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Bilingualism who needs it?

The educators have always demonstrated two schools of thoughts, one group with a strong oralism approach and the other promoting sign language. But these groups never came on the same page. Despite the considerable efforts on the part of deaf children, their families and support services by the professionals that surround the deaf children, it is the fact that many deaf children have great difficulties producing and perceiving oral language in spoken modality. The bottom line of any educational approach should have been the empowerment of deaf individuals. While promoting sign language approach, there is a keen need to think about how to promote literacy skills in deaf children? There are four language modalities in any given language learning skills. Two modalities are for perception system namely understanding sign language and reading the formal script, and two modalities are for production. In deaf context, it would be the expression in sign language and writing the formal script. Therefore, reading and writing skills are essential for the second language. There is no significant information available that has measured literacy skills of the deaf in the country. But informal observations indicate that children may have to wait several years to reach a satisfactory level, and sometimes that level is never be attained. The educators should have considered offering a bilingual approach to deaf children, especially those children who have made a late entry in the education system. Currently, there are far and few regular and special schools which have adopted bilingualism. There is an earnest requirement to develop the guidelines for bilingualism. Changing the mindset of the families and educators will be another obstacle to be crossed. Everybody associated with deaf education needs to understand that academic success will largely depend upon the reading and writing skills of the second language.

• acknowledgement of sign langauage
• understanding bilingualism
• preparing deaf children for inclusion

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Kalyani Mandke (POC,Primary Presenter), Mandke Hearing Services Pune, kalyani.mandke@gmail.com;
Dr. Kalyani Mandke, Ph.D., CCC-A has made it her mission to enrich the concept of audiology and aural rehabilitation at the grass root level. She received her AuD from the Pennsylvania College of Optometry in 2007 and her Ph.D. from the School of Basic Medical Sciences, University of Pune 1991. She has been the recipient of many awards including a Certificate of Recognition for Outstanding Contribution in International Achievement of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA)2015 and the ASHA Diversity Champion Award in 2009. SHe has presented her work at many international conferences and is the Director of Mandke Hearing Services in Pune, India that she began in 1985.

ASHA DISCLOSURE: Financial - Nonfinancial -

AAA DISCLOSURE: Financial - No relevant financial relationship exists.