Communication Options? NO WAY!

by webmaster on Apr.09, 2010, under Uncategorized

Roughly Translated

The communication options have been provided to parents of Deaf babies. We have tried those and they won’t work!

Many parents have regretted making the decision. They realize at a later time that communication options don’t work for them. The communication options make parents feel responsible for not meeting their needs.

The system that endorses the concept of communication options should be held accountable.

The parents are overwhelmed by the options, and they are in a very difficult situation. They are forced to take a gamble on their own Deaf baby’s future by making a decision that should not happen. This practically removes rights from parents and their Deaf child(ren) unethically.

Communication options include English, ASL, AVT, oralism, Signed English, SEE1, SEE2, cued speech and many other artificial communication tools. In fact, ASL and English SHOULD not be part of communication options. ASL and English are real languages. The other options are not. How can you teach Deaf children communication tools without having a language? The concept of communication options does not make any sense at all.

The language right should not be denied to them. Deaf babies deserve to acquire language. Bilingualism (English and ASL) guarantees parents that their children will grow up having a minimum of two real languages.

Communication Options? NO WAY!

2 Comments for this entry

Elizabeth
April 11th, 2010 on 3:36 pm
I believe it should not only be about ‘communication options’ or ways to communicate with your baby more efficiently. It should mainly be about language. Communication options should be used and explored as ways to help your child have better access to the language.

But, how do you teach your baby language if there is no access to it? Perhaps communication options should be considered as ways to get your child full access to the language.

Also, no one is forcing parents to make these decisions. We have all of these options that they can choose from. Yes, it is overwhelming. It is a daunting task. However, every family is different. It would be wrong not to provide several communication options. They need to be informed as much as possible in order to make the best decision at the time. However, I am well aware that some methods are pushed heavily onto parents by professionals. I think this is wrong. But, there is nothing wrong with providing as much information there is on ways to communicate with your child efficiently and ways to get them full access to the language.

It is devastating to find that years later that maybe the option you chose may not have been the best choice or even harmful. This is why parents need to be constantly informed about the choices they made and what other choices there are out there. They need to pay attention to their child. If he or she is unhappy or not doing well, perhaps it is time to try something else.

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webmaster
April 11th, 2010 on 9:38 pm
Hi Elizabeth

Thank you for leaving your comment. I am discussing about communication options that are options of communication methods, not languages. The communication methods include AVT, oralism, Signed English, SEE, Cued Speech and some more. English language and American Sign Language are not part of communication methods; therefore, English and ASL are not part of communication options.

All Deaf babies are expected to learn American Sign Language as their first language due to language development based on their visual requirement. They have their own language, ASL that helps them learn English language as their 2nd language and by any chance more languages.

If parents want their Deaf child to use one of the communication methods, they can as long as the child still keeps using two primary languages, ASL and English.

It is inappropriate to take a language away from a human being.

Deafchip