Path: utzoo!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!yale!bunker!hcap!hnews!385!14.0!Ann.Stalnaker
From: Ann.Stalnaker@p0.f14.n385.z1.fidonet.org (Ann Stalnaker)
Newsgroups: misc.handicap
Subject: Re: Sign languages
Message-ID: <18103@bunker.UUCP>
Date: 15 Mar 91 04:43:41 GMT
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Index Number: 13943

[This is from the Silent Talk Conference]

 > Hi, Ann.  I'd like to respond to this one...Part of the
 > problem why so many deaf people have poor reading and
 > writing skills is because the majority come from hearing
 > families and have not had a good language base to begin
 > with.  If they could use ASL as their first language and
 > use a bilingual approach to learning English, that would
 > be very effective because they would have a language base
 > to work on.  Also, many parents need to be educated about
 > the options available for their children.  Too many parents
 > learn only about the medical or pathological viewpoint
 > of deafness, instead of the cultural aspect of it.

I think you will find that parents are beginning to think of what
is best for their child regardless of medical or pathological
viewpoints - however, it does not hurt to have the child fully
tested before going futher in whatever steps they may want to
take.

I'm fully aware of the opinions of most parents with deaf children
in Oklahoma and you'd be surprised what they are pushing for -
most want their children to be trained in lipreading with speech
therapy even if they have to use ASL/SEE-2 as their first language.
My point is that it can be done but unfortunately it is not always
followed up as it does require many years of training and a great
deal of patience on the parents part.

--
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