Thank you for bringing us to the spotlight and opening the eyes and minds of many as to the success that they, too, can have.

Deaf Parent

Interesting observation, yes…

You’d think there would be a bunch of people rooting here.

*shrugs*

What I tried to say is that when you said signing parents, you didn’t mean they are deaf, but they could be hearing, too. all in all, i agree with what you said in last comment.

I know many deaf people like you. Thank you for setting an example. Best wishes in continuing to make a difference.

God bless you.

What I meant in my comment (vid. supra) is that parents, be they deaf or hearing, should learn sign language (see Amy Cohen-Efron’s “The Greatest Irony”). Sign language is deaf children’s natural language. Once they acquire sign language, it is much easier for them to acquire a second language.

I was exposed to sign language and English by Mom and French by Daddy. By the time I entered an oral school at St. Francis Xavier, I read Latin. The teachers, nuns themselves, who were extremely well-educated, noticed la différence between myself and my classmates whose parents had no knowledge of sign language. What happened? The nuns realised that teaching speech would be time-wasting and therefore abandoned speech training and used sign language in the classroom. Results were that the progress was much faster via sign language. We became bilingual in this approach.

Language is numero uno to me because language is the next step to learning (education).

Unfortunately, AGB does not see any value in sign language that helps deaf children make a smooth transition to English. Speech, or oralism, is numero uno to AGB.

When oral children go home, parents, who do not know sign language, do not communicate with them. I have a plethora of anecdotes about non-signing parents and their deaf children, but I will show an example as follows:

1. Isabelle: “Mom, what did Uncle Henry say?”
2. Mom: “Later.”
3. 30 minutes later
4. Isabelle: “Mom, you forgot to tell me what
Uncle Henry said.”
5. Mom: “Oh, I cannot remember.”
6. Isabelle felt left out by her non-signing
family — be the family deaf or hearing.

Interesting, low number of comments.

I’m trying to figure out where did Jean say about deaf and hearing parents, hmm. The signing and non-signing parents do not mean deaf and hearing. Hearing parents could be signers or non-signers. Deaf parents could be signers and, in some case, non-signers. That’s what I understand from what Jean said in her comment.

As long as there is clear communication between parents and their children, that’s what is important in language development (e.g. reading, critical thinking skills, etc etc).

Be careful with your words. Not all deaf children of hearing parents hate reading.

I shall, therefore, take the liberty to say:

ASL is to stay! Yes, ASL is to stay even if babies were implanted.

Jean