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From: Robin.Chronister@f429.n275.z1.fidonet.org (Robin Chronister)
Newsgroups: misc.handicap
Subject: Re: Asl as a natural langu
Message-ID: <18494@bunker.isc-br.com>
Date: 4 Apr 91 04:03:56 GMT
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[This is from the Silent Talk Conference]

> eliminate English in favor of ASL. This was said despitethe fact that
> we repeatedly said that English and ASL are both an inseparable part
> of the Deaf Community for day to day survival and interaction with
> mainstream society and for interaction among "our people." We

I have often thought that one of the problems is that we have to fit two
languages into the same "space" - in that ASL is an American language,
but that English is the language of the country.  Does that make sense
at all?  I don't think I am expressing this very well.
  Hearing people tend to see that many deaf people have difficulty with
English, yet they are Americans, so they should "talk American."  I have
heard a lot of the same types of derogatory remarks about ASL, and the
people making them don't seem to be able to grasp the concept that ASL
is a beautiful language in its own right - separate from English in the
same way that French or Spanish are separate.  When I first learned to
sign, SEEII was what I was taught, and I didn't know anything about ASL.
 I have often regretted that, because my ASL skills are poor.  I do okay
with the younger children, because we converse slowly, and the material
I interpret is easy.  I am lost among adults, however, and I have a long
way to go before I can pass my state interpreter screening.  I really
resent the biased view I was presented in my early classes, and I can
only imagine how frustrating it must be for the Deaf Community to have
to deal with the attitudes of the educators.
   I think that if hearing people had to cope with a reversal of the
situation - where they were in the minority and forced to learn another
language in order to deal with the majority, they would not do as well
as the Deaf Community has done.  That "I am better than you" attitude
can be hard to shake!
   I hope that the deaf staff in your school is able to hold on, and
continue to teach as you have been.  Any child, hearing or deaf, needs
communication - and it is criminal to deny them that!

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