Hearing People Yes, Deaf People NO! ???
Why does it make more sense for hearing people to give advice on how to rear and educate deaf children rather than for deaf people to offer such advice? One would think it best to ask those with personal experience. What makes hearing people more qualified than deaf people? Who told the parents to disregard the views of Deaf people?
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AGB Association and those of similar ilk, including cochlear implant corporations, have been aggressive in recruiting doctors, speech pathologists, and oral educators in promoting oralism. They have been known to send people to the homes of parents with recently identified deaf babies to explain to them the benefits of oralism while claiming that sign language hurts the development of verbal and aural skills.
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Yet, when deaf people attempt to educate the public by spreading leaflets showing that hearing babies are encouraged to sign while deaf babies aren’t permitted to enjoy the same benefits, they are faced with heavy criticism.
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What gives? Did I miss the memo?
Why does it make more sense for hearing people to give advice on how to rear and educate deaf children rather than for deaf people to offer such advice? One would think it best to ask those with personal experience. What makes hearing people more qualified than deaf people? Who told the parents to disregard the views of Deaf people?
Â
AGB Association and those of similar ilk, including cochlear implant corporations, have been aggressive in recruiting doctors, speech pathologists, and oral educators in promoting oralism. They have been known to send people to the homes of parents with recently identified deaf babies to explain to them the benefits of oralism while claiming that sign language hurts the development of verbal and aural skills.
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Yet, when deaf people attempt to educate the public by spreading leaflets showing that hearing babies are encouraged to sign while deaf babies aren’t permitted to enjoy the same benefits, they are faced with heavy criticism.
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What gives? Did I miss the memo?
August 19th, 2007 at 8:52 am
Me too, I thought the same.
Something is not right here… that Deaf people’s attempt to educate the public are trampled, chewed and spitted all over the place!
I cannot believe the mindset of hearing folks, especially the ones who deemed “know the best for poor deaf children” armed with one-sided research, flawed rhetoric, and relentless rants, which were HEARD by clueless parents, AND IGNORING US!
Glad you wrote this entry, and you nailed it!
Amy Cohen Efron
August 19th, 2007 at 9:23 am
Yeah, you’re absolutely accurate about the doctors and educators do actively discourage the parents from seeking out the deaf community. That is WRONG of them!
Spreading out leaflets in public is okay, but in the long run it’s not very effective. It also depends what is written in the leaflets.
My suggestion is to set up numerous websites, explaining in an impartial manner, as much as you can, about deafness itself, and the general consensus on what method generally works best for that range of deafness. Emphasize that it is truly the parents’ decision, that no one size fits all and the deaf community is here to provide support, resources and feedback if needed. If you guys say that, people will respect that message and take it more seriously.
Keep your message positive is the key. The doctors and educators are telling hearing parents that the deaf community are just full of angry failures who will criticize the parents at every turn. So don’t prove the doctors and educators right! That’s why I keep saying keep your message positive.
August 19th, 2007 at 9:35 am
As far as I can see that the AG Bell are calling themselves irking and their own mindsets. They have never opened their hearts to the educators, doctors, speech pathologists and others. However, we have shown that we have opened our doors to the people who accepted themselves, unless, the AG Bell must let the people go.
White Ghost
August 19th, 2007 at 9:39 am
Yes, that’s absurd how the hearing people treats us….for the last 35 years, I have seen that. I tried to speak out only to get into trouble. I may be the most hated guy in town (St. Louis where 4 oral schools are). The mold was broken on August 14, 1972 when I went to Gallaudet University. I was in shock and awe….and I came home to St. Louis to share.. I was criticized and oppressed. My old oral school principal was unhappy with my choice. I was her favorite pet…when she told me that, I told her I had no choice when hearing universities turned me down on account of my deafness…then I told her I lost respect for her and walked away.
It seems like we are “cursed” and I have been often criticized by other deaf peers for not respecting the hearing people when they practiced “audism”. I have been trying to tell those peeps about audism only to be punished and snubbed. Now the same people are realizing about deafhood and audism….it seems that they are bunch of hypocrites as the way they treated me years ago……they are just like ostriches sticking their heads in sand when deaf issues fly by.
I remember when I was teenager and I tried to tell deaf peers about what we can do. They run to hearing people to get “ok” or ” be approved”. I told them that was ridiculous having to depend on hearing people. This is how and why the play and movie came out, “The Children of A Lessor God” – it is a perfect example.
I remember years ago Marcella Meyer from GLAD in LA said most deaf look up to hearing people as “white father”. It is a kind of analogy that she used to try to break the dependence on hearing people.
Again and again, it is same story in residential schools where hearing people ran schools and they use “gossip”, “rumors” and “slandering” to discredit any deaf students who tried to stand up and demand change.
But lastly, I respect this guy, the late Dr. Edward Merrill, (hearing) Gallaudet University President when he tried to advocate for the deaf. His famous statement in the early 1970′s were something like this. “You can’t hire Japanese teachers without background in English to teach American kids.” He was using it to try to tell the public that they can’t hire hearing teachers without background in ASL to teach deaf children. I cannot remember exact words he said.
So it is time for the truth to prevail on the abuses of deaf education the last 127 years!! AGBAD is to be tried for its crimes against deaf humanity!
Paul
August 19th, 2007 at 9:53 am
Hearing people have more education and experiences. It’s natural for hearing parents to listen to the experts as they have more credentials. After all, they speak the same language.
Hearing parents don’t want their kids to sign. They want their children to become hearing, so they can function in the real world. Capisce?
You have a problem with that? Go after the medical doctors, speech therapists, and audiologists for not being completely truthful with the hearing parents.
August 19th, 2007 at 9:55 am
Addendum to my statement:
At one heated discussion with oral school teachers, I was debating about how they took advantage of deaf children. They said it was the parents who want that kind of education. I told them no… it was their game of pulling the wool over their eyes. They got mad at me. It was the truth… why lie to parents? It is same lie perpetuated for 127 years!
August 19th, 2007 at 10:06 am
Yeah I mentioned in my previous comments that many hearing parents don’t want to listen to us, they keep arguing that their deaf child is doing fine and et centra. I’ve seen this kind of comment from some hearing parents on various blogs/vlogs – so its not us being angry deaf people, it is because hearing parents think they know what’s best for their deaf child.
I wish we could set up a museum where deaf history is shown along with oralism, deafhood and so-called “cures”, interviews with ex-oralists on videotapes, and ASL users. That would be great, we could educate a lot of hearing parents, the general public and professionals. I just went in a museum in Boston a few weeks ago and it was inspiring and I thought we should do the same for deaf people.
August 19th, 2007 at 10:20 am
This is one of the big reasons I retired after “only” 25 years at the deaf school. Protocol required me to kiss too many parent behinds, when they had no idea what they were doing. Doing an IPP or an IEP with a parent who has no clue and continues to whine and complain really galled me, I was ready to lose my patience! So I left at age 58 and hoped that the younger generation could make a dent in these people.
I had one parent of a 16 year old deaf boy, a highly intelligent kid, and she was puzzled as to why her son threw temper tantrums as a child! She waited 14 years to find out! Another grandmother of two children with Ushers showed no interest in researching Ushers, or finding out more about it so she could follow and understand the program.
I guess I should write a book. Thanks for bringing up this topic.
Lantana
August 19th, 2007 at 10:41 am
In reality, number 0f Deaf professionals are very limited choices compare to AGBell’s doctors, cohllear implant advocates, pathogolists, oral educators. speech therapy and other who are involved with speech or oralism have more resources due to money where they can afford to spread all gospels very aggressively where they can take advantage over limited Deaf professionals who try to educate is very limited due to money. Tell me where are high income people who can afford to invest that matters? ASL or Deaf cultures are your personal’s choice! I can understand how painful our Deaf community have been struggling in very hard way.
August 19th, 2007 at 10:44 am
Wait! White, rich men get angry when the situations don’t go their own and people call them strong leaders who know how to get what they need. However when minorities get angry, we are alled whining people who can not accept what is a reality when that reality is what we are so angry about! Yes, we can and will write out, lecture, and v/blog with cold logic on our side but there is also such a thing as pathos in standard debate as well!
August 19th, 2007 at 11:12 am
Excellent, thought-provoking point, Mishka Zena!
It reminds me of something that happened 10 years ago. A group of successful, signing deaf adults were asked to give testimonials at an IU board meeting. At that IU, academic programs for the deaf were oral only.
Half of the parents wanted to add ASL to the program. The other half were opposed. The IU itself was opposed but tried to appear politically correct by giving everyone a venue to express their opinions.
When it was my turn to speak, I did just that: speak. I talked with my voice, hands down, while an ASL intepreter translated for the deaf audience. I did this to make a point.
As I voiced, I politely thanked everyone for the opportunity to share an opinion. I cant remember exactly what I said but it was along the lines of “As you can see, I could be what you would call an oral success. I’m a graduate of one of the toughest high schools in Philadelphia. I’m glad to be here.”
You could see the oralist supporters’ faces beaming. I was emulating precisely the hearing ideal that they wanted. That’s when I pulled the rug out from them, of course.
“But as happy as I am to be able to talk with you, it would be IMPOSSIBLE to participate in this very important board meeting without that interpreter over there who happens to be signing in ASL. No matter how much you get me to talk, I’m still deaf. I need the ASL to be able to understand you and participate in this meeting. And without my ASL interpreter, I never would have graduated from my hearing high school. What Im trying to say is, ASL was a BRIDGE to the hearing world, not a barrier. I would have failed without it.”
The room went totally silent. It was an awkward silence. You could see clearly that NONE of the oral-only supporters could come up with a rebuttal to what I’d just said.
After the pause, somebody said something totally off-base and it was like everything I said was erased from memory. Other deaf people stood up and made equally powerful points, as did parents of deaf children who realized they wished they had an opportunity to incorporate ASL a long time ago. One such parent became emotional and remarked that her child had lost valuable years of learning because no one gave her access to ASL.
The end result? The formatiom of an ad hoc committee that led to… nothing.
I’ll never forget it. Our message simply wasn’t welcome.
And this is just one reason why the Deaf Bilingual Coalition has my support. I hope we all, together, can share more stories, websites, blogs, and vlogs… we simply cant allow ourselves to be brushed under the rug anymore.
Drolz
August 19th, 2007 at 11:18 am
You know, sometimes trying to keep on cheerleading positive notes do not always work. Think about class suit against AGB, CI corps, associations that either promote oralism only or are being coquettish about signing.
NAD, DBC with good lawyers and plenty of evidences sure can shake parents and public full wide awake.
Deaf Pundit we love you but..we gotta be mean and we will like to hear your advice how we can be properly mean. ;^)
August 19th, 2007 at 11:24 am
I think it all hinges on fear and ignorance. Parents of newborn deaf children are afraid and start off being very ignorant about deaf issues.
There is a whole class of professional people who earn a great deal of money exploiting this fear and ignorance. They won’t tell you that, or maybe they themselves would consciously deny it, but subconsciously they allow it to continue.
These are the same people who promote the propaganda about separatism and the myth about loss of hearing creating a tragic “separation” between the deaf person and “the rest of the world.” All this is myth and distorted stereotypes.
It seems that culturally Deaf people are the last group of people on earth to be accepted as moral equals. African Americans achieved a breakthrough in the 1960′s, but culturally Deaf people are still in the process of demanding recognition as moral equals.
August 19th, 2007 at 11:50 am
Brian is right….this is when and where as a last resort deaf militancy comes in. Most people look down on this subject of militancy. It means to be aggressively active in perservering the rights of the deaf. I am not talking about bombing and arresting them. Not my department.
I am talking about turning tables on those audists and demand the truth and full disclosure! I do mean FULL DISCLOSURE!
We have to argue that the audists are the one hampering our access to communications. They are to be tried for their crimes! We need to be combative in our beliefs so it means stop brownosing them, stop kissing their behinds, and stand up for what we want and what we believe is proper avenue for the deaf.
Frankly, I am tired of being nice, tolerant and polite when those audists are robbing our lives! How much longer do we need to bear with it? Enuf is Enuf!
We do have pride in being D/deaf! We need to assert our position in the hearing world and it even means putting your hand to one ear and other hand up in the air to raise a fist! That’s what African Americans did. Women did that. Gays did that. Latin Americans did that. So how much time do we have left?
Let’s swing our support behind Deaf Bilingual Coalition! I wish NAD did that a long time ago! No offense, but it is time to dig our heels in! Get busy and get the job done!
My favorite quote is “Audism spreads while good Deaf people do nothing!”
August 19th, 2007 at 12:13 pm
LOL. Nice to know I’m loved by some.
Actually, I fully support lawsuits. The protests aren’t the right tactic in this situation. We do need to go after the professionals who are deliberately spreading misinformation. That’s a battle we can win.
Arguing with the parents isn’t a battle that we can win. One of my rules is always choose a battle that you CAN win.
But first, we need to do our research. Find the misinformation they’re spreading, document it.. Gather it, then have DBC, NAD and other like-minded organizations hire a competent attorney and sue their pants off. You do have the right idea there, Name withheld.
August 19th, 2007 at 12:23 pm
It’s like an ongoing sense of entitlement. They feel they studied books and obtained degrees, therefore, they are the experts. Naw, it constitutes bias to me. Must factor in the socio-cultural experiences to broaden one’s awareness away from “pity and cure” attitudes.
August 19th, 2007 at 12:34 pm
Brian is right. Fear is a marketable commodity. Perhaps we should take the following advertising approach:
“Have you ever got the sense that no matter how hard your deaf child tries, he’s always one step behind? Is he feeling left out? Are you seeing subtle hints of underlying anger? Do you realize there are actual physical symptoms manifesting from the stress of trying to be hearing? Do you see a successful future for your child, if, for the next 10 years, he can’t understand his teachers?…”
Segue into a promotion of ASL and 100% accessibility, early language acquisition and equality/acceptance amongst peers…
Drolz
August 19th, 2007 at 12:39 pm
Deaf pundit..(blushing) may I seduce you?
Your forever secret admirer
August 19th, 2007 at 12:44 pm
Umm been thinking we should stand in the loooong line with holding hands somewhere in DC peacefully (From Gallaudet to AGB agency?) and each states. Where are our ASL voice? Enough of Opression here. ASL forever Diane
August 19th, 2007 at 1:29 pm
I’ll like to share you what we have here in Colorado with a state paid program called Colorado Home Intervention Program for families with deaf children. I do respect this program. They have been doing well to include deaf people to work with them as faciliators and mentors for families with deaf – hoh newcomers for years. Signing facialators are paid $40 an hour, pretty close to speech – auditory faciliators with degrees and certifications etc.
They just developed a neat, professional looking manual book for parents with full information from a list of resources, from auditory -speech – non verbal communication – language – to sign language, general language development milestone with all tips, strategies, checklist, to guide everyone involved.
Only two things that are not surprising, all contributors including author except one I do not know for sure are hearing although they are supportive of everything. I have been here for 7 years and I KNEW NOTHING about this manual book being developed. If they had asked me, I could have expanded the section on sign language more substantially like a dvd to show parents and family members ASL signs and grammar they can immediately use when they receive the whole packet. I myself can do filming and editing work including candid interview with deaf – hoh people sharing their experiences. This can be easily added.
One great news about this program, the director of the CHIP Jennie Germano is a fluent ASL signer, a true member of Deaf community with network of ASL signers who have so much to offer.
For more information, visit this web.
CHIP resources for families with deaf members
August 19th, 2007 at 1:40 pm
Anne-Marie,
You wrote: “I myself can do filming and editing work including candid interview with deaf – hoh people sharing their experiences. This can be easily added.”
Hope you will show your film on your vlog,
“MesaASL,” in the near future.
August 19th, 2007 at 1:53 pm
Deaf Pundit,
Agreed! Doing research is of utmost
importance to avoid not only a blunder
but also an embarrassment.
August 19th, 2007 at 2:02 pm
ROFL at #18. I don’t think my girlfriend would like that very much.
Jean, yup. You got it. It also would spare us from being labeled as ignorant angry deaf. We need to present information in a cool, professional manner, and use the rules of the game. Then we’ll get somewhere. Use your anger to build, not destroy.
August 19th, 2007 at 2:18 pm
Jean, I am already thinking about it. So much to do!!
I just edited Noam’s prototypical sign at 7 month old with my explanation about hand babbling and prototypical sign, poof! The movie maker snapped out and I lost all of my editing work :^\ but I do still have video footages, I need to find time again!
About half hour ago, Noam used a second new prototypical sign while we had our lunch. My husband showed him his favorite toy, he raised both hands and close/open both hands several times very clearly. We assume he meant “Yes yes I want to play with it”.
August 19th, 2007 at 3:14 pm
Fear and ignorance always dominate hearing family’s mentality when they find out their baby is deaf! They are upset and run to wrong information about what to do about having a deaf baby! Money always buy the best for that Deaf child not Deaf poeple culturally! African American people earn higher incomes yet they do the same what White people do to that Deaf child. I point out the money always play great in their thought no matter what. Simple they look the money what is the “BEST” for their Deaf child because they invest with the money and get result they look for! They do not care about culture or language. They want is can hear and talk, It is very hard fact. Deaf people will have to work hard to promote in process of their recognition ecomically!
August 19th, 2007 at 4:30 pm
Part of the problem is this: All these doctors, audiologists, et al most often have a doctorate degree attached to their names, so in hearing world, a degree means much more than a lifetime of experience of any number of deaf individuals. If a deaf individual does not have a doctorate degree, that person is disregarded by the so-called professionals in the medical field. Parents tend to respect those with the title “Dr.”
A friend of mine who works in the Infant Hearing Program tells me that when parents ask her questions about whether ASL will improve their speech skills, she tells them yes, and explains about the impact of L1 on the development of L2. However, as often happens, a social worker tells parents the opposite, and that ASL should be banned, the parents listen to that professional. One of the issues here is that my friend does not have a master’s degree. Therefore deaf babies get implanted quickly. The result: I see more kids come to deaf schools with little language by the time they are kindergarten age. This is a source of anger for me both as a deaf individual, and as an educator.
August 19th, 2007 at 5:21 pm
Right on, Shelly Potma’s statement is very straightforward truth! Being with the fine reputation can do anything whether is wrong or right. Docrates people often get what they get the result. I agree with Shelly Potma. They can twist all facts example question- ASL can improve the speech skills? The number of hearing parents often listen and look up the people with doctrates presitigous or fine reputations! That is one of biggest problems.
August 19th, 2007 at 8:06 pm
As a hearing person with a child who may be deaf or may be autistic…i am trying to reach out to the deaf community and finding it hard….I wish someone would reach out and tell me this will this won’t work. Here let us help you learn sign language let us answer your questions…if he is deaf the deaf community is the best to help me…if he is autistic your still the best…autism is a language issue he will need a visual language to enjoy life….part of its my fault having one vehicle doesn’t help but there are few place to turn to get a deaf persons opinion…to interact with someone who signs who is deaf or hoh…deaf chat is twice a month last month there were no meetings this month i didn’t have a car for the first one not sure when there is a second one…i don’t know where else to go but if you want to give me tips please do so. i am eager for help begging for help…
i have no clue as to if he knows the sign red refers to the color not the object..how do you teach that…books oh my god could someone please tell me how to make books interesting to him…i’ve tried reading he closes the book on my hand…i’ve tried reading to myself in front of him no success…he will look at the book he will look at the pictures by himself but not with me…please tell me where to turn…how do i know what he understands and what he doesn’t…i tried to teach him the sign for jump…he does it but he does it for everything he wants….i tried teaching more and he will do it but has to be prompted to use that instead of jump…i know the best way to learn is to interact but be realistic a person only has so much time to dedicate to me and my family so name a few hardbound good dictionaries….
june
August 19th, 2007 at 8:54 pm
June:
I am not sure if your child is deaf or autism or both. You could go to http://www.deafautism.com and get in touch with one of these people to give you information about the Deaf community in your area where you can seek assistance. The website is new, but I know these people and they are caring people. They’ll try to help. Either that or find out when is DPHH (Deaf Professional Happy Hour) in your area for you to meet deaf people. This is one good way to develop network and one of them or someone they know will guide you in the right direction what you are looking for.
August 19th, 2007 at 8:55 pm
June,
Don’t give up. There is a lot of help out there if you seek it from the Deaf Community. But you have to be willing to “seek it”. If your state has a Deaf School, make an appointment and have your son evaluated. If not, call MSSD and they can help you. Deaf Schools have professionals that can lead you in the right direction. Not only that, but once you get connected to a Deaf School, you will have the opportunity to meet, interact, and learn from those who do have a lot of the answers. Do this right away as time is important when it comes to language acquisition and for the sake of the sanity of your son and yourself:)
August 19th, 2007 at 9:17 pm
June, here are three links you can try and purhcase dvds to watch and learn signs instantly. Avoid 2-d dictionaries! : )
Baby Signing Time
My Baby Can Talk
My Precious Kid
Which state are you living in? There are state run programs you can try looking at and maybe be able to get a fluent signer come to your home to tutor you and your family. Please let me know which state you live in and I can try look up on the web to see what programs are available for you, your child and all of your family!
It is normal for a child to use one sign for several meanings until before s/he starts separating different signs and associate meanings. Be responsive to his use of sign or some kind of gesture. Repeat it after him/her saying it. Just like you already tried.
August 19th, 2007 at 9:48 pm
Wow, I am thinking, there are good things DBC can do instead of just protesting, lawsuiting etc. I am not saying we do not need to protest, lawsuit, we unfortunately still have to do them.
But DBC can do many good things for example,
Start a website with a list of good resources, video clips of basic baby signs, a video of show how to use eyegaze and tactile for turntaking interaction with babies, video clips of candid interview with different deaf – hoh adults, name good research works, books, dvds, and a list of contact information in each states.
Yes I still agree, we HAVE to keep on kicking hard on bad professionals and organizations’ asses.
August 20th, 2007 at 12:41 am
Ok, finally here is my metaASL on signing for deaf-hoh-hearing no matter any infant’s first year of language development.
A deaf infant starts signing
I wish I can subtitle, it is not really feasible for me right now. I included links for information. Non signers, you can scale to video clips showing how an infant starts signing and also how mom – infant interact.
August 20th, 2007 at 7:24 am
Mishka Zena,
Well said! A friend of mine, a hearing interpreter, gave me her theory of why would hearing parents turn to other hearing people, the so called experts. The theory is the communication access. Hearing parents with no knowledge of deaf community and ASL whatsoever find it easier to communicate with the hearing “experts”, thus disregarding the views of deaf people who are more than well-equipped to help.
I have been encountering the same challenges ever since we formed the “Signing Kids”, the hearing parents shied away from us. The friend I mentioned above is an active participant in our organization and has been trying to help break down the communication barriers and try to make the hearing parents comfortable in coming to us for resources. It is a hard work but can be done with persistance and understanding that the hearing parents are not the enemies. They are caught in the middle of crossfire…..they simply just do not know. Can not blame them because they have been approached and persuaded by those hearing experts (with strong emphasis on oralism with the disregard for ASL foundation).
It is up to us to make the difference. We have to keep working. Do not forget the main picture here….deaf children.
August 20th, 2007 at 10:04 am
Well said, MZ…but I don’t think the problem was passing out the leaflets that they were faced with heavy criticisms.
I personally thought the pamphlets was a GREAT idea – but the place of doing it at AGB convention wasn’t a great idea because of timing, planning, organizing, researching and so forth on the protest.
I still think it could have been done better but I don’t have a problem with passing out the pamphlets on the benefits of teaching deaf babies just like hearing babies. I do support that, just disagreeing with where it was done at and from my standpoint of view, it seems like they are only focusing on more protests in order to educate? Please correct me if I’m wrong here. I haven’t been keeping up with DR like I used to.
I really thought Barb DiGi handled herself very well, as well as her daughter; with that angry manager who could have handled it better herself.
I totally agree that the Deaf Community should also educate the hearing parents of deaf children.
August 28th, 2007 at 10:03 am
This is simply a case of hearing people thinking they know everything.
I became totally Deaf at the age of ten and, for the next six years, my sister would try to tell me who was lipreadable.
I, once, told her that, when she can turn off the volume on the television and tell me every word, Walter Cronkite was saying, I’d recognize her as an authority…..NOT UNTIL!!
Hearing people just seem to think they know every-thing. Then, when we prove them wrong, they become defensive and deny everything!!!
August 30th, 2007 at 12:30 pm
Deaf children need some kind of an education,..that is for sure! And the mental health system musn’t be left near any young children, who might just be deaf and NOT retarded or autisitc!!
I won’t tell you about the dozens of young “retards” at Applecreek State Hospital in AppleCreek, Ohio around twenty years, that I can into contact with and those kids weren’t really retards or autistic nor did they have ANY mental problems at all! Those kids were deaf children, who had been “diagnosed” by Hearing psychologists and psychiatrists, who diagnosed them with “oral” testing!!
How can you fairly “test” anyone if they can’t hear the testing? Presto! Magico! Psychologists and psychiatrists have another “zero” IQ kid that they can stuff away in an MR unit or group home and be paid monthly by the state for “treating!”
What a racket!! Diagnose deaf kids with most likely normal or above intelligence as “retarded” and collect money from the state on them for “treating” a non-existant retardation or mental disease!! This STILL is happening!! Don’t let your friendly “mental health” practicioner do it to YOU or to your Deaf child!!
Isn’t there a nonverbal hearing test, given to newborn babies and young children and given in hospitals via EEG or something like that that measures just what the brain is hearing?
September 6th, 2007 at 3:18 am
I think you tread contentious ground, because parents are hearing too, with their own views on things. I doubt anyone here would take kindly to someone else walking in and stating “You don’t know what you are doing or talking about, we’ve been there, you haven’t, let us do the job of educating your child…”
It may sound logicial to a deaf community, it will not look that way to a parent or teacher. Deaf children (And adults for that matter), need to be made aware of the world they live in, which is predominantly a hearing-speaking one, and how, they can cope in that world.
The issue isn’t really how well they communicate between each other, but how well they will be able to communicate elsewhere. Are those within the deaf community (who do not really inter-act much with hearing), best placed to raise that awareness with an impressionable child ?
A lot of ‘role-models’ you do see, are rarely if ever, seen outside the deaf community, so role-modeling WHAT exactly ? it wouldn’t look like integration much. They are happy as they are within a virtual and total deaf area maybe.
For better or worse a parent will wonder “How best can our child be helped to fit in with everyone else ?”, while ‘Deaf’ people will say “You shouldn’t be teaching children to ‘fit in’, if it means there is less emphasis on sign language, or ‘culture’.
There are successful and very able deaf people there is no denying that. There seems less than successful deaf people in the world outside that deaf area, this is the difference isn’t it ? Is the deaf world enough ? For some yes it is, but how many, are actual parents of deaf children ? Statistics (In the UK anyway), state about 1 in every 12…. and an even lower percentage of their children at total and profound level.
September 11th, 2007 at 2:13 pm
MM,
You say: “…who do not really inter-act much with hearing…”
Anyone who reads it is going to see that you are engaging in false stereotypes and that you don’t have a clear picture of the issues.
The “deaf world” is actually very intertwined with the “hearing world” and there is an incredible amount of contact and interaction going on all the time.
For an example, if you said “the music world” and you were talking about composers and singers and ordinary people who attend concerts, you wouldn’t then claim that the people in “the music world” don’t have much contact with the non-music world.
Are you claiming that deaf people who have hearing babies and then they raise them up and lead meaningful family lives, but that they supposedly “don’t have much contact” with them? Deaf students at Gallaudet who have hearing professors (according to you) “don’t have much contact” with them?
You are not bringing enlightenment to the debate when you make such blatantly false comments based on the simple error of equivocating on the meaning of the word “world”.