Most of you were curious how the panel discussion on "Bilingualism and the Future Generations" went... here is the video for you all to see. It happened on April 10th, 2008 at Gallaudet University.The panel begins with an introductory presentation by Dr. Dirksen Bauman, a professor of the Deaf Studies department at Gallaudet University, prior to kicking off the recent April 10th Provost's Inclusive Bilingualism Series panel discussion. He discusses statistics and trends in enrollment at Gallaudet and nationwide and questions how Gallaudet should prepare for the future generations of Gallaudet students. Next, a panel discussion was held, with representatives of each department/schools:
- Lauri Rush, the mother of a Deaf, Bilingual-Bimodal child with a CI shares her experience with the Deaf community and the ASL/English bilingual-bimodal classroom her daughter is enrolled in.
- Jennifer Drew shares her experience teaching first/only ASL/English bilingual-bimodal class at Kendall School.
- Nicole LaMont, currently a senior at Gallaudet University, shares her experience enrolling as a freshman at Gallaudet as a new signer with a CI.
- Daniel DiDonna, currently a freshman at Gallaudet University, shares his experience at Gallaudet as a fluent ASL signer with a CI.
- John McGinty, a graduate of the Clarke School for the Deaf, student at Northeastern University, and currently an intern at Gallaudet University, shares his experience at Gallaudet as a fluent ASL signer with CIs.
- Gina Oliva, a faculty member at Gallaudet and the author of "Alone In The Mainstream" shares her experience enrolling at Gallaudet as a new signer. She also shares insights from talking with parents of oral children and children with cochlear implants.
For a text version of happenings on Gallaudet campus about Bilingualism, read Gallaudet's On the Green article here.
6 comments:
Nobody on the panel that could give insignt on breaking through the thick walls the audiology industry puts around the parents and the kids who get their CI's.
Hi, only watched 75% of it...gotta go to work now but already an interesting video. Will definitely finish it tomorrow morning.
I've always heard many different philosophies on educations for the deaf. I've disagreed and agreed with some.
I've always been in favor of starting ASL for newborn deaf babies but when it's time for education and speech training, it's different.
I've always thought something like SimCom in classrooms would be good start for a young Deaf child then have classes used with ASL in later years. But after watching the one with the mother of a deaf daughter and that Kendall bi-lingual teacher....can't remember their names....I got better picture now. All other panelists were good too.
Gotta get out for work. Later.
I'm back and just finished it.....felt like I was there.
I pounded my computer desk when that guy in blue shirt stood up in front of that girl in white. I even tried to look past him to watch her but forgot I was only watching a video.
I just reread my first comment here...I notice I only emphasized on how Deaf babies should be taught...now I want to make sure it's just my personal opinion....I do feel it's good to have more options for parents to chose, not just one method.
BTW great video, really.
The only thing I was disappointed about this blog is that you didn't show the students in the classroom where you teach in the bilingual manner.
So I'd like to do the observation in Jennifer Drew's class this fall.
Wow, what an informative and powerful panel, thank you for sharing this with us. I especially liked the end when Steve Weiner said that we never anticipated this kind of situation today and we won't know what it will look like in 20 years. But we are starting to see the signs that the composition of the deaf community is changing, from signing only 10 years ago at Gallaudet to lots of voice use today by deaf students themselves (as per Jennifer Drew from the panel). It is up to us in the deaf community to change our attitudes and become more inclusive or lose more and more deaf people.
Interesting panel! The main language at Gallaudet Univ. is ASL and we may have to let it change to bilingualism in ASL and spoken English in the future for a more diverse community including an increasing number of students with CIs if we want to save Gallaudet. It seems challenging to use both ASL and spoken English in classrooms at Gallaudet and deaf schools.
At NTID/RIT, ASL is used in deaf classes at NTID while spoken English is used in the mainstreamed classes at RIT and that is probably why a huge number of students with CIs attend NTID/RIT.
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