Stu.Turk@f26.n129.z1.fidonet.org (Stu Turk) (08/21/90)
Index Number: 9938
[This is from the Silent Talk Conference]
RS> Just thouht I might enter this thread. I agree somewhat with both
RS>of you, although I have to say I aggree more with Bill (first poster)
RS> than with you, Ann. I also was raised entirely oral, and
RS>resisted any attempt to learn ASL until age 25 because I too have
RS>good speechreading skills and adequate speech.
RS>The change in perspective began in college. I
RS>went to a university where the lecture halls seat 300-400 students.
RS>Even if you manage to get a seat in the front row, you are still too
RS>far away to speechread the prof. I "managed" by using other
When I was in grade school the "experts" put totally deaf kids in a
school for the deaf and taught them sign languare but not speech
reading. Kids like me were put in special classes in regular
schools where were were "semi-mainstreamed", taught speech reading
but not permitted to learn sign language. I now know that those
"experts" were wrong and we all should have been allowed to learn
both sign, speech reading, and any other method that might have
helped.
I wore a hearing aid and used speech reading to fill in what I
didn't hear from the time I was six until I was in my late 30's
when my hearing got worse and I depended more on speech reading.
But my eyesight has been gettng worse and at 52 I can no longer
lipread. I would have been nice to have learned sign language as a
kid so it would be eaiser to pick up again and would have come in
handy now when many deaf/blind people read signing by hand
contact.
There are many situations we get into where one method may be
better than the other but I belive that deaf and hard of hearing
people should have some knowlege of both. Sign language doesn't do
you much good when your hands are full of packages and you can't
speech read in a dark room.
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