Gallaudet University and the National Association of the Deaf Bust ASL Myths
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- Опубліковано 22 сер 2024
- Two of the nation's largest ASL supporters team up to prove a number of ASL myths wrong. Doctors routinely tell their patients "facts" about Deafness that have since been proven false or are outdated. See what myths you might think are true.
This is the last edition in our language equality series. See all the episodes at www.WatchDHN.com/#!language-quality/co59
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I remember the expert teachers at P.S. 47 (which was STRICTLY oral at the time) telling my parents that if I signed that I would lose my speech. I countered by that reasoning, that if I spoke French, I would then lose my command of English.
this is sad how doctors recommend falsely to parents of deaf children. these myths are far from right. I'm deaf and when my mom found out I'm deaf at two years old, my doctor recommended her to enroll me into a deaf program at Taft elementary in Orange County, California. I'm so glad to know ASL. I'm also able to speak really well too.
I am so glad my parents didn't take the "professional's" advice to heart back in the late 80's when they said "don't let her sign or use gestures, she'll never learn to speak!" It was when I started learning signs (granted it was Signing Exact English II but still signs!) that actually triggered something in my brain, made a connection and helped me to speak again.
ASL helps so much when kids learn it first. Babies develop muscle and visual abilities before speech so they can sign to you what they want from a very early age. I watched this tiny baby ask for "milk" from "mom" and that adorable little fist as she deliberately watched her fingers close and open was amazing! The look of concentration was so dang cute. So much better than screaming. It really helps take the frustration out of them and just wait until they are two and three! So much better. I wish I'd started signing with my kids from birth on... would have made things easier. Still helped at 4 years tho.
Most physicians know little or nothing about deafness. This includes otolaryngologists. This statement is based on my spending four years in medical school, three years of residency training and thirty three years of medical practice.
I'm curious, what is being done at the important level of medical schools, audiologist training, and professional associations of both, to educate them? I've done a lot of work educating parents, but the medical community still seems to be passing down old wives tales.
Thank you for an awesome video.
I love that it is in very clear audio and language - I donʻt see much of the video part, and the only deaf people I know are a few of my deafnlind Facebook friends.
Both blindness and deafness have so many misconceptions and fears that people have itʻs odd - and awesome - to discover how things can be similar - and different.
Lip reading is science fiction to me. I grew up in Italy (and other countries); iʻve always loved the movies there. When you go to see a Hollywood movie, itʻs very nicely dubbed in Italian. But a deaf perspn would be l reading American English! That would be difficult...
Another country I lived in as a kid had subtitles - so you could hear English and (perhaps be able to see) read it in your local language. That was obviously a lot more difficult to me - for both visual AND language reasons.
I dream of learning a bit of signing (more than regular Italian handspeak - even blind Italians can do that). And learning of languages & all ʻabled issues helps. :)
Children that learn through ASL, (whether hearing or deaf), have a greater GPA than those who don't. Small children tend to learn faster through visual learning, not audible learning.
I love this video, and as a mother of a Deaf child, I find the recommendations of health care professionals to be very frustrating. I want to share this video, but I would also like cites or links to the research it references. Can anyone post those? Thanks.
We are in the midsts of releasing a video with the appropriate links. Recheck the website next week and it should be up.
Thanks for you patience!
I've never heard about the first myth. I was told that if you don't introduce sounds to the auditory nerve, it will prune and shrink. So for example, if you broke your leg and wore a cast, your leg muscle would shrink for each month you have the cast on. Imagine having the cast on for 5-10 years?
The 2nd myth is true that doctors will tell parents to stop signing. The reason is because children have until age 5 to learn auditory language. You can learn asl anytime.
The 3rd myth is doesn't have enough data to disprove that deaf graduates read at 4th grade levels.
All of this needs to be cited.
Ahavah Cook
the problem with doing what you've suggested with the second "myth" is that the children needs a solid foundation of language first. THEN they can add on a second language. So which option is a more viable option for being a solid baseline for a first language? ASL or spoken language? ASL because it is, without a doubt, 100% accessible. Spoken language, on the other hand, is questionable because we have no idea if it's effective for these kids.. and waiting to find out wastes precious time. Think about it.
Ahavah Cook ua-cam.com/video/M5vPEhAuLWQ/v-deo.html
In our third arc from this series we sat down with two women who speak well. An obvious Deaf accent but completely understandable. Neither learned auditory languages until they were 7 or older and were not able to learn spoken language without assistance from a CI.
Jennifer, ASL is only promoted on DHN because of the social aspect of the language. I have seen children thrive with cued speech and other approaches. With cued speech, children are actually able to read at the level of their peers. Sure it's not as vibrant and animated as ASL but it does have its advantages. The problem with ASL after cochlear implant is that parents are already overwhelmed with the mapping appointments and speech therapy. Children learn language 10x faster than adults do. It's only natural to want to teach a child what they are most familiar with. That being said, children who go to ASL schools will often surpass their parents in ASL vocabulary and it can create alienation for the child. I think this war against hearing parents needs to stop. There is no ideal way to raise a deaf child.
Ahavah Cook Why do you think it is a war against hearing parents? This video is an informational video that shows parents a positive side to sign language, which they certainly do not get enough of from the medical profession. The war against sign language needs to stop.
As a CODA myself, I used to preach about the importance of using sign language to deaf children. Then I had a deaf baby 4 months ago and it really changed my perspective of things. When I tell hearing people about my son, they say kind words and never tell me how I should or should not care for my son. When I tell a person in the deaf community, I get tons of comments like "no CI" or "teach him ASL" or "send him to a deaf school".
It's very frustrating to feel judged by the deaf community. These past few months have given me a very different impression of the deaf community. I am questioning whether or not I should raise my child in such a close minded community.
ASL is a good language, the community needs some work.
You didn't actually talk about the first point. The truth is that yes, language can be processed in the same area of the brain, and it doesn't matter what the mode is. HOWEVER, that is not the myth you are supposed to be busting. The truth is that if a child is not using hearing, the auditory centers in the brain WILL change to begin to process visual information. That is not the fault of ASL per say, but of not hearing and using spoken language. You are being dishonest.
It's been proven that a child that learns sign does better in school. Their spelling is greater than those who don't and their excellent in their reading skills. These children have a higher GPA than the rest of their class. This makes sense since small children learn through visual, not audio learning.
You are also using ONE study to base your findings on. It was a study with DEAF parents of deaf children with CIs. That is NOT the situation for over 95% of children with hearing loss. They do NOT have access to fluent ASL models from day one. All the rest of the research shows that deaf children with hearing parents who use ASL as their primary language do worse, all around, than either Deaf of Deaf or spoken language users.
Ironic that you fails to cite another source. I am a living data point who is an ASL native user and terrible at speech but I am quite fluent in English. It all goes back to the fundamentals of developing a language. We need to establish ASL first then add English/speech skills later, not vice versa, which many medical professionals have erroneously recommend still nowadays.
Again, with myth 2, it isn't ASL exactly that causes children in an ASL environment to have poorer speech than one in an oral environment. It is the fact that there is a limited amount of time in the day. If you are using voice-off ASL, you are, by default, NOT using listening and spoken language during that time. This leads to children having less time to learn and use their spoken language.
A lot of audiologists and speech pathologists nowadays are being taught up to date things that are supported by research. ASL is one of the topics that have a lot of research for both sides and we are taught both sides. There is a lot of benefit from using ASL whether hearing or not simply because we develop our motor skills before speech. As to whether or not to use ASL as the primary form of the communication purely depends on the patient and their family. Technology does a lot of things but it does not ever restore hearing to the full function that a normal hearing person has. So sometimes it is best for the patient to rely upon ASL depending on their type of loss and its severity. Also, it depends on the support system the child has. They spend the most time at home with their family therefore they are going to learn the most from their family. If the family wants to use ASL or oral speech, than that is what the child will receive the most input from. The fact of the matter is that 90% of hearing impaired and deaf children are born to hearing parents and most often, the parents wants the kids to be apart of their world and if there is a way to make it happen, then they will do that.
There are good arguments for both side. Those first few years are crucial for language development, and either or would do the job. But there is no single, right way. It all depends on the patient and the family
Another thing is also, even if deaf people don't learn to speak, that's okay, they don't _have_ to. As long as they have some form of language/communication. 🤷♀️ (And more hearing people should learn to sign instead of the other way around!!)
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This is very, very true
Than you very interesting.
Could you post the sources for this?
Can you provide?
1
Everyone here will Sign American Sign Language ASL or & Japanese Sign Language JSL in Grants Pass Oregon USA
Deaf Community
On August 12 2028 or sooner
2
Everyone here will Read Language of American Braille AB or & Language of Japanese Braille JB in Grants Pass Oregon USA
Blind Community
On May 4 2029 or sooner