Sign language cultists are against parental choice
The sign language cultists are continuing to raise a stink about AB 2072, a good bill which will give parents of infants diagnosed as deaf more information about their options, including implants and whole language. Previsouly all they received was one-sided dogma about sign language.
My problem with sign language is that hardly anyone knows it. If all a deaf child is exposed to is sign language they are in essence consigned to a life of loneliness – a life apart from the rest of us.
Sign language cultists want deaf kids to know sign language so they can keep their cult going as they get old.
Here is the latest language of the bill, which was just amended this week by the bill’s author, Assemblyman Tony Mendoza:
BILL NUMBER: AB 2072 AMENDED BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN SENATE JUNE 9, 2010
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 27, 2010
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 13, 2010
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 5, 2010
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Mendoza
FEBRUARY 18, 2010
An act to add Section 124121 to the Health and Safety Code, relating to public health.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST
AB 2072, as amended, Mendoza. Hearing screening: resources and services.
Existing law, the Newborn and Infant Hearing Screening, Tracking, and Intervention Act, requires every general acute care hospital with licensed perinatal services to offer every newborn a hearing screening test for the identification of hearing loss, as specified,
and provide written information on the availability of community resources and services for children with hearing loss to the parents of those who are diagnosed with a hearing loss.
Existing law, the California Early Start Intervention Services Act, commonly known as the Early Start program, provides various
early intervention services for infants and toddlers who have disabilities to enhance their development and to minimize the
potential for developmental delays.
This bill would also require that parents of a newborn or infant diagnosed with a hearing loss be provided written or electronic
information from the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders on specified communication options for
children with hearing loss by an audiologist or other related professional at a followup appointment after diagnosis with a hearing loss, and by a local provider for the Early Start Program upon initial contact with the parents of a newborn or infant newly diagnosed with a hearing loss. It would also specify that neither the state , nor an audiologist, nor an Early Start Program provider , shall incur the cost of implementing this bill.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no.
State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 124121 is added to the Health and Safety Code, to read:
124121. (a) Parents of all newborns and infants diagnosed with a hearing loss shall also be provided written or electronic information from the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders on American Sign Language (ASL), Total Communication, Cued Speech, and Listening and Spoken Language communication options for children with hearing loss,
including, but not limited to, information about deaf and hard-of-hearing organizations, agencies and early intervention
centers, and educational programs. The information shall be provided:
(1) By an audiologist or other related professional at a followup appointment after diagnosis with a hearing
loss.
(2) By a local provider for the Early Start Program, provided for pursuant to the California Early Intervention Services Act (Title 14
(commencing with Section 95000) of the Government Code) upon initial contact with the parents of a newborn or infant newly diagnosed with a hearing loss.
(b) Neither the state , nor an audiologist, nor an Early Start Program provider , shall incur any cost for the implementation of this section.
It might be easier to say just stick to sign language, but it doesn’t work that way. it is well known that it is virtually impossible to become truly fluent in sign language if you do not use it natively. Our brains just develop in a different way. sign language is visual, whereas verbal language is auditory. A combination of both sign language and other tools becomes necessary in today’s world if one does not want to be limited to a small world. Cochlear implants face a great deal of resistance from the deaf community, but I can tell you now, if I had a deaf daughter, I would give her the implant and teach her signing as well so she could stop using it later if she wanted. (cochlear doesn’t sound the same as regular hearing. some deaf people like to take it off and enjoy the quiet)
Debbie,
That is a nuanced approach. Unfortunately the sign language cultists only want this to go their way. I think they will fail.
How dare do you support cochlear implant to punish the deafies to limit their rights of health exams and death?
How can you save the deaf person’s life? The CPR can kill them.
How can the doctor give any proper result if the Deaf patient with CI can not have any X Ray, and MRI?
With the CI , it shorten the Deaf’s life span .
That is a silent holocaust!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Sign Language Cultists? That is extremely offensive and I wonder how many Deaf people you actually know? The problem with most hearing people is that they assume they know what is best for the Deaf, when in reality their biggest problem is the hearing culture and ignorance. They have been oppressed for hundreds of years by people who think they know what’s best. Where is their voice in all of this? I have known many, many Deaf people who were raised oral who later learned sign language, because that is their CHOICE. Here is a fact that cannot be disputed. American Sign Language is the fourth most common language in the US. I wouldn’t exactly call that rare.
Kimberly,
There are over 300 million Americans and only 500K to 2 million of them know sign language.
Sounds cult-like to me.
Not all ASL users are cultists, but the ones that want to take away choice from the parents of deaf children most certainly are.
California is one of the last states in the grip of ASL extremists. Soon they will be stripped of their monopoly! It cannot happen soon enough!
“Not all ASL users are cultists, but the ones that want to take away choice from the parents of deaf children most certainly are.”
Ain’t that the truth.
I have no problem calling them “ASL extremists” or “Sign Language Cultists” because that’s exactly who they are. They be offended? Too flipping bad!
This be a historic week whereas the penurious walls of the closed deaf society start crumbling down.
The Assembly Bill 2072 has inspired me to develop the brochures below and the resources are local to Orange County, California. Find your copies at our kiosk at the upcoming Orange County Fair.
Resource Guide For Parents Of Infants With Hearing Loss
http://eyefirevlogs.com/eyefire2/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/RPIHL.pdf
Guide To Communication Options For Infants With Hearing Loss
http://eyefirevlogs.com/eyefire2/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/GCOIHL.pdf
And dont forget to see this wonderful video of a child hearing his mother’s voice for the first time with a cochlear implant. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZDD7Ohs5tAk
Art,
Actually California is seen as a bellwether state whereas whenever California sneezes, America has it’s cold. In other words what happens here in California can and is likely to be repeated in other states.
Richard
I really admire Richard Roehm
http://www.ripoffreport.com/questionable-activities/richard-roehm/richard-roehm-fake-group-home-4e8b5.htm
I’m not worried about what others say about my group home project. People are going to get kicked out so others can live safely and then they can say anything they like about my group home project afterwards. This person lived in the home designed for independent people. This person got kicked out of 2 subsequent homes after mine.
I developed the resource brochure for the Los Angeles County at will be available at the MDC website. I will get the brochure developed for San Diego county asap.
“Sign language cultists”? I use sign language extensively, does that make me a ‘sign language cultist’? I don’t think so. Let’s stop using that kind of word, because there are plenty of deaf people on both sides who use sign language extensively.
I believe that AB 2072 can be better modified as to reflect the concerns of some deaf people who are opposed to this bill. For instance, I am concerned that the bill specifies that written information on communication options be provided by an audiologist or other related professional. I would like to change that phrase to an audiologist AND a representative from deaf (signing) community. Why? Because it would remove the preceived bias toward audiologists as the deaf representative would have an opportunity to present the sign language option. I think it’s a better way as to preserve the essence of AB 2072, which is to present all communication options to the parents of newborn deaf babies, and stil be fair to the deaf community.
That’s all I have to say on this subject.
Dan,
When I refer to ASL “cultists” I am referring to those who are losing their minds over AB 2072, even though it is a very good bill.
I am told that many of these nuts have been disrupting the legislative meetings in Sacramento, even resorting to throwing furniture around.
Why should ASL users be given special rights in this process? That is crazy! Parents will be told where to go if they want ASL. But I see no reason for a cultist to be present.
The problem is that most parents don’t even know ASL exists. If the bill actually provided information on ALL of the possible options, then there would be significantly fewer people who have a problem with this bill.
Art,
Thanks for responding to my comment. It was the first time I read your blog, somebody told me through Facebook that there were several posts on the same issue. I didn’t know about that. I can understand why you would resort to using that word.
If it helps, I don’t think ASL users should be given special rights or anything like that in the process. I agree that the parents should have the final say in what kind of communiction option they want for their deaf babies. I agree that all options should be presented fairly. The only thing I would like to see is the bill being modified to change the phrase “an audiologist or other related professional” to “an audiologist AND a deaf representative…” Maybe that will ease the fears and concerns of signing deaf community. I do believe that a compromise should be reached on this bill.
Dan,
Per your “an audiologist AND a deaf representative…” piece in your comment. I am already the ‘deaf representative’ through the eyes of the County’s CPS and APS programs as we’ve had successful working relationships. I can be the ‘deaf representative’ in this case.
Dan,
What I find ironic is this perception that parents are 100% dependent on these brochures! LOL! In this age of the Internet, they will go online and find out what to do with their deaf infants.
Never mind the brochures. This is going to be all about which side can put better info online.
Excellent points made here. You are right. These deaf cultists are selfish and self centered. I concede my position and now support AB 2072. Thank you for changing my mind.
Now it appears that one of the precious bricks that builds the bridge out of the closed deaf society going to be coming from DBC? Or someone is spoofing Egbert? If it appears on the DBC website or one of his sites, it’ll be true but if not, then it’s a spoof.
Richard,
I checked. Was a spoof. You called it!
Relevant to the topic is that S.T.A.R. scores for the following schools that use sign language exclusively are very low.
S.T.A.R. Testing results for University High School : http://star.cde.ca.gov/star2009/ViewReport.asp?ps=true&lstTestYear=2009&lstTestType=C&lstCounty=30&lstDistrict=73650-000&lstSchool=3035102&lstGroup=2&lstSubGroup=128
S.T.A.R. Testing results for California School for the Deaf – Riverside : http://star.cde.ca.gov/star2009/ViewReport.asp?ps=true&lstTestYear=2009&lstTestType=C&lstCounty=33&lstDistrict=31625-000&lstSchool=3330834&lstGroup=1&lstSubGroup=1
S.T.A.R. Testing results for California School for the Deaf – Fremont : http://star.cde.ca.gov/star2009/ViewReport.asp?ps=true&lstTestYear=2009&lstTestType=C&lstCounty=01&lstDistrict=31617-000&lstSchool=0131763&lstGroup=1&lstSubGroup=1
I’m not sure what my perspective on the overall bill is, I just found out about it. However, I wanted to point out those scores are fairly normal for Deaf-ed. Notice the highest scores are in areas that are more visual – Math, Geometry..
Also, whatever communication method is chosen in a family for the child is rarely fully practiced regularly and fluently by the entire family. Think of it this way: if your ears are plugged ’cause you just got off the plane, and you land in a country whose language you have never learned in your life, will you get along just fine by simply reading everyone’s lips? Or are you and those you try to communicate with when no interpreter is available more likely to resort to gestures and drawing out maps to get the point accross and hope the message went through without a hitch?
Often times, people think it is easy to read lips or that hearing aids and CIs are equivalent to regular hearing. I have not personally experienced either of the last two, but if I had to try to read a language I had never heard off someone else’s mouth with no other language basis, I for one would most likely get frustrated fast. And having worked with DHH students throughout the years, I know, whatever may be attached to their ear, their strongest mode of picking up information is their eyes.
Sorry, Just a few thoughts.
Sincerely.
Unfortunately CSDR and CSDF are often seen as last options for the middle school and high school kids who finally are placed there from mainstreamed programs. CSDF has AP courses in the high school which tells you that there are extremely brighjt kids there too and I can almost guarantee you that they are of Deaf parents and have grown up at the school since Kdg. STAR scores at CSDF/R should not be the measure of school’s academic/communication excellence due to stark differences between those who performed poorly in the mainstream and finally are placed there and catchinmg up vs high achievers.
AB2072 like what Dan said should be tweaked to show a Deaf professional as a part of the team for the presentation of options. Audies know virtually nothing of the Bilingual/Bicultural option as their schooling understandably limits their training to just the medical model.
Nikki…you said the low score are due to kids from mainstreamed entering these deaf schools? where is your proof of that? From my experience, mainstream kids tend to do better than state schools for the deaf. I am a living proof of that. My scores helped bring up total scores of a certain residential school I had attended. During my freshman year, I placed in the top ten scores of All H.S. kids. Don’t just talk..show us something that backs up what you’re saying.
The bill is exclusively for the parents of deaf babies, not for the deaf community with all communication methods. So just back off and let the hearing parents of deaf children do the researches on their own, ask for some advices/help if they want to, and get on their own journeys to teach and raise their deaf children. It should be the parents’ 100% responsibility and commitment to be involved in the deaf child’s journal, learn and teach the deaf children- five times more than the schools (both mainstreaming schools and deaf schools) could provide to the deaf children. It can be very draining but extremely rewarding to the parents of deaf children. I hope that they will not give up until they see the children have transformed into very independent, bright and happy adults in both deaf and hearing worlds.
So it’s absolutely not just the deaf schools’ faults for having the kids’ grades lower than fourth grades. It’s actually the PARENTS’ faults after all. Not to mention that a lot of teachers of deaf schools quit working there- partly due to the lack of parents’ involvements/commitments. The teachers – especially deaf teachers are NEITHER the “cult leader” nor the babysitters. They go there to teach some basic courses and help the children to learn. Just think of them as “the backups for the parents” regardless of what communication method(s).
Allow me to respond to you with one of my videos made just after the bill was introduced.
Deaf Community Dont Own Deaf Babies (Subtitled)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lMo8vVP5zZY
Art,
“Sign language cultists”? That has to be stupidest label I have ever seen a moron apply to the Deaf. Congratulations, your wording impresses me.
Shall I label you a “Vocal Terrorist” because you would deny me the right to use ASL? You remind me of a little boy named Saddam Hussein who too had a problem with a small minority. Only have you have far less balls than he did, and choose to cower behind a poorly-written, poorly-researched blog article.
I don’t know where you get your information, nor what your problem is with the Deaf community and our fighting for our right to use a language that makes the most sense. I do know with certainty that you do not know even the littlest thing about the Deaf, or you would not spout such nonsense. We are Deaf, and we are many. Just because your three friends don’t know ASL does not mean that you should extrapolate that no one knows ASL.
Let me clarify one single point for you…Deaf people can not hear. Do you grasp what that means? Hearing aids do little more than amplify EVERY SINGLE SOUND, and unless you are in a quiet environment, they are useless.
Try it yourself…buy some over the ear headphones, crank your iPod up to 8, and then carry on a conversation…congratulations, you are experiencing what the best hearing aids can provide.
CI are a life-limiting in many ways, and are not the “cure” it has been oversold as. While I believe in choice, I will rather go naturally Deaf than have some wires jammed in my nerves so that I can “hear” people sound like robots. And, oh, yes, the excessive caution I would need to exercise afterwards (as I damned sure can’t take out the CI) would definitely degrade the quality of my life.
So, Artie boy, you may keep your CI, perhaps someday, when you “go deaf”, you’ll need them. On that day, finally, your brain will finally wake up to the following factoid, repeated in the vain hope that it will somehow register…
…Deaf and sound = no go.
“A life of loneliness”? I can tell you, I was MORE isolated and friendless when I was oral and living in the “mainstream” than I have been since I learned ASL. And I have Hearing friends, too.
As for the “cultists” bit, that’s just intended to be inflammatory and derogatory. Right there, it invalidates your whole post.
Charles,
Cultists? You bet! ASL users who don’t want parents to know their options are the very definition of “cultists.”
These cultists want to force kids into ASL so that ASL will survive.
ASL is only one of many options. That is the truth that ASL cultists don’t want us to know.
Stop trying to force parents to do your bidding and let the medical and education professionals do their jobs!
Art it was refreshing to see your blog. FYI- only 1 in 5000 people are fluent in sign language. Sign language is NOT one of the 50 most used languages in the US Census. Hopefully, families will have the opportunity to explore all communication options for their children.
Deaf culture is not a “cult.” And I’ve seen from several sources that ASL is the third most used language in the US. It’s more popular than French.
And heck, Hearing parents are still getting the CI in droves WITHOUT this bill. Why? Because Hearing parents of deaf children who don’t want their children using sign (or SEE, or even Cued Speech) will go to the ends of the earth to find ways to try to fit their deaf child into the Hearing world. And the number of parents doing this is rising.
Frankly (since someone else mentioned it above), the fourth grade level thing is because deaf children are not receiving access to any language at an early age. They enter kindergarten with little or no language skills. And once they get to school, they may just be taught to memorize phrases by rote and blandly repeat them back. Children who HAD age-approriate language before being put into this type of environment may actually regress within it. And most often, the kids with no language are often oral (and oral, although it works with some, is definitely not right for many deaf children) or have not learned any communication method because every adult in their life was “too busy” to try anything. Parental involvement is the key here, not mainstream or CIs or speaking.
And no, they did not receive “one-sided dogma” about sign language, or there would be considerably less children with CIs. CI companies do a fantastic job of trying to purport their product as the “only” choice. And are you aware of Milan 1880? Oralism is certainly not dead or unadvertised. Compared to advertisement of CI/oralism to parents, ASL is barely advertised. I honestly think it should be advertised more.
I do liken oralism and CIs to cultural genocide. Imagine if Mexico decided to come in and make us all act, speak, and perhaps even look Mexican. We would not be allowed to act American anywhere, and if we were caught acting American, we would be punished. Would America put up with that? Of course not! Yet when we use oral/Hearing methods on Deaf children, this is exactly what Deaf culture must put up with. They feel slighted when someone they feel belongs to their culture, or should have the choice to belong to their culture, is essentially not allowed to even try being Deaf.
You don’t appear to have done research of BOTH sides of the debate.
wow.. a lot of ignorant and uneducated drivel going on here.