Access For Hearing Parents of Deaf Children

hi,

Are you Deaf? Got hearing parents? Concerned about deaf babies being denied sign language?

Great! Watch this video...

In Auslan, with subtitles. (approx 6-7 minutes).



A great example of what I'm talking about is Barb DiGiovanni's interview with her grandmother... with subtitles (open-captioned), in here:

My 93 Year Old Grandma's Sorrow



Another piognant story shared is:

Grandma's Last Words

This one is in ASL.



Below is a transcript of the Auslan video with subtitles. The wordings have changed a bit for easier reading.


TRANSCRIPT

Access for Hearing Parents of Deaf Babies

Hello, my name is Susan. Today I’ll talk about deaf babies.

Most hearing parents who have a deaf baby don’t know what to do because they have never met deaf people before, they are not familiar with deaf culture and sign language (Auslan or ASL)…

Some of them are depressed, you know, not sure what to do.

Later, when their baby grow older… out there are different approaches, like oral (relying on speech and listening only), cochlear implants, etc. Doctors who are into the medical view of listening, along with other hearing people, advise parents on what to do. The parents tend to follow their advice.

Later on in the child’s life, the child is often delayed in language, because language input was missing earlier on in their life. This is because the parents were like, “What should I do?” “How can I help my child to speak? What should I do?” They have no experience to start with.

Also, for the deaf child, is doubly hard, he/she can’t lipread, and often doesn’t know what is being said in everyday life with other family members. Remember, as a baby, they’re too young to start reading lips, and so on. This impacts their langauge development over time. It is delayed.

That is common.

Some children are lucky, they pick up very well at lipreading and speaking, some had cochlear implants that worked well for them. Most did not work for others, though.

If the child is lucky, their parents will put them in school with other deaf children so that he/she is able to learn sign language (resulting in langauge being developed almost on par with other hearing children). But it is commont that their parents, sisters and brothers often do not use sign language at home.

So, in the family, the child miss out on conversations. The child may try hard to lipread, but often miss out on what is being said. The child is often thinking, “What are you saying? What?” this is because family members talk freely with each other across the room, dining table, etc... it hard for the child to catch on (can’t hear).

I was thinking, you know, many of us deaf people are aware of this. Especially us who use sign language, we know this and don’t want to see this struggle being repeated for other deaf children. We don’t want this… so we try to let the new hearing parents know about this, and that Auslan (or ASL - sign language) is actually good and that it is a real language (like all other languages) and if all family members learnt sign langauge, it will often result in a dramatic increase in their child’s language development. This because sign language automatically welcomes the child in the family’s conversations. The child is more involved in the family and is happier as a result. The family becomes strong together.

I know we tried to let the hearing parents know about this.

Now, from my experience, I can see that most parents, and hearing people in general, don’t listen to deaf adults. They prefer to listen to hearing doctors, mainly because the doctors speak their language – spoken English. They are more comfortable with this, whereas with deaf adults who use sign language, the hearing parents look at them hesistantly and don’t know what they are saying. They are not familiar with Auslan (or ASL), they are unable to talk with them, and don’t feel comfortable overall.

You know… that’s the problem.

Makes it hard for us to try to explain.

So, I was thinking about it, and I thought, you know, most of us deaf people have hearing parents ourselves. I have deaf parents, but most of you, a high percentage, have hearing parents… So, if you, being deaf and a strong sign user, have hearing parents, that’s great!

Why? It means your parents have a wealth of experience with you, they have seen you grow up. Perhaps your parents tried to help you with speech training (instead of signing), they have been through it all, and later on in life, you still became a strong Auslan or ASL (sign language) user.

Perhaps your communication is not very smooth with your family, but they know and finally understood about this struggle … this means your parents already have information whereas most of the young parents who is just staring out with a deaf baby for the first time do not.

The new parents ask themselves, “What do I do? My baby is deaf…” they search for and meet other parents who have deaf babies themselves to meet together and discuss on strategies, “What do we do?” Notice that most of them have no experience whereas your parents have plenty of experience...

What we need to do is to find a way for the new parents to meet with your parents. Your parents, through their experience with you, may realise over time, “I should have learnt Auslan/ASL (sign language)” … “Sigh... when my child grew up, I missed out on many opportunities to converse with him/her” … “I see that too much time is wasted spent on teaching speech when we could have been conversing freely in sign language,” … “This didn’t work, my child not happy” … “I realise now I wish I knew Auslan/ASL so I can be more involved.” Perhaps your parents have these thoughts. The new parents need to meet yours so your parents can share this information with them. The new parents will be more comfortable conversing with your parents, because they are both hearing and speak the same langauge. The new parents will probably be saying, “Oh, you’re hearing like me, and your baby is deaf..” … “I see, your child is grown up now… what are your experiences, what happened?” They’ll listen with an open heart. They NEED to hear your parents.

So… my suggestion to make this possible is to have someting like, using a video camera to record your parents and someone asking them questions, like, “What happened when your child was born?” … “How many years ago was that? Deaf?” … “How did you feel? Depressed?” Later on, they can ask, “What methods have you tried over the years?” “What happened?” “Was it successful or not successful?” “Do you think you should have learn Auslan/ASL?” Questions similar to this, being asked so your parents can share, explaining from their experiences.

This sharing of information can be collected in separate video clips. A collection of different parents, different experiences, with voice and subtitles...

The collection of video clips will be in like, a website, in one place. This means that new parents with a deaf baby who wonder, “What should I do?” can look on the internet and search for information on hearing parents, deaf babies, on what to do, FAQ… they come across to this website with plenty of video clips. All of them on your parents who share their experiences over many years, having seen with their own eyes and fully knowing the results of certain approaches with their deaf children. I feel sure that many of them wish they can sign and will share that too.

I think it’s very good. It is kind of better to have this sharing of information on the internet than for us go to, say, a rally. Rallies are good though, they’re good for public awareness, I understand this. But still, hearing people tend to look at us and not accept us, right? It’s better if they (the new parents) hear from other hearing parent’s experiences, since they’ll be able to hear the same spoken language. The rich experiences that your parents share, will help the others understand… perhaps some of your parents may still think that oral/speechreading is the way to go. That’s fine, it’s their view, but I feel most of them will say, “I wish I can sign.” The new parents need to hear that.

What do you think?

Thank you.

Vegies without a Garden, Update 1

Hi,

last month, I did a video in Auslan (with subtitles) about growing vegies without a garden, using a specially designed tub in http://auslan-resources.blogspot.com/2008/10/how-to-grow-your-vegies-without-garden.html

After doing the video, I made two tubs and planted tomatoes and strawberries in it. I also planted some tomato plants in the front yard (using normal ground, not tub).

Here are the results about one month later:

Photos taken 2 Nov 2008:

This tomato plant is in the front yard (not in tub)... the best one of the lot in the front yard (the three other tomato plants were smaller). The hand spade is used as a size reference.

COMPARE WITH.....

Notice the size of the tomato plants in the tub compared with the one in the front yard. The hand spade on the right hand side is almost hidden from view... And the colour, more greener...(in the video in the earlier post, you may notice there was only one tomato plant, I have since planted three more in the tub).

A close-up view of the size of the plant with the hand spade.

Flowers on the tomato plant (in the tub) are already growing...I think the tomatoes are coming soon! :)

The strawberry plants seem to be doing well...

No strawberries... yet! :)

This picture is taken two days later (today)... the bud has already blossomed! :)

For those who are wondering, the below picture is what the top box looks like on the inside. The bottom box is filled with water. See http://www.thegoldenreport.com/ for step by step instructions (under Special Interest / Grow your own Vegies without a Garden).

How to Grow your Vegies Without a Garden

Hi,

some people (including myself) are worried about how the recession in the USA will impact Australia. What if there is no more food in supermarkets?

Fear not, earthbox is to your rescue! Great especially for those who don't have a garden, they can grow their own vegetables. And what's more, it doesn't require much water or maintenance!

Check out the vlog below (in Auslan, with English subtitles).

Links: http://www.blogger.com/www.earthbox.com http://www.blogger.com/www.thegoldenreport.com for a similar DIY (Do It Yourself) box for those who can't afford the real deal (click "Special Interest" on the left side, and on the bottom click on the link where it talks about growing your own vegies without a garden).

If you have any helpful advices or tips, please comment below :)

Deaf Related Comics

hi, it has been a while.

Yesterday I came across this comic strip which I did in '05 and it gave me a chuckle... thought I'd share it in here :)



(click to see larger size)

Comments and feedback welcome.

My Thoughts on Raychelle's CI Vlogs

Vlog response to Raychelle, in ASL, approx 5 - 6 minutes.



Summary:
Raychelle's vlogs with transcripts on cochlear implants (links below) covered important information on the surgery, myths, parents, ASL and the deaf community. My vlog is a response to her vlogs. I covered some things that I agreed with her, and also some things that I did not agree with.

If you would like a transcript, let me know and I will add it in.

Raychelle's CI Links:
I Got The Surgery!
Myths about CI Surgeries
Getting a CI - The Earlier, The Better
People with CI's Can't Drive Hybrids and Play Football
CI Users are Still Deaf
Who Is Our Enemy?

Auslan Kitchen Vlog No. 1

Featuring: Banana Milkshake with DIY Almond Milk

In Auslan, approx. 5 min 30 secs


Let me know if you want more Auslan Kitchen recipes.

AG Bell (AGBAD) Recognises ASL! (a small step forward?)

Approx 2 minute video in ASL, followed by summary:


Summary:
The discussion regarding AG Bell (AGBAD)'s letter to PepsiCo...
I agree with NAD, it was a really disappointing letter. The general consensus is that the letter looks down on ASL by implying that deaf people who use ASL are not successful in the hearing community.

In Jay's vlog, he discussed the names of persons and companies who contributed financially to AGBAD in 2005. He mentioned there was no record of 2007 contributors. Not being successful in trying to find out this information from various sources, out of curosity, I visited AGBell's website.

AGBAD (Alexander Graham Bell Association for the Deaf), since its inception in the 1800's, has a strong oral advocacy to the point of actively excluding and discouraging the use of ASL among Deaf children... so when I saw information on ASL in their website, I was surprised.

You can locate it in www.agbell.org in the list on the left: Advocacy > Communication Access > ASL
EDIT: The correct link is Hearing Loss Resources > Communication Options > American Sign Language (Bilingual/Bicultural).

In the website, it mentioned how ASL is a recognised language of the Deaf Community, and the use of ASL in children.

That is good news! I don't know if they just recently put it up there to amend for the damage they did to their reputation via their letter to PepsiCo, or it has been there for a while up to now.

Perhaps we Deaf should email or write a letter to AGBAD congratulating them for including ASL in their website? AGBAD, due its oppression of the Deaf Community in the past up to now, may have never heard a positive word from the Deaf... but their small step in recognising ASL in their website, along with positive feedback from the Deaf, could be the start of building a bridge between the both, with AGBAD eventually accepting ASL in the long run?

NOTE: Barb DiGi covered this topic in her vlog last July 2007.
In here. Thanks, Barb.

AG Bell's information on ASL in their website:
(screenshot amended to show the correct path to the link -click for a bigger view)












Direct URL:
http://www.agbell.org/DesktopDefault.aspx?p=American_Sign_Language


Related Links:
PepsiCo Bob's House SuperBowl Ad
AG Bell's Letter to PepsiCo
NAD responses to AG Bell
Lawyer's Letter to PepsiCo RE: AG Bell's Letter
Jay's vlog
AG Bell's website