Re: IMLD, 2/21/05: Braille & sign languages

suzmccarth wrote:

>
> --- In qalam@yahoogroups.com, "Peter T. Daniels" <grammatim@...>
> wrote:
> > suzmccarth wrote:
> > >
> > > --- In qalam@yahoogroups.com, "Peter T. Daniels"
> > > <grammatim@...> wrote:
> > >
> > > > Do you have any idea what this is about?
> > > >
> > > > English is no deaf person's native language.
> > > >
> > > > If you take away their native language, you are engaging in
> child abuse,
> > > > and if the Canadian authorities do not realize this, then they
> are far
> > > > more incompetent that the US education departments.
> > >
> > > There are some excellent oral language programs in US. and
> > > many government funded ASL programs here. It is a personal
> > > decision in both countries. Please do not speculate.
> > >
> > > I believe that any further discussion about language choice for
> > > he deaf and hard of hearing is OT.
> > >
> > > I only wanted to say that without learning the oral language,
> > > literacy is not likely to progress beyond grade 3. If you are
> >aware
> > > of statistics which counter this, they would be most welcome.
> >
> > If the children have no native language to start with, they are
> >unlikely
> > to learn "English" at all anyway.
>
> What research are you drawing on here? I have asked you repeatedly
> to quote some researdch when you make a comment like this.

How should I know? I've been going to lectures and reading books and
articles on ASL for 30 years. (I know the exact moment I first learned
about ASL. It was at the 1976 Summer Meeting of the Linguistic Society
of America, at Oswego, New York. One of the first panels anywhere,
featuring pioneer scholars like Ursula Bellugi, presented facts about
the language for a general linguistic audience.)

> > Again: Why do you suppose "dummy" is a term of abuse?
>
> Because people like you use the term in this way.

Sorry, I never call anyone "dummy."

> I am thinking of forwarding your posts to a friend of mine, a lawyer
> in a large Canadian law firm, whose son is profoundly deaf?
>
> He was educated using the auditory/oral method, and has a cochlear
> implant but uses lipreading almost exclusively to communicate.
> English is indeed his native language. He learned ASL socially later
> and did not use cued speech.
>
> He is finishing his fourth year of university in technical writing
> and is writing the LSAT exam. He is also writing his second novel.
>
> I am sure that this lawyer would be interested in your accusations
> of child abuse and would value your expert opinion that her son is
> a "dummy". Do you ever think before you post?

Look who's talking.

> Are you aware that this forum is listed as public so you cannot
> complain if I suggest that she log in and read a little of what you
> have been saying. Or would you like to retract your accusations
> of "child abuse" and apologize?

Have you ever had any interaction with the Deaf community?

You might log in to the Gallaudet University's website yourself.
--
Peter T. Daniels grammatim@...