Ginny Stewart

EDSP 1115-002
Danielle Goyette
October 8, 2020
Reflection Paper #3
Is ASL to Blame?

Can the use of American Sign Language be to blame for the delayed language acquisition

and illiteracy in Deaf children? While many educators and parents would like to blame ASL for

this problem, I do not agree. I personally believe the parents and educators are to blame for the

child’s delay due to their laziness and incompetence.

Language deprivation is something that many Deaf people experience when growing up.

While other children are growing up, they are able to make connections to words and objects

such as when their parents ask them if they want milk, and then the child receives milk. Through

this, the child knows what milk is and has a word to connect to the object. A Deaf child has a

different experience. The parent may ask them if they want milk, but because the child cannot

hear, they have no way of connecting a word to an object, making it hard to communicate their

needs to others. In many cases, parents do not learn that their child is Deaf until the age of two.

This means that the child has missed out on two years of language acquisition From this point,

say the child's parents choose to learn ASL, well, "it takes a considerable time… for parents to

become fluent in ASL" (Drolsbaugh, 2004). This can then put the child five years behind in

language acquisition. Because of this five-year delay, parents and educators decide to simply

blame ASL for their child’s difficulties.

Personally, I believe that the parents and educators are the ones to blame in this situation.

Modern society has tried to prevent the Deaf community from using sign language and forcing

them into a hearing society. “Since parents are naturally inclined to want their children to be like

them, it’s an easy sell to say that speaking and listening will make a child happy, healthy and a
successful part of society” (Nović, 2017). While parents might believe this is the case, it is often

the opposite. Many people who were forced into hearing schools had poor grades, lack of

relationship between fellow students, and an all-around confusion of the world around them

without the help they needed. All of this just so the child can be “normal” like their parents.

While some Deaf children might be successful in understanding the world around them, others

will not. The ones who did not perform well in school are set back even farther in their language

acquisition because the adults they counted on to teach them let them down. Some will graduate

high school, not knowing how to communicate with the people around them because they do not

have a secure language to use, resulting in delayed language acquisition and illiteracy.

So what would happen if adults choose to teach their children ASL from a young age?

Well, to begin, the children who do end up being deaf will have a stable language acquisition

that they can use as they are growing up, and as their parents learn ASL along with the child.

This method can also benefit children who grow up hearing. According to the article,

“Enhancing Early Communication through Infant Sign Training,” “For typically developing

children, sign training may simply provide an effective means of communication several months

earlier than those who rely solely on vocal communication.” If parents and educators take the

time to learn and teach their children some basic sign language, it will not only help the Deaf

community but the hearing community as well. Hearing children will be able to communicate in

some way with their fellow deaf students they might have in class or meet at the playground.

Along with this, if the Deaf child can spend the first two years of their lives, leading up to their

diagnosis of being deaf, learning some basic sign language, it will not be as difficult for them to

continue their learning at a Deaf school or at a public school that offers them the help they might

need.
 If Deaf children can understand what is happening within their classroom, they would

likely receive the same grades as their other students and have no problems with literacy. When

parents force their Deaf child to assimilate to their hearing surrounding, it leaves their child in a

situation where they do not have the opportunities to thrive. I believe that the reason parents and

educators blame ASL for the child’s language acquisition and illiteracy is simply because they

do not want to accept that they did not take the proper steps in life to make sure that their child

would be successful. It is so often that people blame the difference instead of reflecting on

themselves and realizing that they chose not to help their child in the situation. For these reasons,

I fully disagree that ASL is to blame for a Deaf child’s language acquisition; a child cannot learn

if the ones they are dependent upon do not want to help them.
 Cited Sources

Drolsbaugh, M. (2004). Anything but silent. Handwave Publications.

The Nyle DiMarco Foundation. (2019, December 20). What is Language Deprivation? [Video].

YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cUTymzn5FEc

Nović, S. (2017, October 25). The Hearing World Must Stop Forcing Deaf Culture to Assimilate.

Retrieved October 08, 2020, from https://www.nbcnews.com/think/opinion/hearing-

world-must-stop-forcing-deaf-culture-assimilate-ncna812461

Thompson, R. H., Cotnoir-Bichelman, N. M., McKerchar, P. M., Tate, T. L., & Dancho, K. A.

(2007). Enhancing early communication through infant sign training. Journal of applied

behavior analysis. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1868823/.