Deaf need visual language

I want to compliment reporter Elaine Jarvik for her work on the article "The (Deaf) Cultural Wars" (Feb. 4). I know she has spent a lot of time on this topic, and she represented the views of my husband and myself well. In the article, however, one statement that caught my attention: "No one communication strategy works for all (deaf children)." This view is possibly the crux of the difference of opinion between advocates of the ASL/English Bilingual approach to Deaf education and those of other approaches. American Sign Language (like other naturally occurring signed languages) is not a "communication strategy" but a language that has evolved over time — as all true languages do — to perfectly complement the three-dimensional nature of the sense of sight.

Deaf children need a natural visual language like ASL. Many have argued that the use of signed languages hinders the ability or desire for deaf people to acquire speech, but there is a growing body of evidence to suggest just the opposite.

Let's not view deaf children as people who need to become as much like "hearing" people as possible, but as children who will grow up to be Deaf adults with a unique culture, language and lifestyle.

Minnie Mae Wilding-Diaz

Associate professor, UVSC

Riverton