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”.

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.

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?

Hearing people just seem to think they know every-thing. Then, when we prove them wrong, they become defensive and deny everything!!!

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.