— About Visitor
"I have a friend who is profoundly deaf, and her main means of communication is ASL. But, she uses perfect grammer, when she writes. So yes, I think that the deaf can benefit from learning both proper english, and ASL."
— About Visitor
" I read your paper about deaf people learning to at least write in english. I tend to agree with you. Most people don't realize the importance of being able to understand the dominant language. If you think about it most people who "make it" in america today can write the language. In my opinion it would be very benifical to the deaf world to know how to write the language."
— About Visitor
"I am sorry but I disagree with the author. Sign Language is NOT their natural language. Whatever they acquire FIRST is their natural language... which means whatever they LEARN first. You mentioned Cued Speeech... this is a coded system for English. If a child learns Cued Speech, it means the child's first language is English and naturally after some use of Cued Speech, English becomes their natural language. This is the reason why Cued Speech users excel academically. They have no struggles whatsoever with reading or writing because they have been exposed to English just like their hearing peers.
ASL to me is an insult to deaf education. What kind of education are you getting if you can't read the material correctly in the first place? What kind of education are you getting if you can't understand the material? ASL serves as a roadblock in my opinion."
—About Visitor
"ASL is a road block!!? I suppose that the person who said that has no idea the importance of the ability to express oneself. ASL is a natural language, it is beautiful and it is a nessasary means of expression for the Deaf.
ESL students are now being taught in their first language until they are comfortable with their second language before being expected to use the second language only in the classrooms. Do you think that the education system hasn't viewed the pro's and con's before coming up with this system? It is been researched and is now being implemented in schools.
I think that it is easy to state an opinion, but it is much harder to back it up with facts. Most people who are in the Deaf commuinty, or just involved with the Deaf have strong opinions based on how they were taught to believe.
My sister is Deaf, she struggles with English. She has little sign language skills and wasn't taught in ASL. She used lipreading throughout her schooling, and with a little residual hearing was able to pick up some of what she was taught. If she had been first taught with ASL and had a way to fully understand what she was being taught she would have fared much better. She didn't learn any ASL until after she was out of high school, and she never went to college because she wasn't confident enough in any language.
I do keep in mind that each child is different and their needs individual, I still believe that the children need to learn one language first and to feel comfortable and confident with that language before being pushed into learning a different language. ASL is a natural language and when exposed to ASL early on the children do better as students.
If ASL is a roadblock, than what do you assume is the best way for commuinication? At least qualify your statements.
—About Visitor
