Indian Sign Language is a vibrant language used by the Deaf community in the country. Due to several reasons, rehab professionals in the country are not yet open to look at her as a communication opportunity at par with the verbal languages in the country. This session was held by DR Asmita Huddar to facilitate a collective positive mindset about ISL among the practicing speech and language therapists. After a quick presentation of sharing the perspective, the forum was thrown open for brainstorming. The discussion was anchored towards the fact that any communication opportunity needs to be selected by the family as well informed process facilitated by the rehab professionals who keep their own likes and dislikes aside.

1. REVISITING ISL: AMA session
asmita huddar
Principal,
HASHU ADVANI COLLEGE OF SPECIAL
EDUCATION
principal.hacse@gmail.com
https://www.hashuadvanismarak.org/hacse/

2. THANK YOU
MISHA and all the participants

3. Career options in special education
HASHU ADVANI COLLEGE OF SPECIAL
EDUCATION
(AIDED COLLEGE affiliated to UoM)
offers:
B Ed (Learning Disability)
B Ed (Hearing Impairment)
 Duration: 2 years
 Eligibility: 50% in any graduation and
appearing for Maha CET
 Medium: English / Marathi
 Campus recruitment
CALL: 08591391470

4. ROADMAP OF THE 1 OF 32
PRESENTATION
1. A quick recap of the theory
2. From‘battleof methods’ to ‘peaceful coexistence’
3. Time for the promised – “anything”

5. INITIAL CLARIFICATION 2 OF 32
The discussion refers to children with
profound (and not mild to severe),
Prelingual, Bilateral hearing loss with no
other disability or associated problems
and who are identified early.
The discussion refers to options of
linguistic communication

6. DISCLAIMER
 I may not have answers to your
questions. I don’t claim to know much. It
is all about perspective rather than
information.
 I don’t intend to convert anyone, nor do
I wish to promote ISL.
 Its all about making options available. If
there is one child under the sun for
whom ISL is appropriate, then I want to
support it.

7. POINT TO PONDER:
“Deaf students' low average academic
achievement levels are NOT results of
learning deficits inherently associated
with deafness but of problems in the
communication practices of the students,
teachers and the hearing professionals.”
Johnson, Liddel , and Erting (1989)

8. THE WHITE CROW
ARE
SLs
Languages?

9. Design features of language
PARAMETER
Verbal language Sign language
Rule governed Yes Yes
Creative Yes Yes
Dynamic Yes Yes
Duality Yes Yes
Displacement Yes Yes
Culturally transformed Yes Yes
Arbitrariness Great Little Less
Linguistic economy Less More

10. THE RIVER SCHOOL
Communication
matters.
Connecting 24x7

11. COMMUNICATION / LANGUAGE / SPEECH
M
Marathi,
Hindi
etc
COMMUNICATION
LANGUAGE
SPEECH
pictures
Gestures
Animal comm
Finger
spelling
Traffic
signal
Hindi ASL
ISL
SSL
Bengali Mandarin
Sanskrit
French

12. UNDERSTANDING THEORY
Communication can be linguistic and non linguistic. This fact has to be noted
here so that signs and gestures are treated separately.
Written word
(Graphical)
Signed word
(Manual)
Spoken word
(verbal)
LINGUISTIC SIGN

13. UNDERSTANDING THEORY
GESTURES: Some theory
Gestures:
Are Ad hoc replacements used for satisfying
current communicative need;
Are NOT linguistic signs;
Do NOT have grammar;
Can NOT be used as a formal mode of
communication with the deaf since gestures
are limited in number and can not carry the
specific knowledge related to school subjects.

14. SPEECH THROUGH SPEECH v/s LANGUAGE THROUGH LANGUAGE
COMMUNICATION
OPTIONS IN ED OF
THE DEAF
ORALISM
(only speech)
TOTAL COMMUNICATION
(Speech+sign system)
EDUCATIONAL
BILINGUALISM
(only signs)

15. ITS ALL ABOUT AACESS & FLUENCY
 AV please
 Community without L1?

16. To be USEFUL, EFFECTIVE AND SELF
SATISFYING;
communication has to be:
 Linguistic
 Natural
 Fluent
 Adequate
 Complete

17. But most of the time, most of the
communication with the deaf is:
 Artificial – unnecessarily tuned
 Using non linguistic options
 Broken in bits and pieces
 Inadequate
 Incomplete
 Oversimplified
BUT…

18. AND WHY DO WE WANT FLUENT COMMUNICATION?
TO UNLOCK THE BONUS….
communication
LANGUAGE

19. IS IT ABOUT COMMUNICATION? YES
BUT ALSO ABOUT A LIFE

20. Sorting Issues
IDEN
TITY
ACCESS
SUBJECT
KNOWLEDGE
INCLUSION
MOTHER
TONGUE
MAJORITY
LITERACY
HIGHER
EDUCATIO
SOCIAL
ATTITUDE

21. Who is the culprit?
What needs attention?
Where the action lies?
 HEARING Level?
Language
Deprivation

22. WILL THIS SHOE FIT?


23. Show the feet first!
Lifetime advocacy of one option.
Cases by case selection of an option.

24. WHAT rehab professionals can do:
 Facilitate, support, create more options
 Help families select options by a
systematic informed process , for
example, DMQ
 Create SOPs and templates for families
to follow
 Respect all the legitimate options
 NOT ADVOCATE ONE OPTION FOR ALL

25. EARLY INTERVENTION:
MISSING LINK (OF TERMS)

26. FOCUS: 21
LIP
READING
TYPE OF
SCHOOL
LITERACY
MEDIUM
SPEECH
ACCESS TO
COMMUNICATION
SIGNING
FINGER
SPELLING
AGE
APPROPRIATE
FUNCTIONING

27. DEAFNESS AWARENESS WEEK:
Where can you learn ISL?
(23RD SEPT: ISL day)

28. Thanks for patient listening…
LETS GET TO THE POINT!
DISCUSSION…

29. 1. UNDERSTANDING THEORY
WHERE THE DIFFERENCES LAY? MOTTO
MOTTO OF ORALISM:
Speech thr speech
-------------------------------------------------
MOTTO OF TC:
Speech thr speech + sign system
--------------------------------------------------
MOTTO OF EDUCATIONAL BILINGUALISM:
Language thr language

30. 1. UNDERSTANDING THEORY 6 OF 32
WHERE THE DIFFERENCES LAY? OBJECTIVES
ORALISM: Use of aural oral mode to develop verbal language
Objective: Literacy, knowledge and
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
TC: Use of aural oral mode (supported by sign system) to
develop verbal language
Objective: Literacy, knowledge and
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
EDUCATIONAL BILINGUALISM: Use of manual mode to
develop manual language
Objective: Literacy, knowledge and

31. 1. UNDERSTANDING THEORY 8 OF 32
WHERE THE DIFFERENCES LAY? ROLE OF SPEECH
ORALISM believes: Speech is essential,
desirable and attainable for the deaf
-----------------------------------------------------
TC believes: Speech is essential, desirable but
not attainable only thr speech input ( hence
support of Sign system is required
----------------------------------------------------
EDUCATIONAL BILINGUALISM believes:
Speech is neither essential, nor desirable and
never attainable for the deaf

32. 1.UNDERSTANDING THEORY 9 OF 32
In short…..
 Oralism advocates listening/ speaking (speech reading) for
communication. Literacy and knowledge are supposed to
develop on the foundation of listening/speaking.
 Total communication advocates listening / speaking
supported by sign system for communication. Literacy and
knowledge are supposed to develop on the foundation of this
simultaneous combination of listening/speaking + signs.
 Educational Bilingualism advocates sign language for
communication. Literacy and knowledge are supposed to
develop on the foundation of naturally processed sign language.

33. 1. UNDERSTANDING THEORY 10 OF 32
THREE WAY BATTLE
ORALISM
Common goals: common stand:
Socialization anti combination
thr speech
TC EB
Common solution:
use of signs

34. 1. UNDERSTANDING THEORY 11 OF 32
DIFFERENCE BETWEEN
SIGN LANGUAGE SIGN SYSTEM
 Naturally evolved
 Used instead of speech
 Has independent
grammar
 Each word has a
manual sign
 Used in EB
 Artificially created
 Used along with speech
 Uses the grammar of a
verbal language like
Marathi, English etc
 Each morpheme has a
manual sign
 Used in TC

35. 1. UNDERSTANDING THEORY 12 OF 32
HOW SIGNING DIFFER IN SL AND SS?
Two cats killed that running dog happily.
Number of words = 7
ISL will have 7 signs to represent the sentence
---------------------------------------------------------
Two cat s kill ed that run ing dog happy ly.
Number of morphemes = 11
ISS will have 11 signs to represent the
sentence

36. 1.UNDERSTANDING THEORY 13 OF 32
JUSTIFICATION
Why oralism?
1.Use of verbal language is considered to be ‘normal’
2. Access to verbal world and independent dealings
Why TC?
1. Choice of both (speech and signs)
2. Benefit of both
3. Access to communication
Why Educational bilingualism?
1. Strong language foundation
2. Linguistic benefits reflect cognitive/social/literacy benefits
3. Ease of communication

37. 1.UNDERSTANDING THEORY 14 OF 32
Disadvantages / Concerns :ORALISM
1.Language delay
2.Struggle for communication
3.Inadequacy of technological development and
reach
4.Too many pre-requisites to be fulfilled
5.Suppression of deaf identity

38. 1.UNDERSTANDING THEORY 15 OF 32
Disadvantages/Concerns: TC
1.Pre-requisites remain the same as oralism
2.Problems with sign system
3.Problems with Multimodal communication
 Children opt for easier option
 Doubling the task
 Confusion
 Physical impossibility
 Disadvantages of both

39. 1.UNDERSTANDING THEORY 16 OF 32
Disadvantages /Concerns: EDUCATIONA BILINGUALISM
1.Pre-requisites related to availability to
learn sign language
2.Notion of language foundation is
doubtful.
3.Identity problem
4.Problems related to ‘Deaf culture’
5. Speech related concerns

40. 1.UNDERSTANDING THEORY 17 OF 32
Theoretical conclusions
 No single option is good or bad
 All the three have pros and cons
 Appropriate option needs to be selected
for each of the child
 Selected option needs to be used
systematically and consistently

41. 2. UNDERSTANDING CURRENT INDIAN SCENAREO 18 OF 32
SCHOOLS AND SELECTED OPTIONS (sourse: AYJNIHH
directory,2000)
Schools that CLAIM to follow Oralim = 289
Schools that CLAIM to follow TC=125
Schools that CLAIMS to follow EB= nil
No response = 18

42. 2. UNDERSTANDING CURRENT INDIAN SCENAREO 19 OF 32
MAJOR CONCERNS ABOUT SCHOOLS FOR THE DEAF
 No clear understanding of existing options by school
teachers, principals and authorities.(Conceptual
confusion)
 Schools do NOT have clear policy about selected
communication options.
 Requirements of any of the options are not fulfilled
 NO SINGLE OPTION CAN BE SUGGESTED
If current Reach of technology is considered - manual
mode appears better
If training need for Sign system/language is considered
- Oralism appears better

43. 2. UNDERSTANDING CURRENT INDIAN SCENARIO 20 OF 32
GESTURES : Practical concerns in India
95% of Schools which claim to be oralist use gestures
as almost only mode of communication in classrooms
95% of schools which claim to be using TC use
gestures as almost only mode of communication in
classrooms
Extensive use of gestures as mode of formal
communication. This hampers the development of
speech/language/school subject and overall cognitive
functioning of the students

44. 2. UNDERSTANDING CURRENT INDIAN SCENAREO 21 OF 32
Current functioning of the deaf in India
(with exceptions of a very FEW schools
Extremely poor:
1. Speech (reception/expression)
2. Language communication skills
3. Literacy
4. Knowledge of school subjects
5. General knowledge/world knowledge

45. 2. UNDERSTANDING CURRENT INDIAN SCENAREO 22 OF 32
HOW ARE SCHOOLS COPING?
NOT by raising the standards of the students but by
lowering the bar of education extremely low.
CURRENT SCENARIO OF CONCESSIONS /
EXEMPTIONS related to curriculum and exams
State wise inconsistency
Under utilized
Over utilization leading to dilution

46. 2. UNDERSTANDING CURRENT INDIAN SCENAREO 23 OF 32
CONCESSIONS / EXEMPTIONS : MAHARASHTRA
For SSC a deaf child gets
Typing/ book keeping instead of languages
7 th standars math instead of 10th std
7th std equivalent home science instead of
bio/chemestry/physics
2-3 years teaching time
Half an hr extra to write the exam
Paper set by special school teacher
Paper corrected by special school teacher

47. 3. IDENTIFYING CURRENT NEEDS 24 OF 32
1. Appropriate option needs to be selected by
each school for each child
2. Consistent and systematic application of
selected option
3. Teachers should be made aware of disadvantages of
gestures and empowered to avoid gestures
4. Current system of concessions and exemptions be
reviewed
5. All students need to be assessed for age appropriate
literacy development

48. 3. IDENTIFYING CURRENT NEEDS 25 OF 32
6. For whichever option selected by the
school, prerequisites need to be fulfilled
Either the school has to be made
conducive to the selected option or that
option has to be selected for which the
school is conducive

49. 3. IDENTIFYING CURRENT NEEDS 26 OF 32
Pre requisite for conducive environment
(over n above factors like parental participation, early intervention etc)
Oral schools must have(minimum):
>100% students with binaural individual /
group amplifications used at least for 10
to 12 hrs a day
>noise free classrooms

50. 3. IDENTIFYING CURRENT NEEDS 27 OF 32
Pre requisite for conducive environment
(over n above factors like parental participation, early intervention etc)
TC schools must have
> 100% students with binaural individual /
group amplifications
> noise free classrooms
> adequate training on Sign system for
teachers/parents

51. 3. IDENTIFYING CURRENT NEEDS 28 OF 32
Pre requisite for conducive environment
(over n above factors like parental participation, early intervention etc)
Educational bilingual schools must have:
> adequate training on Sign language for
teachers/parents