ASL Rose Newsletter
Vol. 2 No. 8
October 2008
"The Courageous Stand by Deaf Bilingual Coalition"
ASL Rose Company commends the Deaf Bilingual Coalition (DBC) for a courageous stand in Milwaukee last summer by letting members of the Alexander Graham Bell Association (AGB) know that strict oralism is no longer justified as a means of educating Deaf youngsters in today's world. What the DBC did was to set up a national conference in a hotel within walking distance to the AGB Conference site in a nearby hotel. With no registration fee for the Conference participants, the DBC lined up with an outstanding cadre of presenters on the importance of ASL/English bilingual education for Deaf learners and welcomed everyone including the members of the AGB. ASL Rose condemns the AGB for building up the "wall" to prevent their members from not only walking over to the DBC Conference but also learning more about the other perspective of Deaf education.
Tami Davidson must be thanked for her beautiful work of art that is shown above in this newsletter. In Tami's drawing, you can see a moat around a big castle which serves as a division between the two places. Inside the castle, there is a class going on with three Deaf students learning to speak under the aegis of oralism. Outside the castle, there is a group of Deaf individuals showing different placards to express their protest over the practice of oralism. Those protesters were once inside the castle as students; however, now as adults, they internalized a big share of real-life experience in that school. Their protest is not without reason because they were there to experience the negative climate of schooling inside the castle. Their responses on the placards are not based on a belief system. Emphatically, they feel robbed of "true" education.
Below are short rationales offered for the statements made on each placard. There are five different placards shown in the picture:
1) "Love Your Kids? Learn ASL!"...that signpost is splashed on the cover page of Deaf Life, August 2008 issue where the protesters are shown to stand up to A.G. Bell. It is unfathomable to many Deaf people as to why Hearing educators decided to forbid the use of ASL in school. They generally are clueless on how important ASL is to Deaf children. By denying ASL for Deaf children, those instructors are seen as not caring for the education of Deaf children. That concerns many Deaf people.
2) "No ASL--No Real Education"...without ASL, Deaf learners find a difficult time grasping concepts that are needed to build their knowledge of the world. ASL enhances communication between teachers and learners. For Deaf learners, their eyes are better suited for ASL than any other means of communication used in Deaf educational settings. When educators don't communicate via ASL with Deaf learners, the likelihood of depriving them from obtaining real education becomes greater. That concerns many Deaf people.
3) "Stop Making Deaf Children Powerless!"...many educational settings for Deaf learners are designed as hearing-centric; therefore, as a result, Deaf students are forced to "imitate" hearing behaviors. They know straight from their heart that they cannot act like their Hearing peers. Still the Deaf educational system ignores the differences between them and continues on pushing Deaf students to absorb Hearing values, i.e., speaking and hearing. Such endeavors make Deaf children feeling powerless. That concerns many Deaf people.
4) "No ASL Language Arts Curriculum--Why?"...Unlike Hearing students who enjoy a multitude of activities in English language arts for the purpose of refining their English skills, Deaf students have very limited opportunities to refine their own ASL through the formal instruction. Some educators of the Deaf believe that the formal instruction of ASL from K to 12 is a waste of time for their work with Deaf students. They are obsessed with the paramount importance of English for Deaf learners. As a result, they become blinded to a value of implementing the "ASL language arts" curriculum. That concerns many Deaf people.
5) "You Rob Deaf Students of Knowledge--No Deaf Literature, No Deaf History Offered"...educational programs for the Deaf don't incorporate Deaf Studies as part of the school curriculum. Those educators state that there is no need to introduce such courses because Deaf students are first and foremost Americans and ought to focus, like hearing Americans, on what they know. Without the offering of a Deaf Studies curriculum, it becomes impossible for Deaf students to become knowledgeable about Deaf heritage. That concerns many Deaf people.
All in all, Deaf people have real concerns on how Deaf learners are educated in the K-12 educational settings where ASL is discouraged, if not forbidden. Due to the "hearing" ideology, educational leaders make irrational decisions on how to best educate Deaf youngsters. It is not surprising at all that a large majority of Deaf learners didn't perform well educationally in school. Those "Hearing" ideas being imposed on Deaf learners are often found to be unthinkable, unwarranted, unreasoning, and unmindful. It is high time that the Deaf voice must come out quite loudly and clearly in order for the world to hear what Deaf people feel is right in the education of the Deaf. The constant bombardment of Deaf voice is a necessity if we want to see positive changes in the education of the Deaf. "Have You Ever Seen...? An ASL Handshape DVD/Book" is one example of Deaf voice constantly emitting to the world. Once again, ASL Rose expresses profound thanks to the Deaf Bilingual Coalition for making the Deaf voice reverberate all over the world from Milwaukee last June. Silence is no longer golden.
In closing, ASL Rose would like to applaud the producer of a recent "Super Nanny" television show in which the importance of ASL in family communication between Deaf parents and Hearing children was emphasized. It is an undeniable fact that Deaf children need ASL far more than Hearing children. Without ASL as a primary language for Deaf learners, their learning about the world will be greatly curtailed. Are there any good reasons out there to forbid Deaf children from acquiring/ learning ASL? The Deaf voice is strongly unified in saying that there are NONE!
