Right to use sign language in educational programmes

Juan A. Vietorisz,
Guest

/ #110 ...and all forms of communication?!

2010-09-22 16:20

I'm culturally Deaf with the big "D" and communicate primarily in ASL. I agree with the petition that we should respect all grammatically sophisticated langauges, whether they be spoken or signed, BUT...I'm not sure I agree that we should  also respect all other artifical and flawed forms of communication that were created by hearing people to force deaf and hard-of-hearing children to communicate more English-like, such as signed English or Manually Coded English (MCE). English is meant to be spoken or written, but NOT signed, whereas ASL is meant to be signed, but not spoken. Teaching signed English to D/HH children  is equivalent to teaching "spoken ASL" to hearing people. If I am wrong, please explain or clarify what this petition means by "...and all forms of communication."