I’ve had hearing problems all of my life and now I rely on sign language but my parents refuse to learn sign language…any advice on what to do?
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I’ve had hearing problems all of my life and now I rely on sign language but my parents refuse to learn sign language…any advice on what to do?
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Geeze! That’s strange. I’m sorry for that. Have you asked them why they won’t?
Well that is just plain odd, you must be very hurt, I know I would. I’m sorry I can’t help. Stay strong!
That’s so weird. Most parents would try to help.
I would say convince them with backup your friends,teachers ,or anyone else that supports you and have a small discussion with your parents
I grew up with a deaf girl. I don’t even think she had 10% hearing. And her parents did not allow her to learn sign language. Society does not speak in sign language. So they made her learn to read lips so that she could fit in with society and communicate with everyone. And as I got to know her, I realized how right her parents were.
I’ve also had a completely deaf coworker and had he not been able to read lips, he couldn’t have held down a job. So truly, it’s important for you to get into a school that teaches lip reading and not expect society or your family to learn a different language. You’ll be able to communicate better by reading lips and speaking than you will ever do with sign language.
With sign language you will be trapped in a limited world. You won’t be able to go out alone on a bus or in a taxi. You won’t be able to ask anyone where a bus goes, or tell the taxi driver where to take you. You’ll be dependent on people all your life. It’s important to learn how to communicate with others. And your parents already can do that.
why they wouldn’t want to learn it?
I used to have a friend with hearing problems too
and i really enjoyed learning the language, they should
try it.
wow thats just sad, well do you lip read well? if not your parents must find some way to communicate with you! so just start with were simple signing and soon they will be off and running with signing. By the way there is a show in america call the amazing race 14 and there is a hearing impaired guy on it with his mom. they have a great relationship, its inspiring, that could light a fire under you family butts to have that kind of relationship.
I speak German and Polish around my Mom who speaks neither language. After awhile she starts picking up on some phrases and I don’t even have to explain things to her. The best thing is to just use sign language around your parents, while you’re speaking to them and evntually they will subconsciously pick up on it. Or you could always just stop talking to them completely and only communicate to them with sign language so they have to adapt.
I think that you should be able to do both. Screw you parents, they are ignorant. By knowing both ways of communication you can be able to meet and develop friendships with a larger group of people. You parent’s probably think that you are limiting your options in life by learning sign language, but you are also limiting your options if you are only learning how to read lips. Life is about balance, the more knowledge you learn the better. Why is the art of something knew such a dangerous thing? I would go online, go on youtube and type sign language lesson or something, even find a chart on google images. But whatever you decide , good luck
Wow, I cannot disagree more with cats’s answer.
It is VERY important to have a solid language base. Languages must be acquired when young, or else a true level of fluency will never be reached. It is important to be fluent in at least one language, for the brain is restructured during this process.
If a child is deaf, chances are they will not be able to get enough input to converse in a spoken language. Any conversations that most children pick up on, like at the dinner table or in the cafeteria, are missed. These situational learning opportunities are very important for cognitive and language development. Deaf children should be exposed to sign language early, so they have a language background, then other languages (such as English) can be introduced later (or concurrently.). But it is very important for a child to have a language background!
To answer your question, you can try to sit down and talk to your parents, or go to a therapist (or counselor at your school) and ask their advice. They may be able to offer suggestions or talk to your parents for you, perhaps they would listen to a professional. Unfortunately, you cannot force your parents to learn sign, but I would strongly encourage them to do so. It will help your relationship if they do, I know several Deaf people who are very disconnected from their families because they cannot sign.
Of course, contrary to what cat was saying, learning and using ASL (or any other sign language) does not impede your progress in another language. I encourage you to read and write a lot, to help reinforce English skills.