Deaf Anthology # 214: "Dear Abbey"

Dear Abbey,

I have just given birth to a Deaf child, some advocates think I should face reality that we are living in a hearing world, get a cochlear-implanted, and raise him orally. However, other advocates think I should accept the fact that my child is Deaf, and be given his birthright, access to ASL. Any advices?

Confused Mother

Dear Confused Mother,

I have contacted my trusted source, an American Indian medicine man, for his wisdom. He replied that in our tribe, when a child is born, he is named after the first thing he see, that's why we have Sitting Bull, Crazy Horse, and Red Cloud, etc. We don't have any Farting Bears, Hooting Owls, and Laughing Hyenas which are based on sounds. The hands are more important to the child's than the frightening sounds of the wild. That's why sucking his thumb, being held in mother's arms, sign language is our natural instinct that is lacking in our modern society. The Great Spirit created us in his image, we can not change nature.

I admitted that I never thought of it that way, the consensus is that your Deaf child be better off in his natural environment, so ASL is the best option of the two.

Abbey

Deaf Anthology agreed that we should appreciated our American Indians, they care about the land we live on, the air we breathe, the water we drink, that we should look to nature to guide us in our daily lives that the Great Spirit provides us.
Revised 3/18/09

This is Abbey, stay tuned for the next column of Deaf Anthology. Good night, Deaf America!