Tuesday, May 5, 2009
new information
When I was deciding which way to go for Douglas with his language (sign,oral or total communication), I told his deaf educator that I wanted him to have speech therapy and I wanted him to learn to sign. I wanted Douglas to be given every opportunity as a deaf person and to be allowed every opportunity as if he was a hearing person. She told me this was total communication. Until a reader of my blog posted a comment about Sim-com, I had never heard of it. So I looked it up. My children can speak if they wish or sign if they wish or do both at the same time if they wish. As there parent until they are old enough to make their own decision I am going to do everything in my power to make sure they get the best of both. When my boys leave my home they will have enough knowledge to be what they choose. If they choose to be deaf and only sign, they will know how. If my boys decide to only speak and not use sign, they will know how. If my boys decide they want to speak and sign or speak or sign, they will know how. I want them to feel they can choose anything they want and know it is okay. I will be proud of them no matter what language they decide to choose. Douglas knows some see 2 signs and some ASL signs. He usually doesn't sign every single word but it is usually in English order..
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I applaud your decision to try to incorporate both speaking and signing in the lives of your children - not all hearing (or Deaf) parents are willing to take this into consideration.
ReplyDeleteHowever, did your deaf educator mention that some Deaf people oppose the use of Total Communication because they see it as a bastardization of both English and ASL? SEE (Signed Exact English) lacks the proper grammar system of true ASL and so defies the properties that many Deaf cling to in order to justify ASL as a genuine language and not a crutch system of gestures (as historically asserted by linguists and still asserted by some laypeople). SEE could be compared to using English words with German syntax - "make sense this with you to use?"
I feel the exact same way! By teaching them to speak and to sign, we are giving them the best of both worlds! Lucas was implanted shortly after Diezel (12/26/08). What an amazing journey!
ReplyDeleteEven better then Sim-Com (which sometimes mixes the languages, which then does not give the child an accurate full language), many implanted children use bilingualism instead. This teaches both English and ASL as two separate but equal languages.
ReplyDeleteSim-Com and SEE was used for years under the misconception that giving deaf children a form of coded English would help them learn English...when actually the opposite is true.
However I applaud your decision to keep your options open! People need to realize that it doesn't have to be either or...deaf children can sign and speak.
yes, don't confuse them with ASL with Sim-Comm. Leave English to Spoken language and ASL to ASL
ReplyDeleteafterall, you don't want to mix Spanish and English together
ReplyDeleteoh, and btw, it is a good thing they learn ASL. It gives them more choices on accommodation if they need it instead of relying on notetakers.
ReplyDelete