ASL Rose Newsletter
Vol. 2 No. 4
May 2008
The May issue of ASL Rose newsletter salutes Maureen Klusza for her ingenious artwork, "The Greatest Irony” and also thanks Tamara Davidson for her graphic art to provide a beautiful background of Maureen’s artwork. That drawing has a powerful and deepening effect on many people. Chaining the Deaf baby's hands thus not allowing him to communicate through American Sign Language (ASL) horrifies many Deaf people. In a strange twist, many Deaf people are so glad that more Hearing babies are exposed to ASL. At the same time, they are in amazement that the Hearing baby is encouraged to sign ASL whereas the Deaf baby is discouraged to sign ASL.
Who really needs ASL more? Hearing baby or Deaf baby. The Hearing baby can easily fall back to picking up a spoken language, English in the United States, to ensure that he won't be deprived of having a human language. For the Deaf baby, he struggles to pick up auditory signals and his chance for acquiring a human language via spoken English is extremely difficult, if not impossible. Even with the advanced technology of cochlear implants, he doesn't hear sounds like the Hearing baby. Most importantly, the Deaf baby must have a human language in order to grow into becoming a human being to the fullest. The Deaf world knows that there is no other way than a signed language, ASL in the United States that will allow the Deaf baby to acquire a human language. The answer is simple and straightforward that the Deaf baby needs ASL more than the Hearing baby. Therefore, the Deaf baby’s hands should never be chained from signing ASL.
Forbidding Deaf children to learn signed languages anywhere in the world is an inhumane treatment and also a crime against humanity. Without a free flow of sign communication, Deaf children are prevented from learning about the world in their most efficient way. Deaf children are often forced to learn how to talk in school even though very few of them manage to develop intelligible speech. It is an exercise of futility for many Deaf children who had to spend so many hours on working to master speech. Since spoken language will never be a natural means of communication for Deaf children, it is not surprising that many Deaf children fail to develop intelligible speech.
The continued pushing of Deaf children into speech training for countless hours is a form of communication abuse. Why must Deaf children go on with grueling speech training when they go nowhere in their speech that satisfy Hearing people? The main goal of Deaf children's speech training merely serves as a convenience to Hearing people for communication with Deaf people. Instead we must focus on the cultivation of the Deaf mind by means of signed languages. That way Deaf children are more likely to develop higher order of communicative competencies and, most important of all, avoid mindless and parrot-like communication with Hearing people. Since it is so much easier for Hearing babies to learn a signed language than Deaf babies to learn a spoken language, chains on the Deaf baby's hands must never be shackled.
Forbidding Deaf children of exposure to signed languages must be stopped everywhere in the world. It is important to recognize the longstanding fact that language delay happens rather too often in Deaf children under the Oral Method where ASL is strictly forbidden and even in the Total Communication approach where ASL is rejected and artificial sign systems are created to bastardize ASL. As a result, it causes negative effects in the realm of education for Deaf children. Later in life, Deaf people realize rather too late that they are crept to miseducation and also having limited language and communication skills.
Should we expect for quality interaction between Deaf people and Hearing people? It has to be through a signed language. The basic truth is that quality interaction between those peoples won't and cannot happen through the exclusive use of a spoken language.
Hearing babies learning ASL have the full support from Deaf people. Likewise, Deaf babies learning ASL should have the full support from Hearing people. ASL Rose Company is very pleased to see that Deaf Bilingual Coalition [DBC] comes into existence recently for promoting the rights of Deaf babies and children in their learning of ASL. They acknowledge by saying that "ASL is a fully developed, highly sophisticated language that enables all Deaf infants and children to participate equally in their families and schools." The National Association of the Deaf [NAD] and the World Federation of the Deaf [WFD] also have stated their positions strongly on the importance of signed languages for Deaf children. ASL Rose Company is also excited with the prospect of "International Day of Sign Language Rights" where increasing voice of pleas for Deaf children to acquire signed languages can become louder and more visible around the globe. While riding in the same bandwagon with the DBC, NAD, and WFD, ASL Rose Company is fully committed to the mission listed in the bottom of this newsletter where we promise to be a strong advocate of ASL for Deaf children by producing bilingual materials, ASL and English. One of the ASL-English bilingual materials from ASL Rose Company on the current market is the “Have You Ever Seen…? An American Sign Language (ASL) Handshape DVD/Book” (HYES DVD/Book) along with Deaf cultural information where a complete set of ASL handshapes is shown. That DVD/book can be of significant contributions to helping Deaf babies and children master ASL. In addition, another product from ASL Rose that recently came out for sale is “Days of the Week Cards” in ASL signs with English text at the bottom. Teachers of the Deaf can place those cards in the pocket chart so that Deaf children recognize the association of signs with English words.
From the column above, you may get the impressions that ASL Rose Company doesn't support the learning of English for Deaf children. That is far from the truth. We want to see Deaf children become competent bilinguals with the highest fluency as possible in both languages: ASL and English. It is our strong belief that Deaf children must have a solid foundation of ASL as a first language before they advance with comfort and ease in their acquisition of English. Otherwise, their journeys to mastering English would be extremely difficult if Deaf children are not allowed to learn ASL first. When exposing to English, the top priority for Deaf learners must go to reading and writing.
Speech training will be more effective for Deaf children once they have internalized English skills. In this sense, speech should not be considered as the very first step for teaching language to Deaf children. Below are several examples of teaching strategies to ensure that Deaf children experience additive bilingualism in their educational settings:
- Under one of the bilingual methodologies, Deaf children understand the separateness of two languages: ASL and English. (Colin Baker)
- Under one of the interpreting strategies, Deaf children develop the ability to step into character in both languages. (Sue Livingston)
- Under one of the fingerspelling strategies, Deaf children develop the ability to chain fingerspelled words with signs. (Carol Padden)
- Under one of the reading strategies, Deaf children respond to Deaf readers’ use of eye gaze to indicate participation. (David Schleper)
Mothers play a very important role in the nurturing of their children during the first few years of their life. Deaf children are no different than Hearing children for needing their mothers’ nurturing. ASL Rose recognizes greater challenges for mothers of Deaf children because they have to learn many new things about rearing them. Learning ASL is definitely the most important thing for mothers to do. Through effective communication, bonding between mothers and their Deaf children becomes stronger. “Happy Mother’s Day” expressed in ASL from Deaf children to their mothers speaks volumes of a beautiful relationship.
| The mission of the ASL Rose is to: |
 | Support American Sign Language programs with American Sign Language materials |
| Provide curricular supplements for American Sign Language and English bilingual-bicultural educational settings |
| Gather ideas and needs from the American Sign Language and Deaf Studies programs |
| Develop lesson plans for Deaf Studies curriculum designated towards Deaf bilinguals |
| Produce American Sign Language and English materials to enhance Deaf people's competencies and proficiencies |
| Foster pride in Deaf identity by providing a variety of information about American Sign Language, Deaf people, Deaf history and the Deaf community |
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Integrate American Sign Language and English materials in an American Sign Language Curriculum for Deaf bilinguals |
| Maintain high academic standards in all of our products |
| Work with American Sign Language and English curriculum specialist |
| Create, publish and distribute innovative American Sign Language and English bilingual-bicultural materials |
| Collaborate with education specialists to provide American Sign Language and English assessments and curricular needs |
| Work in partnerships with other global sign languages |
