“The basic reason for becoming involved with deaf adults; we are your children grown. We can, in many instances, tell you the things you child would like to tell you, if he had the vocabulary and the experiences to put his feelings and needs into words.”

- Fred Schrieber, in 1980, Executive Director of the National Association of the Deaf

Oral/spoken-only English classes/programs
“Monolingual” programs focused on only one language
Lack of language- American Sign Language
Not accessible

Teachers and students use whatever works for them in the classroom:
Speaking
Signing
Fingerspelling
Gesturing and/or drawing

This approach was used to try to bring back signing in the classroom after decades of oral-only teaching approaches.

IC: Often Deaf children in hearing (public) schools receive interpreters. The interpreting requirements are either too low or nonexistent. Many interpreters are not qualified to interpret for Deaf children in schools. A hearing interpreter is not a role model or peer.
TC: In order to teach Deaf children, teachers must take teacher certification exams and they are in English.There is no test in ASL – or a test of ASL skills for teachers of Deaf children.

Deaf children are diverse!
They can have the following differences: Different hearing levels, Age when became Deaf, and-Cause of being Deaf
Some Deaf children have additional Disabilities such as: cognitive disabilities, learning disability, attention-deficit (hyperactivity) disorder, DeafBlind, developmental delays, orthopedic impairment, traumatic brain injury, autism…. and many more.

Special Education Legislation

Public Law 94-142: Education of Handicapped Children Act in 1975

Individuals with Disabilities Act (IDEA) in 1997.

ASL proficiency and assessment often neglected.

ASL specialist hired

The Bilingual Approach
ASL is used as the language of instruction
English is taught as a second language in the written form.
The Bimodal Bilingual Approach
Spoken English classes
Along with ASL and English

This is when someone speaks and tries to sign at the same time.
Impossible to express two different languages simultaneously, and equally.
Can you try speaking French and writing Spanish at the same time? Which language would suffer?

Deaf teachers and professors are often more skilled than hearing teachers in communicating with Deaf children of diverse language backgrounds.

Include: racial, ethnic, cultural and linguistic diversity.
Many students come from other countries and bring their spoken and sign languages to the United States, and become multilingual and multicultural.

Issue
Often placed in public schools first, then when they struggle or fall behind…
And then place Deaf students in a Deaf school

“Deaf children benefit from learning from their Deaf peers through their shared sign language and Deaf culture"

fully access academic content from Deaf teachers and role models along with their Deaf peers.

Provide the best and full access to Deaf culture and sign language
Deaf students/peers
Deaf teachers, superintendents, staff, etc.
Sports
After-school activities/programs

After oralism failed, people were still resistant to re-introducing ASL in the classroom.
Instead, people tried to invent different “signing systems” following English grammar and structure.
There are many different types out there (e.g. SE, SEE1, SEE2, LOVE, CASE).
Those are not languages – they are invented systems.
No consistent results for their usefulness in teaching English to Deaf students.

Teaching in a Deaf classroom involves many new amazing technology which often includes a video-centric approach, especially for sign languages.

Deaf Space is another unique concept for Deaf classrooms.

Those are usually several classrooms for deaf children at hearing schools (a.k.a. public schools).
Provide support or interventions
Part-time or full-day

Deaf schools used both ASL and written English in classes in 1800s. Deaf teachers and superintendents hired. The International Congress of Milan in 1880. Deaf teachers fired.
Hearing teachers and superintendents took over. ASL banned.
An active campaign against Deaf people by Alexander Graham Bell and his organization, the AGB Association for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing

More and more Deaf schools provide ASL courses simultaneously with English courses.
A truly bilingual Deaf school will have English and ASL courses from kindergarten throughout 12th grade. Many are trying to push for this at the state level.
And every course, be it science, math or physical education should also include Deaf culture in each course.

English speakers (who are learning ASL) often sign in English word order, following their first and native language. Many fluent ASL signers often re-arrange their signs in English word order and mouth English words to help the new signer understand them easier.

Do you think this helps the new signer become more fluent in ASL?

Deaf parents and teachers have always naturally used many different visual-tactile strategies to maintain attention, point out important concepts and more. Deaf researchers are now documenting this so more people can learn how to use similar strategies.

A semicircle setting where everyone can see each other in a classroom and
tapping on the shoulder to get attention
eye gaze to manage behavior.

Deaf children are placed in regular, hearing schools and classrooms.
Provide an interpreter or an aide.
Often alone or isolated
Other similar words include, “inclusion”, “itinerant” and “coenrollment” programs.

The oral/spoken method did not work for all deaf children in the 1950s and 1960s
Slow but important shift back to including sign language in the classroom, and Deaf role models for Deaf children to look up to.
Still actively fighting to re-claim Deaf education
Provide Deaf children with full access to sign language and Deaf culture today

The majority of signing Deaf children score lower on SATs, BUT Keep in mind the following:
They are bilingual, and SATs scores are based on monolingual hearing children, Most deaf children do not have full access to language until much later in life, and The majority of teachers and interpreters for deaf children are not proficient signers or aware of Deaf, visual-tactile ways of learning. Therefore, it is inappropriate to compare Deaf children with monolingual hearing children who have access to full language from birth, in the community and at schools.

An invented system, Not a language
Uses different handshapes around the mouth to help the Deaf person understand the words being spoken.
Not everyone in the Deaf community supports the Cued Speech approach. The focus on speaking and oral skills, instead of bilingualism.

May be placed in juvenile correction facilities.
Placed alone within the state facility.
Sometimes provided with interpreters for classes, but not for their full stay.
Unable to socialize with their peers and find counseling and rehabilitative service providers who are fluent in ASL and know Deaf culture.

Similar to hearing charter schools, there are Deaf charter schools that are funded by the local board of education.
Examples: Las Vegas Charter School for the Deaf;
Jean Massieu School for the Deaf in Salt Lake City; Metro Deaf School and Minnesota North Star Academy; Rocky Mountain Deaf School in Denver; and Sequoia School for the Deaf in Arizona.