Part 6: Communication Options in the Education of the Child Who is Deaf

According to Ogden (1996) there are seven widely used methods of communication available to deaf children in the United States.  They are probably the best known.  They are: Oral English (aural/oral programs and acoupedic programs); Cued Speech; Manual Methods (including Signing Exact English or SEE; Signed English; American Sign Language); Bilingual/bicultural education; and Total Communication (Ogden, 1996).

(1) The Oral Method is taught to communicate primarily by speaking and speech reading (lip reading) English.  A childís residual hearing is amplified through hearing aids and developed as part of an overall auditory training program.  Oral language activities, intense speech training and parental involvement are crucial factors.  However,
the main focus is on speaking and visually comprehending a speakerís English.

(2) The Acoupedic Method, also an oral method, is an approach that is based on the premise that all deaf children have usable hearing.  In this method children are taught to rely less on speech reading and more on using residual hearing that is sharpened with hearing aids and auditory training.  More and more, the deaf child that has cochlear implants use this as well as other oral methods in combination.

(3) Cued Speech trains deaf children to use speech and speech reading.  Speech reading is supplemented by specific hand shapes placed in specific positions to represent the vowel and consonant sounds in spoken English.  These signals, however, do not make up a language such as ASL is.  Because of its focus on speech production, it is considered an oral approach (Ogden, 1996)

(4) The manual methods of communication stress the use of gestures and sign language as the primary communication mode for deaf children.  Children using this visual method use signs and fingerspelling to communicate their ideas.  It is within this method the use of manual means of communication is effective in teaching language to deaf children.  Supporters of the manual method also believe that these children have a better chance of developing social and linguistic competence via signing.  Approximately 66% of this countryís teachers of the deaf use some form of sign language in the classroom.  However, very few deaf children of hearing parents learn sign language from infancy when learning language is easiest and mastery is greatest (Adams, 1997).

(5) In a bicultural environment (BiBi), deaf children learn about deaf history, the Deaf Culture, as well as the customs and language of the Deaf Culture.  They also develop a strong sense of identity through the study of the contributions of deaf people, the historical aspects of Deaf Culture along with information concerning the hearing world.  Advocates of this approach believe that ASL is "symbolic badge" of Deaf identity and that a fluent knowledge of English (reading and writing) is a vital aspect of the deaf childís education.  In this environment, ASL is the language of instruction.  All members of the school community must be proficient in ASL.  In addition, in this environment, the curriculum presented by the state is not watered down only approached differently.

On March 5, 1998 a headline in the New York Times appeared saying "New York to Teach Deaf in Sign Language, Then English".  The author, Felicia R. Lee wrote: "Öin what is being hailed as a landmark change in the education of the deaf student, the cityís only public school for the deaf will be overhauled so that all teachers will teach primarily in sign language based on symbols and gestures."  She explains that many educators "say that research shows that the primary language of deaf people is visual, not verbal, and that schools using their preferred method, called American Sign Language, educate the students better than other schools do."  In addition, the article says, "They say deaf students should be treated like bilingual students, not disabled ones."

Professor Harlan Lane of Northeastern University, Boston, said "I think (the New York school) is in the vanguard of a movement.  The ultimate aim is to teach English as second language."

(6) Total Communication (TC) promotes the use of all possible communication methods such as: listening; speech reading; signing; visual images; mime, etc.  All of this is done to assist the deaf children in acquiring language and understanding its use.  Currently, English (either spoken or signed) is predominant in these educational programs using TC.  According to a study conducted by Gallaudetís Center for Assessment and Demographic Studies in 1993, approximately 56% of all deaf students enrolled in educational programs were receiving their instruction through speech-sign methods while 41% were being taught through auditory/oral approaches (Adams, 1997).