Interest of Literacy

I just had gotten an email regarding a mom who's son is deaf, a honor roll student at a public high school receiving low scores on his ACT which would not allow him to enter Gallaudet University as a student. They were puzzled to how he was able to accomplish being a honor roll student and graduating 16th in his senior class. It boiled down to the fact that his reading level was equivalent to a third grade student.

This is the mom's website.... www.teachmysontoread.blogspot.com. I suggest you read this blog, the family's effort to ensure that their son/brother/grandson/nephew will achieve success in reading that will enable him to become a stronger student and not only that as a strong human being that took the challenge and overcame it. What faith and trust do they have in each other! They will go beyond the limitations, which today's society places upon its race.

This is similar to stories of children who have dyslexia, who have achieved academic successes despite the fact they may not have a reading level of an senior. This is eerily reminiscent of the last 30 years of thinking that deaf people cannot read at the same level as their hearing peers. What does hearing loss have to do with the level of literacy? It only takes the effort of family members to take the time to communicate with their children and for schools to ensure that their students are on the same page as other students. Note of warning though, not every child (hearing or deaf or otherwise) read the same way as anyone else. It is also similar to how white people discriminate against the black culture for being unable to read, when they were denied the opportunity to do so ... on basis of their skin color, not because of their intelligence or capacity. (Again, generalizing and this course of action takes place more in the past than currently; however, the action still happens).

Speaking from experience, starting to read independently at about 2 years of age, had nothing to my hearing loss. It had to do with the two major role models in my life (and I have many of those, with different roles they play), my mother and grandmother. My sister and youngest brother are readers; while my other brother didn't like to read, only if he had to for school or for information. When my mother gave him a book that he may be interested in reading - I think it was a Tom Clancy book, he started to read as much as we did. My husband is not big on reading books; he's a newspaper reader and a sports fan. Each of us are different in what we read, it depends on how we are exposed to reading and literacy that helps us develop into readers.

Just because of the fact of hearing loss or skin color difference, we can't read. That is bogus. I can give you this particular experience that my ex-boyfriend (deaf) went through and I was right there when he experienced a shocking moment in his life. When we were dating, we knew that we were different in academic avenues. He had the reading level that was stereotypical of what society perceived for deaf people - but he is the best DJ there is. Anyway, one weekend, I was staying with him in his hometown and he was DJ'ing at a local bar. This guy came up to him and wanted to let him know what music he wanted. Since my ex was well known in his hometown, he had a paper and pen ready for any requests. As any bar-goer and music lover, music is hard to communicate over when it's loud. When my ex wrote down to ask what the hearing person wanted to have put on, the hearing person looked at the paper and looked at my ex with a look on his face. He shrugged and made the gesture for 'no write/read'. It was the first time my ex has ever met a hearing person who couldn't read or write. He looked at me and I couldn't help him. He solved the problem by showing the DVD covers for the music to the hearing person and after the selection, put it on the track.

It goes to show that literacy does not discriminate, just like Mother Nature. It does not discriminate even when the child's parents are the most literate or the least literate. Having the ability to speak or sign fluently or having both skills in place does not make one literate. Being more than just a small part of what society thinks us to be (in terms of physical/sensory/mental loss, race/ethnicity or etc), allows us to be human. We are flawed, always and will be, never mind that we try to achieve perfection. (Into Chaos we go...) Being flawed is perfect, we are not God nor omnipresent. If you don't know the story of the 'Tower of Babel', read the story.

In 2005, I did a literacy survey with several goals: to see if gender made a difference, use of language (whether mono or bi-lingual), communication structure at home/school and today's results. The survey was based on local residents and few out of state respondents. The questionnaire was born on basis of my gathering information of children, whether deaf or hearing (main focus deaf), were reading at the level of other peers. See below. I will be more than happy to do this questionnaire again. One note: the question of parents signing at home was added at the last minute so the figures do not match the rest of the percentages.

Basic Information
Gender
Male	11	35%
Female	20	65%
Age
21-30	5	16%
31-40	9	29%
41-50	6	19%
51-60	8	26%
61+	3	10%
First Primary Language
ASL	11	35%
Oral	3	10%
SEE	1	3%
Spoken English	7	23%
Cued
Other:
SEE/Spoken English	5	16%
Oral/Spoken English	1	3%
Total Communication
Homemade	1	3%
Oral/SEE	1	3%
Oral/SEE/ASL	1	3%
Current Primary Language
ASL	17	55%
Oral
SEE
Spoken English
Cued
Other:
SEE/Spoken English/ASL	2	6%
ASL/Spoken English	9	29%
Total Communication
Oral/SEE	1	3%
ASL/SEE	2	6%
Parents
Deaf	7	23%
Hearing	22	71%
Both (one of each)	2	6%
Parents Sign?
Yes	8	26%
No	12	39%
One Parent	1	3%
Schooling
Mainstream	14	45%
Residental	13	42%
Oral	2	6%
Other:
Public	2	6%
Language used during school
ASL	4	13%
Oral	7	23%
SEE	4	13%
Spoken English	3	10%
Cued
Other:
Total Communication	7	23%
Pidgin	1	3%
Spoken English/ASL	4	13%
ASL/SEE	1	3%
Literary Information
Age learned to read
0-3	11	35%
4-6	12	39%
7-10	3	10%
11+	1	3%
Don’t know	4	13%
Taught by who
Parents	14	45%
Teachers	10	37%
Parents/Teachers	6	19%
Other:
Sibling	1	3%
Where learned to read
Home	12	39%
School	15	48%
Other:
Home/School	2	6%
France	1	3%
School/CC-TV	1	3%
Parents read?
Yes	29	94%
No	2	6%
How often Parents read?
Daily	24	77%
1-2 d/w	2	6%
Sundays	2	6%
Don't Know	2	6%
Never	2	6%
Enjoy Reading?
Yes	21	68%
No	2	6%
Somewhat	8	26%
Important to Read?
Yes	31	100%
No
Encourage Children/grandchildren to read?
Yes	31	100%
No

What I found intriguing was the difference in age and how education was valuable back in the 50's to 70's compared to today's perspective. There is not much difference, only a slight improvement. Now reviewing the statistics, if there would be one thing to add, is to make several statistics based on gender, language use and age. The statistics above, I will admit, are general and may not provide much specific information. Umm... how one always learns, it never stops until we die. Or perhaps after death, we do learn.....

Reading is critical to the academic development of children, so is language. Start the moment a child is born. I know I will, folks who know me, know that I value language, literacy and socialization as a critical development process for children, regardless if they are hearing, deaf, black, white, speaks one language or four, rich, poor, uses technology or not - for education does not discriminate, society does.