In the " What is the Infant Hearing Program?" page , we read the of the Ministry of Children and Youth services. However, we read a lot about " learning to talk", "behavioural and emotional delays" and " develop language skills", but we don't see or read about American Sign Language or Deaf Culture.
This is an issue for Deaf people. In the book " For HEARING people only", chapter 43 " Why are deaf people against universal infant hearing screenings? Isn't it a good idea to detect hearing loss as soon as possible"?
We can really see the issues and concerns Deaf people have with the screening. Here are a couple of examples.
1. Screening is enthusiastically supported by the Alexander Graham Bell Association for the Deaf, also known as oral/aural advocates
2. The issue is not the screening itself but what eventually happens afterwards. The issue is that the personals diagnosing and eventually informing parents about their child are audiologist. So what is the issue you may ask? Most audiologist if not all have low expectations of the child and suggest parents to place their child in an oral/auditory or mainstream program.
3. Deaf people do see a bright side however. Children can be detected early and for some Deaf parents this is a positive note. Parents can start out with this knowledge instead of losing out on communication and language development for the first years. This seems to be the only positive outcome of the Infant Hearing Program for the Deaf community.
4. There is no evidence that sign language interferes with speech development.
5.Most if not all support workers involved in the IHP are hearing. Hearing people tend to think that all Deaf people are bias.
6. Last but not least, the IHP does not lay out the many options parents have when deciding what is the route for their Deaf child. ASL is almost always the last resort.
7. Culturally Deaf individuals are passionate about American Sign Language! ( who wouldn't be :))
8. Some parent choose the costly "solution" and buy hearing aids or cochlear implants rather than learning ASL at no cost.
9. Children need immediate access to language. This is not the same as speech. Speech does not make a language less child "languaged" overnight.
10. Reading and writing skills are of prime importance
These are a few issues the Deaf community faces with the IHP. It is no doubt the Deaf community is hesitant about the IHP if all they know and cherish is put down.
This is an issue for Deaf people. In the book " For HEARING people only", chapter 43 " Why are deaf people against universal infant hearing screenings? Isn't it a good idea to detect hearing loss as soon as possible"?
We can really see the issues and concerns Deaf people have with the screening. Here are a couple of examples.
1. Screening is enthusiastically supported by the Alexander Graham Bell Association for the Deaf, also known as oral/aural advocates
2. The issue is not the screening itself but what eventually happens afterwards. The issue is that the personals diagnosing and eventually informing parents about their child are audiologist. So what is the issue you may ask? Most audiologist if not all have low expectations of the child and suggest parents to place their child in an oral/auditory or mainstream program.
3. Deaf people do see a bright side however. Children can be detected early and for some Deaf parents this is a positive note. Parents can start out with this knowledge instead of losing out on communication and language development for the first years. This seems to be the only positive outcome of the Infant Hearing Program for the Deaf community.
4. There is no evidence that sign language interferes with speech development.
5.Most if not all support workers involved in the IHP are hearing. Hearing people tend to think that all Deaf people are bias.
6. Last but not least, the IHP does not lay out the many options parents have when deciding what is the route for their Deaf child. ASL is almost always the last resort.
7. Culturally Deaf individuals are passionate about American Sign Language! ( who wouldn't be :))
8. Some parent choose the costly "solution" and buy hearing aids or cochlear implants rather than learning ASL at no cost.
9. Children need immediate access to language. This is not the same as speech. Speech does not make a language less child "languaged" overnight.
10. Reading and writing skills are of prime importance
These are a few issues the Deaf community faces with the IHP. It is no doubt the Deaf community is hesitant about the IHP if all they know and cherish is put down.
Fig. 7: http://christianprisonerfellowship.com/ministries/ministry-to-deaf-offenders/
"For Hearing people only" pg. 269-273
"For Hearing people only" pg. 269-273