—KATIJA
"I became deaf at the age of 3 1/2. The cause is not certain, but is attributed to spinal meningitis, scarlet fever, or mega-doses of medication when I was ill with those two. I usually say it's from spinal meningitis, though. My whole education was at a school for the deaf. I graduated in the mid 70's.
Now, I wanted to make a few points on ASL and English skills.
1. I'm tired of people blaming ASL for a deaf person's so-called lack of English skills. The fact is, until relatively recently, ASL wasn't taught in the classroom. To cite my own experience as an example, it was all oral until the 3rd grade. I remember I was shocked to find that teachers could sign. Yes, we signed out of the classroom and we picked it up from the older students. Later it went from fingerspelling (yes the whole class) then total communication, but not ASL.
Back to ASL being taught in the classroom, by this I mean taught as a language, like English, French, or whatever other foreign language. It is my understanding that a deaf person's understanding of ASL as a language, that is, grammar, syntax, etc, helps reinforce their English grammar.
If you haven't done so, do read Oliver Sack's Seeing Voices or Harlan Lane's When the Mind Hears to better understand the history of deafness in America. I believe that 1800-1912 was the Golden Age of the deaf in America. It was during this period that deaf people were esteemed members of society and they were highly educated. In later decades, they fell to the bottom rung. (hint: it was the suppression of sign language).
2. There is no one-size-fits-all approach to educating a deaf child. I've met many deaf people from all walks of life. By that, I mean oralists, cued-speech users, ASL, SEE, etc, and varying degrees of hearing, speech, etc. Some have good English skills and others have poor English skills, regardless of language or method used, or their degree of hearing/speech, so one can't make a blanket statement that this approach or that approach is the best. It's been my observation that one is usually biased towards whatever method they grew up with. Naturally, I'm more biased towards ASL. Different strokes, different folks. If it works for you or your child, good for you. Early language acquistion is key. Bear in mind that babies can sign much earlier than they can speak.
3. Good English skills does not an intelligent person make. Someone referred to a deaf person writing a letter and how it sounded like it was a foreigner. Well, duh! ASL is considered a foreign language and is offered as such at many universities and colleges. That person's implication seems to be that the letter writer was not intelligent. Have you ever seen Wolfgang Puck on the food tv network? He doesn't have very good English grammar (he's from Austria), but I wouldn't consider him unintelligent.
I had to make one more small point. SEE is not even a true language, but a method. I believe Dr. Sacks compares it to speaking two languages at the same time. But again, if it works for you, okay."
—CHEANNE4
"I expected alot of opposition as it is a divisive issue in the deaf community. I was suprised to find some who support my view that ASL doesn't teach English skills. First of all, I must clarify some points on my opinion. In endorsing this view I do not in any way oppose ASL , the Deaf community, and their accomplishments. The truth is that many deaf students possess weak writing skills. Due to the move away from a oral society, writting skills do affect people's judgements, especially in the hearing community. This may be right or wrong but writting is here to stay.
The deaf could have brilliant ideas and express them convincingly and throughly in live presentation with signs, gestures, expressions and acting skills, yet when it comes to writing, the deaf tend to lag behind. The skills of oratory and public speaking, once valued by the Roman and Greeks have faded unfortunately. The deaf community could use their natural skills in acting to bring the return of a lost tradition. Whenever possible, the deaf individuals should take advantage of any public opportunity to present their material on stage. The creativity of a visual performance may just win over an audience better than any peice of skilled writting. At Deaf Way II at Galludet I wittnessed some excellent performers that can break the line that divides the deaf from the hearing community.
Like certain forms of visual acting, English is a international language that allows a Russian to communicate with an American, a deaf person to communicate with the rest of the world on paper. Regardless of the method used to learn English, the deaf community should stress the importance of English as a international language. ASL preserves cultural unity in the deaf community, English opens the door to international unity. Both are important.
