Chapter 36

Chapter 36
The question this chapter starts out with "What do you call a deaf person who doesn't speak?" makes me chuckle. Umm, don't you just call them deaf? That's what the author suggests before offering a little history lesson. I learned that deaf people who couldn't speak used to be referred to as "deaf-and dumb." Excuse me, what? That is extremely offensive and totally inappropriate. "It is estimated that a congenitally, profoundly deaf child has, at most, a 5% chance of developing intelligible speech," does that make them dumb? Absolutely not! No one can imagine the challenges children must overcome to have intelligible speech. The can't even hear themselves, so how is it possible to speak proficiently? It's not like most of them don't try, so how can you say they are dumb? Furthermore, I definitely agree with the authors opinion that it is hogwash that if children learn ASL first, they will never develop coherent speech. I'm sorry, but seriously?! Okay, these children have NEVER heard themselves speak so therefore they DON'T know it is possible...how is a 2 year old supposed to communicate?! I will just reiterate the point of view I hold that literacy is far more important than speech training. So, I am definitely with Deaf-rights advocates! It should be the choice of the deaf individual to "speak or not to speak." I am interested to hear Marlee Matlin's Oscars speech! I feel like she could be such an inspiration to those deaf people who DO speak, but should NOT used against those who choose not to. Lastly, I agree that speech is a survival skill and that having some spoken vocabulary could potentially be beneficial, but that introduces only another issue. Which words are considered "helpful?"