ASL vs English
Tuesday October 25, 2005
My daughter is HOH. She is somewhat verbal, but prefers to communicate with sign. I have been in a battle with her school to get her an interpreter. She has a Deaf Educator who is insisting that ASL cannot be used by a person who is HOH, but only by Deaf people. My daughter has always voiced and written in ASL word order. They are refusing to teach her in anything but English, using a combination of ASL and English signs based on what is convenient for them. They also claim that ASL cannot be written. My daughter struggles a great deal with English, but learns very quickly in ASL.
Could you please help me with some positive feedback on teaching English using ASL concepts, examples of how people in the Deaf Community use ASL for written correspondence, and the benefits of teaching a HOH child Social Studies, History, Science, etc. using an ASL interpreter?...
—MomsBakery
Comments
Deaf Educator obivously learns nothing becuase she/he should knows better that ASL is for Deaf and Hard of Hearing people since ASL is part of Deaf AND Hard of Hearing culture. You can take your battle with school to get your daugther an interpreter into court because accordin’ to ADA or some law, it’s required for school to provide an interpreter for deaf and hard of hearing. I would encourage you to get “interpreter problem” into court if you know there is such as law that required above.
Frankly, I think she needs to learn how to write properly in English structure and grammar because she needs that for real world. Without that skill, she will get complete lost in higher education level and world because she will never understands everything in real-life in English since she would learn in ASL form for whole her life.
However, you can teach her how to write in English such as have her write a journal about her day daily and correct her written. It would be great. All you need is patience and time for her.
TEACH HER ENGLISH (READING AND WRITTING)! SHE WILL NEED IT WHEN SHE IS OLDER. THERE ARE SO MANY STORIES OF PEOPLE WITH DISABLITIES OVERCOMMING THEM AND BECOMMING SUCESSFUL PROUD PEOPLE. LET YOUR DAUGHTER BE ONE OF THEM.
Take the battle to court! The natural language for the Deaf and HOH is ASL. Use ASL in all subjects, except in English class. It is easier to use your daughter’s knowledge of ASL to teach her English, just as they do for ESL students! If she is in Science class, why does she need to know English? Let her use her natural language and learn the concepts of Science. Then, in the Deaf Education room, teach her how some concepts would be said in English, just as they do with ESL students. Using ASL knowledge to teach English is a great way for your daughter to be truly bi-lingual. As a Deaf college student, I think all Deaf should learn core subjects in native language, then use that knowlede to teach the child English. Seems to have worked for me.
If you go to court, YOU MUST SHOW THAT YOUR CHILD IS NOT RECEIVING ANYTHING FROM HER CURRENT EDUCATION. You must have proof that she cannot make progress on the IEP if she has one. If she does not have an IEP you need to show you child is not receive a fair education compared to her hearing students.
Hi there,
I read what you said. I am deaf-hard of hearing myself. I speak very well because it was included in my IEP. Let’s me give you a little background information. I went to an oral and sign language mainstream school in first grade, then repeat first grade at an oral mainstream school through sixth grade, and lived at a resident school for the deaf from 7th grade jump to high school, and a Liberal Arts College for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing.
Finally, I attended two universities by using two sign language interpreters, note takers in most of my classes, communicate with professors before class for a “classroom modification” when come to group session, and a real time captioned for homework review.
Anyways, if you have a family member or a friend who is pursuing higher learning, be really careful out there! In life between ASL and English, it is an opportunity to seek through the “Saint Peter Gate” for the hearing impaired people to reach their potentials. For instance, equal access for ASL is a picture learning to view analogy and much more, learning English apply to communicating with people everyday in writing and verify the message as you hear the sounds from experienced.
My suggestion is to find a person that is willing to coexist and empower his or her learning that will take place to become sucessful.