Bilingual-Bicultural Approach
In this blog post I will be going in depth and discussing the Bilingual and Bicultural method of Deaf Education. Bilingual in this case means knowing both English and American Sign Language. Likewise, bicultural refers to being exposed to both the hearing and Deaf culture/world. Students are taught ASL as a first language and English as a second. Students are given a foundation revolving around signing. Once they master signing, they can pick up other languages such as English with ease. I think the most beneficial part of the bilingual bicultural approach is its ability to give students access to two different worlds. As I have mentioned in my past blog posts, I grew up learning alongside my completely hearing classmates. It was not until I was a teenager that I began to realize I related to some of the same difficulties that Deaf individuals have in their daily lives. Once I realized this, I began learning about this whole other world ; the Deaf community. Based on my personal experience, I believe it would be a disservice to not expose young deaf students to Deaf culture. Even if a Cochlear implant is implanted as an infant, I still think ASL is crucial to that child’s educational and emotional success. The hearing and Deaf world can coexist and work together to create an educational model that maximizes students’ potential. I am a hard of hearing individual and with that I am not completely in the hearing world and not completely in the Deaf world. The bilingual bicultural approach allows students to embrace the best parts of each world and what they have to offer. In many cases this means students are able to communicate and be involved in their hearing parents’ and families’ world as well as their Deaf peers’ world. Accessibility is key to this Deaf education model and I believe having access is monumental when it comes to education. Thank you for visiting alookintodeafeducation.org. See you soon!
Here are some links on the Bilingual - Bicultural approach:
http://www.raisingdeafkids.org/communicating/choices/bibi.php
