Hi there r.d. Yep, Laurent Clerc was deaf, Gallaudet was hearing, the two of 'em together revolutionized education for the deaf.
Learning ASL, eh?
Trying to, need to take classes at college. Busy and overwhelmed.
Losing your hearing? (I'm deaf, have been since ~18, fluent in ASL since ~22.)
Didn't have much hearing at birth, Dad was against my learning ASL, Mom went along with him, been trying to learn since then!!! It ain't easy! :-)
My former Deaf roommate also didn't learn ASL till his early 20's. We keep in touch by TTY. Right now I'm fighting insomnia and going crazy!! ;-)
Sozobe As a teacher of Deaf, I am so very interested in this topic. Your comments have been so interesting, and so [/U] right on concerning language acquisition in deaf ( AND hard of hearing ) children. Teaching in a center-based program in a public school. I constazntly work toward providing Deaf role models for students, and to totally immerse them in ASL--a daily goal! I'm curious--did you attend public elementary schools?
Hi there singu, welcome to A2K!
I became deaf late -- gradually from age 13 to 18 -- so while I attended public elementary schools, it wasn't as a deaf kid.
Wonderful to have someone like you in the public schools! I entered this field (deaf education) in part because the services I received when I did begin to lose my hearing were so totally putrid. ;-) Things like, since I hadn't learned ASL yet, they provided an oral interpreter -- who had a cleft palate. (Oral interpreter = someone who mouths the words being spoken for the benefit of skilled lipreaders, especially in discussion classes or other situations where there is more than one speaker.)
Yes, we often miss the boat in educating deaf kids...for one reason administrators don't understand how deaf kids learn and that they are often forced to try to learn in their second language before they are proficient in their first language. Since "proficiency" is so data-based on regular curriculum, it doesn't always appear that deaf kids are improving academically...at least mine don't. I'm going to a session this week on Curriculum Based Assessment...a more valid and accurate measure of deaf kids' improvement, I think. And I do want to visit Laurent one day!!
I completely agree about Curriculum Based Assessment, or portfolios -- a lot more work, though.
How long have you been teaching?
I have taught deaf/hoh for 27 years in different states and different capacities--my favorite was starting a center-based deaf preschool as a satellite of a state school. Getting those little ones fresh, and building their language base was the BEST! The challenge in my current position (elementary center-based) is meeting the needs of preschool through 5th grade deaf and hard of hearing. Of course, I wouldn't go back one more day if it weren't for the BIG BUCKS that I get paid
How about you? Elementary or older?
The symposium I'm attending this week (CBM and portfolios) will be done by Clerc and Gallaudet people. I'm anxious to get that new information---and to have some fun.
Hi singu,
Wow, 27 years! You must have seen a whole lot of educational philosophies come and go...
I did my student teaching with 2nd and 3rd graders, and my M.Ed is K-12, but the bulk of my experience has been with young adults. I've been a stay-at-home mom since 2000, but have done a lot of volunteer stuff up until last year; recently moved and am more out of the loop than I've been in a long time.
Oh and I'm also a certified Deaf Mentor, for exactly that high of getting at 'em when they're really young. Probably the single piece of information that has made the greatest impact on me is that deaf-of-deaf (deaf kids/ Deaf parents) acquire language exactly parallel to, well, hearing-of-hearing (hearing kids/ hearing parents), just via ASL vs. via English.
The symposium sounds great! Would love to see as much as you'd like to share when you get back.
I'd be interested in a report too, to add another voice.
I'm an older hard-of-hearing person who follows threads about these issues slightly for myself, but also out of general interest. I have been won over to ASL greatly because of Sozobe's contributions about her experiences described on a2k, for both herself, and with Sozlet.
