This is my third attempt at writing this. I'm trying my best to stay unbiased while explaining the background, but I just can't. And I don't have to. So here we go. There is a population of Deaf individuals in the country that believe cochlear implants rob a child of their birth right to be included in the Deaf culture. Deaf culture is defined by the use of ASL and the dismissal of their hearing loss as a disability. They report that they feel isolated by the "hearing world" and discriminated against due to the fact that they can't hear or can't speak. ASL is not english and the capital D Deaf community see it as the right of a baby to learn ASL and join their culture (while denying the "culture" of their parents hearing world).
Technology has come a long way. When cochlear implants first came out, they weren't awesome. There were a lot of bad ones, it wasn't what people expected and most importantly, the therapy necessary to maximize the potential of a CI wasn't understood. So it is understandable why some may be wary of a cochlear implant. But that is so very different today. CIs are changing people's lives. They are not a cure for deafness, but they can provide high level speech understanding. A lot of hard work and dedication goes into that life change. But it is possible. I see it every day. The Alexander Graham Bell Association for the deaf and hard of hearing is an organization that supports individuals with hearing loss and families of children with hearing loss that have chosen to learn (or re-learn) to listen and communicate with spoken language.
(the following is quoted from a recent AG Bell email) "AG Bell acknowledges that a chosen approach depends on culture, family interests and desired communication outcome. AG Bell believes that the language and communication approach chosen should be based on an informed decision made by the child's parents/family and based on their own unique circumstances...AG Bell does not believe that ASL should be prohibited or restricted as a choice, nor does AG Bell advocate against learning ASL as part of a child's overall development if that is what the child's parents desire."
A group called "Audism Free America" has recently begun protesting at AGBell's headquarters. Ok, this topic gets me so fired up, I can't write in a straight line anymore. This gets pretty heated and if you have any interest at all, here are links to both sides, a blog and a twitter.AFA: http://audismfreeamerica.blogspot.com (they also printed the email update blasts from AGBell, so you can actually get both sides here)
AGBell : http://www.twitter.com/agbellassoc (you don't have to sign up for twitter, you can just read through yesterdays events associated with the rally)
What it comes down to is family choice. AG Bell does nothing to demand a child be raised oral. They don't steal babies from families who have chosen to teach them ASL. Their only purpose as an organization is to support the ones that do choose spoken language to be the communication method for their child. AFA's protest, rally and attack is misdirected. They should re-establish themselves as an organization that provides support for families that choose to raise their child to communicate by ASL. You might be wondering why I care so much. Because they also issued a call to action. For their supporters to protest and rally at local oral only schools. I work at one of those. And all it would do is scare the kids and parents. We are one of the closest oral schools to DC. I'm praying they don't show up. but if they do, I pray it's this week, when the kids are on spring break.
Good Job, Acey, with the recap. This is ridiculous!
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