SASL Newsletter - Fall 2017 Issue Issue 7 - Fall 2017 | Page 10

What exactly should the education program look like for deaf students then? I believe the answer
lies in ASL. It is with a significant amount of alignment to the curriculum, instruction, and assessment
that will benefit deaf students as a group. This alignment will lead to validating the pathway for English
literacy through the use of special tools and teaching procedures. I have seen too many publications on
how deaf children need to be strong with language and have good literacy skills, but none that describe
how they can succeed. I kept telling myself that the United States is a unique country that has national
model schools for deaf students located on Gallaudet University's campus, KDES and MSSD. I believe
the key to our argument for making the necessary amendments to the EDA is its present lack of
alignment with other laws that stress on all students demonstrate annual progress. From what I
understand, deaf students as a group have not made annual progress. They have struggled to achieve
English literacy. ASL proficiency issues are equally problematic and need to be addressed as well.
What Gallaudet University can undertake with its schools is outlining and testing a system that
connects ASL with English literacy for the benefit of deaf students. The article that Dr. Russell Rosen
wrote in SASL's first journal issue points out that this connection system has not yet been pursued in
any school for the deaf around the country. Dr. Rosen also talked about the EDA. I have come to
believe that the current individualized education practice with deaf children prevents us from fully
addressing what these children need. We need to look at deaf children, especially those who are native
signers and see how they develop reading skills based on ASL. We need to establish a normatively
rare database and maintain it to support the sign language education framework that Dr. Rosen
mentioned in his paper. Targeting the EDA appears to be the most sensible way of seeing that
education for deaf children improves. In the meantime, we will need to think carefully and critically
determine what needs to be done. Reviewing other existing legislation will give us the necessary
language for making amendments to the EDA.
“FISH”
“Fish” is a remarkable rendition in ASL. Dack Virnig created the
story entirely from the fish’s perspective. The control of language
is exceptional. Mr. Virnig’s make-up and the video close-up of his
face enhance the entertaining value of the work.
The Power of ASL
10
Fall 2017 – Issue 7