Bi-Bi: A Better Way to Educate the Deaf

Cochlear implants are becoming more and more popular now. Even babies as young as 12 months are receiving a cochlear implant. For hearing parents it’s more convenient to have their child get a cochlear implant rather then to learn sign language. Hearing parents usually just look for the simple way out because they don’t want to have a child who is “different.�

Language is communicated in various ways. Yet, there are still children who are denied the privilege of having one. Only ten percent of deaf children are born to deaf parents. This means around ninety percent are born to hearing parents. Most hearing parents have never been exposed to American Sign Language (ASL), so they do not teach it to their deaf child. One of the main reasons this happens is hearing parents tend to deny their child's deafness (Gray, n.d.). Instead, they choose to have their baby get a cochlear implant (CI). Parental decisions regarding cochlear implantation may be influenced by what they understand it means to be deaf. Basically, they see being deaf as a disability and are more apt to consider

Deaf children are entitled to know that they are heirs to an amazing culture, not a pitiful defect. In order to follow through on that obligation, one of the best things I feel we can do is try to educate other hearing people about the realities of American Sign Language and Deaf culture. Language is one of the most critical aspects of most cultures, and one which sets deafness aside from other defects such as blindness, physical disability, or illness. Sign language is not universal, nor does it always correspond to the spoken language in the same country. For example American Sign Language is native to the United States and Canada. Deaf Canadians might use English, French, or both as a written language. But deaf people in Great Britain, while they may write in English, use a completely different sign language. (nad.org)

Studies have shown that if a child receives a cochlear implant before the child is 18 months old followed by intensive therapy the child is likely to develop language skills that are comparable to their peers and many children are able to attend mainstream schooling. This sounds great to parents, but what happens when the cochlear implant doesn’t work or if the child doesn’t receive the necessary therapy for understanding sound using the cochlear implant. Because the children were not exposed to American sign language (ASL) this can delay the children education and learning compared to their peers. When children are born to hearing parents they want the child to be like them and be able to hear. To the hearing, deafness is a disability and if there is a way that they can make their child hear, most parents will do everything in their power to make sure they can give that to their child. Then again, many parents forget is that living with a cochlear implant is a lifelong process and involves years to decades of therapy for their child. And if a child receives the implant later than 18 months old it becomes harder for the child to understand speech from a cochlear implant and more intensive therapy for the child. Children start learning language from their parents listening to them talk to others and talk to the baby. If the child is deaf, they are missing this important development of speech, which makes it harder for the child to learn to speak and understanding language. Also, most hearing parents don’t know ASL or sign fluently to be able to teach their children the language and help them to start learning and be able to communicate with society. Today there are still parents that will not learn ASL even though their child is deaf or maybe they received a cochlear implant and it didn’t work. This

A Cochlear Implant is an electronic device that partially restores hearing in people who have severe hearing loss due to damage of the inner ear and who receive limited benefit from hearing aids (http://www.cochlear.com/wps/wcm/connect/au/home/understand/hearing-and-hl/hl-treatments/cochlear-implant). In some cases there are patients whose hearing did not adjust correctly, having a risk of developing a virus, complications after the surgery, the benefits of sign language without a cochlear implant and lastly children or adults with cochlear implants may not even develop a good speech. There are many positive and negative articles I have read on cochlear implants. As a parent you are not only putting your child at risk, you are also withdrawing them from the deaf community, the one they were naturally born into. I do not support cochlear implants, children should not be implanted until they are grown to the point where they can make their own choice

Sign language, cochlear implants, or both? It is the debate that has plagued parents of young deaf children all over nation. They are torn with the decision between potentially restoring the hearing of their child or immersing them in the beauty of Deaf culture. It seems that no matter what decision they make, there will be backlash. The Deaf community feels like a member is being taken away from them, and hearing people cannot understand why someone wouldn’t want their child to have the ability to hear. Though we cannot fully understand what it is like to be faced with this choice unless we have been in this position, we can explore the pros and cons of either side. So what is it that leads to some parents to make the leap for cochlear implants and turns others towards the sign language side?

Most doctors recommend that children with cochlear implant only use spoken language as a method of communication so they can maximize the benefits from the cochlear implant. However, the popular method of communication for children with cochlear implants is total communication which is the integration of oral communication and ASL. Although Heather Artinian was fluent in ASL before she received her cochlear implant, she was able to communicate with hearing and deaf people through both ASL and spoken language after years of intensive speech therapy (Aronson, Sound and Fury: Six Years Later). When cochlear implant users take it off, they cannot hear any sounds so they are technically still deaf. Even though they are able to hear sounds, cochlear implant recipients will not be able to identify themselves as hearing individuals. When they bridge the gap between the deaf and hearing world, they can still be a part of both cultures without defining themselves as a part of only one culture (TedX: The Heather World). Therefore, the cochlear implant can be a great device for deaf people who want to stay in the Deaf community but still be able to take advantage of additional opportunities in the hearing

Signing is an effective way of communicating the deaf and hard of hearing. It’s effective because signing is the main way to communicate with the deaf and can sometimes be the only way of communicating with a certain deaf person.

Thanks for pointing out that sign language is not universal. Sign language is just as diverse as spoken languages with its own regional dialects for different countries (NAD, n.d.). Wow! For some reason I thought deaf people spoke the same standard sign language. I’ve been enlightened. With that in mind, I see how easy it is for people and sometimes frontline medical professionals to assume that hearing impaired individuals use one language. I think it also speaks to my own cultural challenge. Since I do not have any hearing impaired individuals in my family or close friendships, I am not familiar with the way hearing impaired individuals communicate other than through sign language, which I assumed was universal. I think this is valuable because

This article "I Have a Child With a Cochlear Implant in My Preschool Classroom. Now, What?" by Carrie A. Davenport and Sheila R. Albert-Morgan dealt with the issue of exploring the fact that although cochlear implant technology is progressing rapidly through the years, there is however still a lack of capacity at the school level. This article also provides awareness of what individualized education program (IEP) teams can practice while raising the learning skills of a deaf child who uses cochlear implants. The main focus of this article is to help teachers provide the best education for children who are deaf and use cochlear implants while in classrooms, by implementing ways teachers can provide the appropriate accommodations to their students,

Inspired by that resolution, the use of sign language was removed by fellow oralism-supporting educators from many programs for the deaf around the world. And, so for over a hundred years, up to until recently, educators from many different countries would continue to gather every five years and deliberate about the state of deaf education, seemingly unimpeded by the shadow of Milan’s controversial legacy. Those educators were mostly supporters of the oral method, until now. In today’s society sign in school has improved. Around 300 sign languages are in use around the world today. People are learning that sign language is a regular language such as Spanish or French. And that it should be taught in school to help benefit deaf and hearing people communicate better. Sign language is broken into three different areas. Deaf sign languages, which are the preferred languages of Deaf communities around the world. This include village sign languages, shared with the hearing community, and Deaf-community sign languages. Auxiliary sign languages, which are not

The two articles acknowledge ECEs about the importance of that critical period for children to learn their first language. Also how their language skills relate to other skills that is needed for them later in life. Now knowing this information I can plan activities and understand how to help children with hearing loss later on when I’m in the work field. Sign language is also very important for children that are deaf. I would put posters that teach sign language in the class room for the children to see. As well as encourage them to communicate with others in any ways that they can. Therefore, these two articles show educators the information that is very useful, so they are relevant to

DB grew up and attended college. Even with Cochlear Implant (CI), he still needed a sign language interpreter in classes and at study groups to ensure him capture all that was said and taught and to converse with others.

In America, English exists as the standard language. For that reason, it is understood that children will learn this as their primary language. However, according to the “National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders” website, “about two to three children per 1,000 are born deaf or hard of hearing”(Quick Statistics [NIDCD Health Information]) . Moreover, an article by Karen Kalivoda points out that “depending on the age of onset and the severity of the hearing loss, an individual's spoken language development may be radically affected”. Babies learn to speak by parroting the sounds around them; however, a deaf child does not hear these noises and, therefore, the child does not “develop their language” skills

The Deaf Studies in the 20th century focused on the studies of sign languages and of Deaf culture (Bauman & Murray, 2010). It was during the late part of the 20th century when sign languages and their practical use for communication of deaf students were formally studied. Many systems were explored, but the study of American Sign Language (ASL) became popular. A powerful argument why formal studies of sign language existed was to give Deaf students access to various modes of communication. Later, the study