SASL Newsletter - Spring 2019 Issue Issue 13 - Spring 2019 | Page 6

A Note from the President
By Samuel J. Supalla
Are We Going Back
to the Nineteenth Century?
We all may think we belong to the 21st
century, but I am not so sure when considering a
particular trend regarding deaf people's language,
ASL. Subject to discussion is how some researchers
and scholars seem to be heading back to the
nineteenth century, with history repeating itself in
terms of manualism vs. oralism. Thus, this
President's Note is the second in what I will call the
ASL First series. The concept of ASL First is too
significant for coverage in a single President's Note.
ASL First emerged as a slogan as part of the
American deaf community's response to the LEAD-
K dispute in my Winter 2018 President's Note.
In retrospect, LEAD-K may have done some
good legislative work on ASL assessment with deaf
children. However, for some reason, LEAD-K made
the eventual decision to form a collaborative working
relationship with the Alexander Graham Bell
Association for the Deaf & Hard of Hearing
organization (that is known for its commitment to
“Reproduced with permission from Nancy Rourke”
oralism over the years). It makes me wonder if
combining over
signing
now very
taking
combining signing and speaking is now taking precedence
ASL? and
And if speaking
so, history is may
well
precedence
over
ASL?
And
if
so,
history
may
very
be repeating itself.
well be
repeating
itself. part of the nineteenth century,
Our history is full of powerful learning lessons.
During
the latter
Gallaudet University pursued what is known as the Combined Method. Edward Miner Gallaudet, the
first president of the (then called) National Deaf-Mute College embraced the notion of combining
signing and speaking for the education of deaf children. According to the historical sources, E. M.
Gallaudet carried the Combined Method banner to the infamous Milan conference in Italy, and he
came home totally defeated. The U.S. then plummeted into a dark age concerning ASL (e.g., Lane,
1984; T. Supalla & Clark, 2015; Van Cleve & Crouch, 1989).
In the 21st century, one can see that E. M. Gallaudet's response to the rise of oralism
constituted a form of appeasement. This may be understandable due to the lack of civil rights as a
movement in the nineteenth century. While E. M. Gallaudet was a staunch supporter of signing, he
placed himself in the position of weakness, so to speak. Concerning ASL, we must be in a position of
strength if we want to learn from history. Consider the name of this newsletter, The Power of ASL.
The name for SASL or Society for ASL includes a critical assumption that society supports ASL. We
must move forward with this in mind and be progressive and bold in defining civil rights concerning
deaf people.
(Continue on the next page)
The Power of ASL
6
Spring 2019 – Issue 13