Chrizine wrote:Having people who know sign language in early childcare professions sounds like a super good idea :) They might be able to teach the kids more things than the parents who might just be starting to learn the language themselves.
People not wanting to use ASL to communicate with their kids sounds stupid to me -.- just be happy that there is a way that works and not puts all the burden of adapting on the deaf kid.
It must be tough to learn reading without knowing the language first... So it doesn't seem all that surprising that reading levels of deaf-from-birth aren't the best when you think about it, but yeah... sobering is a good word for it.
Especially if you consider that the written word might be considered by somebody with hearing the most natural way to try to communicate with a deaf person if you don't know sign language yourself. At least that's what I would attempt first - just have a little notepad and write instead of talking. I hadn't really considered that reading and writing might be more difficult for a deaf person as well before this discussion.
Once I start my daycare at my home I will definitely incorporate sign language as a means of communication, especially for the younger ones who do not have much vocabulary yet. And I agree, why the heck would someone NOT want their child to learn sign language? It could be so beneficial for so many reasons.