Boy, am I sick and tired of all the whining going on in Deaf Blog Land about the A.G. Bell Association of the Deaf.
Look, everyone knows there are two schools of thought in deafness – oral communication and manual communication. So it makes perfect sense that there would be two different organizations to promote the two philosophies – AGBell and the National Association of the Deaf..
I sign and I support ASL, but I’m not going to try and impose my beliefs on others. If people want to join AGBell and support their agenda, more power to them.
This is America. We live in a country where people are free to express their own beliefs.
You people who are attacking AGBell and saying to boycott their sponsors and picket at their meetings remind me of the religious nuts who insist that their own beliefs are the only correct beliefs and everyone else should just die already.
It surely has not escaped my attention that many of the deaf people who have accomplished big things in life – Heather Whitestone, Curtis Pride, Lou Ferrigno, et al – live an oral life.
Where are the manual deafies in the larger world? Marlee Matlin, and then who? No one!
If parents want to raise their kids orally without sign language, it is their right to do so. They are not breaking any laws. You may not agree, but it is not your place to butt in on a private family matter and you should mind your own business!
Similarly, you may not agree with a farm family that puts its kids to work at an early age, but that is their way of life and it’s not our business to stick our noses into their affairs.
Do you think AGBell is going to put up with these attacks forever and do nothing? They could easily decide to picket at the NAD conventions. They could easily decide to launch a boycott of any company that supports the NAD. They could even go to the federal government and say they would do a better job of running the Captioned Media Program and pull it away from the NAD, along with half the NAD’s budget.
(I don’t think they will do any of these things. I think they look at their critics like gnats … unworthy of their time or concern.)
If you think your way is so much better, it should be obvious to other people as well, and there should be no need to try and pull down AGBell. It’s like politicians spending all their time attacking their opponents instead of saying why we should choose them, or people who try to make themselves more popular by putting down other people.
Personally, I disagree with any anti-ASL approach, but it’s like that old saying, “I disagree with what you say, but will defend to the death your right to say it.”
AGBell has the right to promote an oral lifestyle if that is what they choose to do.
If you don’t like it, join the organization and change it from within. Otherwise, shut the hell up!
51 Comments
February 7, 2008 at 12:09 pm
Amen!
February 7, 2008 at 12:16 pm
Tom, I absolutely love this article, and you have every right to publish this. To @ell with the censors.
February 7, 2008 at 1:06 pm
seem u trying to be god lol
February 7, 2008 at 7:27 pm
Dear Sir,
I don’t agree with you what you say too bad!!!1
February 7, 2008 at 8:12 pm
Hey, why didn’t AG Bell leave Pepsi ad alone but instead they demanded it off with such a grief that shows why we are divided! Sorry pal! I didn’t learn sign language till I went to NTID then just a few weeks learned all I can and became proficient in it. I speak so well that I could give a lecture to the audience. I work well with hearing and deaf people. The only problem with AG Bell, like doctors who learned to clone animals and humans, wanted to rid of sign language due to it’s complexity. AG Bell has gone too far and wanted to be god themselves when our true God made us deaf for a good reason. What happen at the tower of Babel, they aimed for perfection and power but God struck them with diversity! Amen! Now I love sign language as my first language rather than speaking. There’s beauty in it!
February 7, 2008 at 8:35 pm
This article has me thinking. Thank-you. I must know consider what I believe, how to form opinions – and do they matter, what I wrote on my ASL 101 papers last semester, and what importance does a historical figure have on my life as a citizen today.
February 7, 2008 at 9:10 pm
I completely agreed with Jeffrey.
I work at a school. I have witnessed many students didn’t learn much when they were forbidden to use ASL. They finally moved to different classes with ASL when they were in 2nd grade or later. They learned better and faster afterwards.
I have talked with other teachers from different schools around here. They all said same. ASL works best. We care for their self-esteem, their own identification, their mental health, their leadership… I could go on. There are more famous Deaf people who use ASL. For example, Dr. Robert Davila graduated from California School for the Deaf at Berkeley that uses ASL method. There are so many Deaf people who are successful with their jobs and have good leadership.
People who remove Deaf’s true language and culture are as bad as European who discovered and moved to America robbed Indian’s culture and forced them to speak and dress the European’s way.
February 7, 2008 at 10:13 pm
Should we acknowledge AG Bell’s concept of deafness? Within hearing-loss community, there are two different theories on communication and they are: “Oralism” and “Sign Language” that in which have been the subject of years of debates amoung hearing-loss people. Often people forget about the identity and language of the Deaf Culture.
AGBell seems to forget that the Deaf Culture represent about 400,000 to 500,000 of millions of Americans who live with hearing loss. In fact, the Deaf actually feel they are in the minority and being discriminated by the letter.
While I want to get involved in “deaf/hard of hearing advocacy” like I am involved in Multiple Sclerosis relating to advocacy. Advocacy basically means “is the act of arguing on behalf of a particular issue”. In terms of advocacy, various “deaf” related organizations have various agendas that I need to carefully study before I make any determination regarding how I feel about them. I understand the logic of this action but I disagree with this action. At least, we are “educating” the public about the deaf culture whether or not Alexander Graham Bell Association agree with this or not. The hard of hearing population is remarkably diverse because there are differences in communication preferences, the use of assistive devices (i.e. hearing-aids), knowledge of sign language (i.e. ASL), and many other factors that can make each hard of hearing individuals different. While the Deaf culture basically have one form of communication which is American Sign Language (ASL) and majority of them are in common relating to the Deaf Studies.
At this point, I will NOT leave AG Bell alone until they acknowledge why we are different and that we can work together despite our differences.
February 7, 2008 at 10:52 pm
Just to clarify, I am not supporting AGBell’s position on ASL, I am supporting their right to promote what they believe in, just as we signers have the right to promote our own beliefs.
If you want to win the hearts and minds of people, you should show them why your way is better rather than try to destroy those who have different opinions. That is censorship, plain and simple.
Seems to me that AGBell does a good job of getting its message out, whereas the signing community does not.
Why doesn’t the NAD work with the Ad Council to come up with some public service announcements? Why don’t they put together an info packet, “So Your Baby Is Deaf,” to give out to parents? Why don’t they advertise in parenting magazines?
I feel as if AGBell is secure in their beliefs, and that is why you don’t see them writing a bunch of blog posts against ASL. I feel the signing community is insecure, and that’s why DeafRead is filled with “AGBell waaaa waaaa waaaaa.”
If we really want to show parents of deaf children that signing is better, we need to do something about the 4th-grade reading level and the high unemployment rate and the large number of deafies who are content to subsist on SSD and SSI. Trust me, the deaf community does not look good from the outside.
February 8, 2008 at 12:29 pm
I agree with Tom Willard’s comments. AG Bell stated the facts correctly. Not all deaf use ASL. Just like not all HOH use ASL. The commercial was a good one but it gave an incorrect impression of the communities involved in its tag line.
Everyone has a right to state their opinion in this country. AG Bell has the same right as anyone else. They did not whine, they pointed out facts.
February 8, 2008 at 1:24 pm
Imposing your beliefs on others? AGB just did that. AGB is an organization that subtly supports eugenics. Who are deaf and learns how to speak will only attain up to 95-99% speech and hearing comprehension while deaf who learns through ASL will attain almost 100% comprehension. A difference of several % points make a world of difference! What is your argument for justifying AGB’s existence? You have none except for your own selfish reasons.
And lastly, comparing us to religious nuts is lame. You are talking about 100% full access to language, not some beliefs.
February 8, 2008 at 3:02 pm
I am responding to your recent e-mail message, which led me to your webbed log, which I am responding to, as well. Firstly, I’ve only been receiving DeafWeekly’s messages for little over 2 months. I’ve never read your logs on this site. I also have not followed the discussions you are writing about, so I feel I have no bias. However, maybe a little constructive criticism is in order.
In your e-mail message you called someone a “honcho”, and I think that’s somewhat inappropriate. You also asked if anyone hears a tree falling in a forest. I’m not sure what the point was, as someone will likely hear it, if they are there. Then, in your log, you were “sick and tired” of whining, compared others to religious nuts, and then went on to tell people that they should shut the hell up about some things. There was a lack of further material to explain what the manual/oral discussions were about, in your log, in my view. Now, aside from the possibility that children might read some of these words, I do not think you are setting a good example. It seems to me that maybe you are taking some things overly personally. Maybe someone was rude to you. It seems that you are striking back at them. My sense is that it won’t help matters. I also believe that once I look into the discussion you’ve referred to, I will find many heated discussions and tempers flaring, from people who need to chill out, as they say. I hope I am wrong about that.
February 8, 2008 at 3:18 pm
You bet that I have a lot to say to you, Tom! I just found out about this blog today and I have to say how disappointed I am with you firing off by comparing certain individuals (and that includes me heh?) to religious nuts. I can see that you have created many gaps that needs to be filled in. Looks like you need some education so please allow me to elaborate.
When you said:
“If we really want to show parents of deaf children that signing is better, we need to do something about the 4th-grade reading level and the high unemployment rate and the large number of deafies who are content to subsist on SSD and SSI. Trust me, the deaf community does not look good from the outside.”
Firstly, I want to make this clear that it has nothing to do with ASL causing the downfall of low reading level. Remember the Babbidge Report? The Babbidge report found that children who were identified being deaf later in life were far poorer educationally than those who were identified early on. The Babbidge report was instrumental in advocating for early identification though it took nearly 35 years to implement. Thank goodness for that! It will help Deaf babies to acquire visible, accessible language; ASL, that is, where they will no longer have delayed language when enrolling in Kindergarten.
Secondly, don’t forget that the Congressional Babbidge Report back in 1965 investigates oral deaf education; pronounces pure oralism a “dismal failure”. The report recommends alternative methods. But was ASL/English bilingual education implemented immediately in schools for the Deaf? Heck, no! It took more than four decades that we finally have a formal bilingual training center known as CAEBER in Gallaudet University (January 2007)!
Thirdly, most of the teachers of the deaf did not graduate from their teacher prep program that consisted a course in bilingual education. They took a lot of courses relating to audiology, speech pathology and psychology of deafness. I was there and I knew it was a waste of time since I didn’t even use any of these so called invaluable knowledge with my Deaf students. To make matters worse, most TODs were not even fluent in ASL, therefore making it difficult to bridge to English by communicating Deaf children’s language.
Finally, people who appeared at conventions are not there to protest only but to educate the attendees about research findings how being bilingual gain cognitive skills and academic skills. You know very well that there are many research showing that Deaf children of Deaf parents excel academically more than those who are from hearing family. It is all because of early access to language and with this realization, more and more Deaf children of hearing families made significant progress.
Research shows that informed choices are not even balanced that the parents were misled with information on using speech only and cochlear implants or hearing aids. This is my next vlog based on research findings from Deaf Journal of Deaf Studies and Education.
Tom, you are a smart man and I thought you could do better than just judging and labeling those “religious nuts”. It is an insult to me and to the activists. You need to understand that as long as parents, relatives, friends, etc. receive the balanced information, not necessarily only limited to getting flyers during the demonstration, but educating Early Interventionists, doctors, audiologists, etc., will allow them to open their minds.
I agree that we ,as a Deaf community, need to do a better job by distributing pamphlets and setting up networking with those who have in contact with Deaf babies/children and such but that is what DBC has been working on. With limited resource and money, it is a challenge for us. Instead of pointing fingers, won’t you roll up your sleeves and lend us your hand?
By the way, before you make any judgments, all you need to do is to A-S-K, investigate then evaluate. Also don’t forget to shine Linda Bove, Ed Waterstreet, Phyllis Frelich, Anthony Natale, etc. who also succeeded in the spotlight.
February 8, 2008 at 3:43 pm
Barb, nice to hear from you and thank you for taking the time to write.
Once again, I am not supporting AGBell’s stance, I am supporting their right to HAVE a stance and promote it, just as we have the same right to promote ASL.
Those deafies you mentioned at the end are very well known in the deaf community, but I doubt the larger community knows who they are.
February 8, 2008 at 3:44 pm
Barb DiGi said it all, loud and clear.
Why stand around nagging about whats wrong or right, “why dont you roll up your sleeves and lean us (your community) a hand?” or maybe its what you do best.
February 8, 2008 at 3:49 pm
PS … I’d rather not roll up my sleeves cuz it’s freezing here, but if there’s something you think I should be doing, by all means let me know.
I just feel all this bickering and infighting doesn’t really accomplish anything. We need someone to write a book like Dr. Spock for parents of deaf kids, a book that tells all sides and gives all info and lets the parents make an educated choice, rather than just listen to the first people they hear (the doctors).
February 8, 2008 at 4:16 pm
Tom,
You are way, way off base in your characterization here. The whole point of objecting to AGBell’s policies is because they advocate DEPRIVING PEOPLE OF HAVING A MEANINGFUL LIFE.
Nobody has an issue with their right to free speech. Fighting back with free speech of our own, hoping that their influence will be diminished, or that their members will influence them to change their position, is not the same thing as fighting to remove their right to free speech. You’re a bright guy. You ought to understand that difference clearly.
They (AGBell) actually advocate that exposure to a natural language (ASL) be withheld from deaf babies and that their language acquisition be delayed until they can be exposed to the language that appears cryptically on other people’s visual mouth movements.
THAT is what is nuts.
February 8, 2008 at 4:41 pm
Hey, I’d like to see you go to the next AGBell convention and get up and tell all the deaf people in the audience that their lives are meaningless.
Yep, I agree that it is nuts to expect a successful exposure to language that appears cryptically on the lips. Like one of my poems in Deaf Haiku ..
How am I supposed
to lipread 10,000 words
on only two lips?
But all kinds of advocacy groups have ideas that other people think are nuts. That’s America.
We have to come to terms with why parents are so desperate to keep their kids from becoming like us.
What is about our community that makes parents want to do ANYTHING to avoid such a fate for their own kids?
We have to do a better job of being positive about our own message rather than be negative about other people’s messages.
Let’s win the game the right way, on our own merits, rather than win by default by smearing AGBell.
February 8, 2008 at 4:42 pm
Has AGBell ever reached out to NAD and DBC to try and work together and build bridges??? I bet we all know that answer. They are too busy in their PR department trying to keep things looking like the Deaf are bickering between themselves. The only organization that has truly divided Deaf people IS AGBell. It is run by a bunch of people that are in the “ear” business.
If a baby gets a cochlear implant and needs Auditory Verbal Therapy, AGBell’s AVT Programs will provide scholarships only if parents sign a contract that says they will NOT sign otherwise the family will not receive the money needed to begin Auditory Verbal Therapy. Sounds like one way or no way!!
Now, Tom, do you understand why Deaf people are finally standing up and speaking out on this issue. These people doing the advocating are far from militants or “religious nuts”. AGBell has a great technique of using these words to keep the fire going.
February 8, 2008 at 5:02 pm
Sarah said: “If a baby gets a cochlear implant and needs Auditory Verbal Therapy, AGBell’s AVT Programs will provide scholarships only if parents sign a contract that says they will NOT sign otherwise the family will not receive the money needed to begin Auditory Verbal Therapy.”
I’m sorry, but that makes perfect sense to me.
February 8, 2008 at 5:11 pm
T0m,
Why are you hell bent on trying to grant AGBell favorable publicity?
I never said that anyone’s life was meaningless. But if AGBell wants to deprive a baby of language, then they are committing a gravely immoral act, and we have allowed them to get away with this for far too long.
Nobody should be deprived of language, not even for one day. They want to deprive deaf babies of language for 2 or more years!
You want to defend that? Just because it’s been going on for a long time and you’re used to it doesn’t mean it is right.
February 8, 2008 at 5:15 pm
It’s funny in a way, like watching a lopsided sporting event. AGBell is rich and powerful, and the ASL community is poor and weak, and the only way we’ve come up with so far to address the imbalance is to bicker amongst ourselves in Deaf Blog World.
It’s sad in a way, because nothing will ever change. No wait, I’m wrong, cochlear implants will continue to improve to the point where they are virtually foolproof, and any parent who rejects implants and strolls over here to ASL Land will be put in jail for child cruelty.
Scientists all over the world are working their butts off to eliminate deafness, not just with cochlear implants but with gene therapy and all the rest of it, and eventually they are going to succeed, whether we like it or not.
What we really should be thinking about is creating a Museum of Deafness so that people will remember we were here, when we no longer are.
Sorry if you don’t like what I say, but my whole career has been in journalism and I am nothing if not realistic.
February 8, 2008 at 5:17 pm
Deep Ears … You said, “The whole point of objecting to AGBell’s policies is because they advocate DEPRIVING PEOPLE OF HAVING A MEANINGFUL LIFE.”
Which made me think of when I attended an AGBell convention and saw many deaf people there who had meaningful lives.
And AGBell is most certainly not depriving people of language, they are simply focusing on the one you don’t approve of.
February 8, 2008 at 5:42 pm
The context is my remark about depriving babies of exposure to language.
You misread my comment. I wasn’t saying anything about whether or not those adults had meaningful lives. That’s totally off the mark.
February 8, 2008 at 5:45 pm
Tom, you wrote: “AGBell is most certainly not depriving people of language”
What on earth are you talking about??
Obviously, AGBell *does* indeed support that idea that deaf babies should be deprived of exposure to ASL at birth–and therefore deprived of access to a natural language. And they don’t think it is necessary for that baby to be exposed to language until at least age 2 or older.
THAT is immoral. Period.
YOU shouldn’t be condoning it. Period.
February 8, 2008 at 6:02 pm
Holy crap.
They are depriving deaf babies of SIGN language, not all language!
They put cochlear implants in as soon as they can and immediately start teaching the kids how to interpret the sounds they are hearing.
How in the world is that depriving them of language??
February 8, 2008 at 6:09 pm
The babies are not able to have the operation until about age 2 (or older). Even then, when they get the CI’s, they are only being exposed to partial linguistic input.
You should know that.
February 8, 2008 at 6:11 pm
Why, Tom, it is my pleasure to write so you are welcome. So please allow me to respond to your statement:
“Once again, I am not supporting AGBell’s stance, I am supporting their right to HAVE a stance and promote it, just as we have the same right to promote ASL.”
So let me ask you something.. are you supporting the right to HAVE a stance for the group to practice their freedom of speech at a public place that they are opposed to?
“Those deafies you mentioned at the end are very well known in the deaf community, but I doubt the larger community knows who they are.”
Linda Bove was well known by the larger community considering that she was aired in Sesame Street on a regular basis for a certain amount of time. Anthony Natale played in a Hollywood movie.. Mr. Holland’s Opus and in one of the Ellen’s episodes.
To focus on the positives is what we have been doing but we need to challenge false claims made by AG Bell as well. AG Bell is spreading out the myth like fire to the parents that learning signs interfere with their ability to learn speech and listening. This is found not to be true as research claims it is a myth indeed. The difference between religious fanatics and us, the true Deaf community activists, is that they believe in whomever they want and us are practicing our freedom of speech based on scientific facts. Can’t argue with that.
Yes, you can keep yourself warm by staying close to the fireplace and roast some marshmallows while people like us are out there advocating for Deaf babies’ rights. Is that what you really want to do?
February 8, 2008 at 6:22 pm
Oh man, I am not going to get dragged into defending AGBell’s position because that was not the point of this post at all.
And I am certainly not going to demean any of the deaf stars of our community, but I still say Marlee Matlin is the only deaf person that can be identified by the general population.
Out of curiosity, I just Googled “My baby is deaf” and similar variations, thinking that this is what parents will do when they get such news. What I found was not encouraging for our side. We are not doing a good job presenting our story. Handing out flyers is one thing, using the vast power of the Internet is another.
February 8, 2008 at 6:28 pm
I just checked, and the domain name “mybabyisdeaf” is available in all shapes and forms (.com, .org, etc.). I suggest that someone who believes strongly in this issue, and has the time and know-how, should start a website with this name and put up the info we want them to know. Also, get someone on board who knows how to get websites positioned near the top of the list. This is POSITIVE, CONCRETE ACTION that will help boost the cause a lot more than all these words we spill on each other.
PS .. better hurry and get that domain name before AGBell does .. I was amazed it is available!!!
February 8, 2008 at 6:41 pm
The FDA has approved cochlear implants for children at 12 months. Some centers implant children as early as 9 months. Cochlear implants offer normal access to sound for almost all children with sensori-neural hearing loss. With this access and appropriate intervention by professions trained to help children attach meaning to sound, “deaf” children can learn to listen and talk and eventually become mainstreamed alongside their hearing peers. Their test scores will demonstrate that, when compared to their hearing peers on oral language skills, they are “playing on an even field.” This means they will read at grade level and acquire academic skills at grade level. There has been a centuries-old quest to provide deaf children with the skills they need to live in a hearing world. Each generation has struggled to find the best way to help. Since 95% of deaf children are born to hearing parents who want their children to be part of their culture, and since technology now makes this possible, the future is with deaf children who will learn to listen and talk. Value your history, embrace the miracle of technology, and let them hear.
February 8, 2008 at 6:46 pm
Sorry, there is no excuse for depriving a baby of a *fully natural* language from the day they are born onwards.
Cochlear implants provide *partial* input only. Their effectiveness is exaggerated.
February 8, 2008 at 6:55 pm
Tom, we have been working hard to develop a website that will be unveiled soon. Thanks for your thoughts though. I understand that you are not supporting AG Bell’s stance but their right to advocate in what they believe in. I am not trying to corner you to make it sounding like you are.
My discussion is not about letting the Deaf children to hear, it is about letting them using ASL that they are enriched with both languages. Indeed, there is nothing wrong for CI Deaf children not only to enjoy but benefit from using ASL as well.
February 8, 2008 at 7:26 pm
Excuse me, I will never EVER support AGBell or AGBAD because I was ABUSED by oral schools!
I watched little deaf kids struggled to lipread and oral gets extremely PUNISHED for not paying attention to lipread or not speaking right. I fought my school when I was 13 years old and my mom supported me. After I graudated, my school realized oralism exclusively does not work! Hence, developed Total communication that is, oral, lipread and ASL.
These kids succeeded with total communication!
I want to see AGBAD shut down for good!
AGBAD encourage abuse on deaf babies by forbid ASL then encourages ASL to hearing babies so hearing babies can succeed much far ahead than deaf babies. That is SICK!
February 8, 2008 at 11:32 pm
PS … I’d rather not roll up my sleeves cuz it’s freezing here, but if there’s something you think I should be doing, by all means let me know.
__________________________________
I just feel all this bickering and infighting doesn’t really accomplish anything. ( I agree, why continue?)
__________________________________
We need someone to write a book like Dr. Spock for parents of deaf kids, a book that tells all sides and gives all info and lets the parents make an educated choice, rather than just listen to the first people they hear (the doctors).
(You never needed me to answer the question, you just answered it. Start writing that book you dreamed of and stop nagging, since it is what you do best.)
February 8, 2008 at 11:53 pm
Thanks, John R., but there are people more qualified than I am to write such a book. Besides, I’m too busy ‘nagging.’
February 9, 2008 at 1:28 am
No response?
February 9, 2008 at 1:16 pm
All those bickering in here is making me smile. I’m gonna to take Tom’s side. He’s right. Like it or not, every issue should have two sides. If there wasn’t for AgBAD, DeafRead would be busy begging for more readership.
February 9, 2008 at 4:31 pm
Tom,
I loved what you wrote. You wrote the truth, and let’s face it, there are a lot of people in denial. It is much easier to try and tear someone else down than try and build yourself up. That’s why AGBell has been so successful, and will continue to be. For the most part, they just go about their business, doing what they do. Parents look at the beautiful videos like “Dreams Spoken Here” and want that for their child. Since 95% of deaf children have hearing parents, it’s just natural that they want their kids to hear and talk as they do. To deny the progress of kids with cochlear implants is just putting blinders on. For those kids, learning a spoken language IS their natural language.
February 10, 2008 at 1:04 pm
I agree with Deb M … because she is right what I had been thru in oral school.. I never forget period.
I was in Deaf school when I was little girl and my mom took me out and put me oral school. My id is lost self-esteem.
I don’t forget what oral teacher teach me mouth speech movement don’t help me at all there is focus on lip reading most of time but lost develop my asl knowledge… she did slap my hands not allow to use asl…even my parent is proud lip read but don’t mean anything to me . It is important to have ASL is key when I told my parents When I was 13 year old told them to learn ASL communicate w ith me but she ignore me .I was 15 year old told them I want to go back to deaf school. She didn’t say a word let me go. My parents never mentioned to me about deaf school when she took me out I think she hope that I forget about it but don’t work out my mind stick label inside… It is very difficult pupil school is tough .. Tom ( you should not destroy asl for deaf children need to grow communicate . Lip read is very tough but “cannot keep continue lip read longer impossible” when I had been thru.. It is very tough … Lip read is limit communicate is simply not likely as hearing speak full language communicate… You know better…I will never support AGBell..
I can see compare lip read and ASL what is best ASL is number one .. second lip read is good for short time.
Most of my life is part of waste without ASL while I lived with my parents.. They don’t really full communicate with me on lip read just only simple like yes , no or short sentence.. My sisters, brothers, uncle, aunt, grandparents, parents are leave me out but try to make good time together without full communicate, all they can do to lip read waste of my time… I have plenty of news in my mind can’t communicate with them lip read is not worth it. ASL is best more comfortable communicate back and forth.
What can I do. When I grow up and want to escape out of my life to join Deaf World and Hearing World to see myself.
I have no feeling close relationship with my mother since my childhood because of damaged my self -esteem is lose my own ASL ID. Last few year ago I am full Adult over my age , She doing to ignore me while she talked with my sister and her husband at Resturant how I feel. That is her…. I know her as book body language read!!!!!I will never go back to her that is!
So now deaf children should be to use ASL communicate with hearing parents and hearing parents “must learn to use ASL communicate with their deaf child” don’t be like me happen.
Last about 13 year ago My father said to me ” sorry I didn’t communicate with you” when he passed away in few days. He know he is wrong..
I fogive him. Now I heard about cochlear implants is not good idea for baby… what is wrong with hearing aid let the child grow up make their decsion not parents control over child body.. I am not surprise who had cochlear implants will show up against coclhlear implants what they had suffer. So Be careful what you say>>>>> You don’t even know how their own feeling inside suffer and lost their self -esteem…
February 10, 2008 at 4:28 pm
[...] not trying to destroy ASL Jump to Comments This is for Susan, who left a comment on my post, Oh, leave AGBell alone! My response got to be too long to be a response, so I decided to make it a new post [...]
February 10, 2008 at 6:10 pm
I responded to Susan in a whole new post:
http://tomwillard.wordpress.com/2008/02/10/im-not-trying-to-destroy-asl/
February 10, 2008 at 6:21 pm
May I remind you, who you are?
http://tomwillard.wordpress.com/about/
March 3, 2008 at 12:06 am
Good one! I agree with you!
March 12, 2008 at 8:21 am
“I just checked, and the domain name “mybabyisdeaf” is available in all shapes and forms (.com, .org, etc.). I suggest that someone who believes strongly in this issue, and has the time and know-how, should start a website with this name and put up the info we want them to know. Also, get someone on board who knows how to get websites positioned near the top of the list. This is POSITIVE, CONCRETE ACTION that will help boost the cause a lot more than all these words we spill on each other.
PS .. better hurry and get that domain name before AGBell does .. I was amazed it is available!!!”
Just for the information of anyone who is interested – I went over today and all the domains were still available, so I have purchased mychildisdeaf.com/org/info/net and mybabyisdeaf.com/org/info/net. I could develop the information for these domains, but at the moment I have another project underway (Deafhub.com, where my link goes). So if anyone else is interested in publishing information for these domains, please contact me. I have the know-how to get them good rankings in search engines, and am interested in good, solid, research backed information for these sites (bcs that is what parents want) as well as a variety of case studies.
Just contact me through my website if you have a vision for these sites.
March 23, 2008 at 1:33 pm
Just recently I found my old childhood audiograms and paperworks, how I was identifed with deafness. The summer 1979 before my 2nd birthday, according to my parents what I deemed was normal child speaking normal, but didn’t realized my hearing loss till I didn’t pay attention. The following fall, I attended chinchuba institute for the deaf and blind, in louisiana, they taught oral and asl. They also taught cued speech. I was in speech therapy for years till I graduated in 1997. It was a pain in the butt to learn talk, trying identify every words and sounds. Golly! I don’t remember if they use asl in the chinchuba, but I remember the teacher used her mouth. Till I entered another school, one teacher told my mom, that by time I finished 8th grade, my education completed. She told teacher no, want me finish and go college. What kind of dumba*s thinking deaf children cannot be educated?? I didn’t learn asl till 3rd grade at another school, so I picked up very quickly. Since then, I still use asl, I don’t often bother orally anymore, I can still talk but use my sign often same time. I’m not going be labeled at hard of hearing, I’m deaf period!!! If my children in future is deaf, I make sure they learn sign and be not forced them learn oral. If a child want to learn to talk, they can decide for themself.
I grew up in house of hearings, often I’m invisible to them. They have a lot to say, and I have no clue what they’re saying. I told my mom and my sister pam, that this isnt fitting for me, I can’t understand anything. And so I be attending ‘deaf family’ for holidays cuz it only way I can feel connected to deaf community. They said its fine. It hurt me and them but its only way for me connect deaf world
April 28, 2008 at 5:47 pm
Tom, I enjoy your blog immensely. Even when I disagree.
I believe that access to a primary and foundational language is a fundamental human right.
I believe that AVT is torture.
AGBELL disagrees with both statements. Therefore, I am AGBELL’s unrepentant enemy.
This doesn’t mean I view people who choose “oral” as their method of communication. I am not against people at all. We can separate a philosophy and the representatives of the audist establishment from people. I can reject A.G Bell and still embrace people, attempting to influence their viewpoint through information and peaceful dialog.
June 4, 2008 at 10:12 am
I grew up oral and learned signs at RIT. I agree that the whole thing is too troublesome…. I believe people should know better how to pick their battles. I’m glad to see that someone posted this point of view.
July 22, 2008 at 12:14 am
[...] “Oh, leave AGBell alone!” [...]
July 22, 2008 at 3:27 am
Tom,
Did you not know that Marlene, the deaf actress (oralist) fail the Gallaudet University’s admission test when she tried about 20 years ago? Hmm… it’s true! Sure, it’s only a person after all but a good sample indeed.
That’s one of good reasons as why we ought to stand up against AGBell who urge hearing parents to put C.I. on their deaf babies.
Even I agreed that AGBell organization has a right to do what they believe in, but DBC has to grow and make a strong stand and make sure that we can reach all those hearing parents of deaf babies and young toddlers to acknowledge that there is another choice: ASL… in the past history it has proven that ASL improve deaf babies and young toddlers much more than depending (rather forcing) on oralism, CI, whatever.
Like it or not, it’s a fact!
September 23, 2008 at 10:35 pm
You all want to make a difference, get all the info to the audiologists, they are usually the first contact, the keepers of the gate of information. I stumbled on this site because I wanted to create a website to give ALL the options to parents that don’t know where to turn. We didn’t get good info. We lucked out because someone at ECI (Early Childhood Intervention) gave us a good starting point.