Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1960-11-21
Teaching the Deaf

Dorothy T. Wilkison
said, in summary that, Cd
she was shocked to read in
The Star that a book on
Sign Language; An Out
line of the Visual Commune
cation System of the Ameri-
can Deaf" was published,
90 that Alexander Graham
Bell proved the severely hard
of hearing or so-called deaf
could learn to speak and
thus become contributing
members of society as a
whole. 90 the deaf become
second class citizens when
they learn the sign language
and "a it would have been
more useful to have spent
the time and money teaching
speech to the students at
Gallaudet College.
In a Ph.D. thesis (Univer-
sity of Maryland by DR.. Hugo
F. Schunhoff, now Superin-
tendent Of the California
School for the Deaf, it was
pointed out that articula-
ton teachers teachers of
speechD began teaching in
this country in 1919 at the
American School for the
Deaf, Hartford, Connecticut.
This school was the first
permanent school for the
deaf in the United States
and was established in 1917.
Since that time the teaching
OF speech and by speech has
grown to enormous proper
lions in all of our schools in
the United States.
The deaf do not become
second class citizens because
they learn the language Of
signs and finger spelling.
There are thousands of such
persons who use this method
of communication in addi-
ton to speech and speech
reading. Miss Wilkison's in
ference is wholly unfair.
Her inference TIL at
speech leads to a productive
life and lack of it does not,
is erroneous. There are deaf
persons incapable of. learn
ing ineligible speech skills
but who are nevertheless
highly productive members
of our society. They are en-
ployed in all types of jobs,
skilled and semi skilled, that
are not only important to
our economy, but also to Or
binary everyday requirements
of citizenship. 1t is believed
that the deaf have been more
successfully habilitated, edu-
cationally and vocationally,
than any other handicapped
group in the United States.
Miss Wilkison should
visit Gallaudet College, and
in particular, the Thorn
berry Hearing and Speech
Center. She will find formal
speech and auditory train
ing classes conducted by
highly skilled teachers. In
these classes are students
from the college who are re-
quired to attend these class
eS and for which they re-
ceive no college credits. This
is done in addition to their
regular collegiate course re-
quirements.
Our schools use exclusively
the oral method of teaching
in our primary and elemen-
tary grades. 1t is only in
the high school grades where
the language of signs and
finger spelling are used in
what we call a combined
system. This means speech
is also employed at the same
time. In other words a multi
sensory approach is used in
which all the skills of the
children are brought to
bear on the laborious years
of learning the deaf child
must undergo to become an
educated person.
Lloyd A. AmbrOsen.
Superintendent, Maryland
School for the Deaf
Frederick. Md.
\ y
Dorothy T. Wilkison's
letter to The Star is an un-
warranted attack on Gallau-
Diet College and Prof. William
c. Stokoe, jr., for their scien-
tific analysis of the sign
language used by the deaf
throughout the world. This
letter is apparently written
by a hearing person who is
convinced that the oral
method used by hearing per-
sons is the only method that
should be used in the educa-
ton of all deaf children.
AS a psychologist long in
terested in the psychology of
deafness I wish to object
publicly to the narrow point
OF view expressed by Mrs.
Wilkison. Realistically the