would be an adjustment to make if you are used to focussing directly upon the person who is talking. What are you studying by the way?
 
And to be able to sign fluently yet have a mastery of written English is a goal Ihave for all deaf children.
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and also to (if they can) develop oral skills. You know.........maybe if the oral schools were a little more "oral skills as full toolbox", rather then "gotta function like a hearing person", then maybe the Deaf community would accept them better, and they could work together to produce ASL fluent, orally skilled (when needed) literate kids! I know one BIG reason why hearing parents opt for oral, is b/c they think that a TC/bi-bi education doesn't concentrate enough on oral skills.
I really think that tends to be the result of the more gifted speech therapists being attracted to private practice. (the oral school results tend to be skewed b/c its a private school. In other words the private school effect)
Indian (Not Native American) accents are still hard for me to understand.
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LOL.........they are hard to undy for EVERYONE. I had an Indian professor for a class, and EVERYONE used to be like "WTF did you say?"
 
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