GALLING GALLAUDET
BERGEN, BARRY H.
Correspondence Galling Gallaudet As a faculty member at Gallaudet University, I have struggled over the past year to explain the politics, background, and nuances of the events at Gallaudet to...
...As for Wilding's remarks about "oralism" vs...
...This is not true: American Sign Language is the only sign language in America...
...As a result, Deaf students' reading and writing abilities suffered...
...Additionally, ASL has not been used in schools for the last three decades...
...While some of it misplaces emphasis and elevates radical opinions to an undeserved level of importance, she nevertheless provides an excellent review and well-stated summary of the identity issues facing the deaf community...
...Iam a Deaf college professor, who teaches English and American Sign Language...
...Wilding define Plains Indian Sign Language...
...Allen is to be applauded...
...Since the Milan Conference in Italy in 1880, ASL was banned in schools and oralism promoted as the only means to educate Deaf children...
...Ever since a colleague shared it with me, I have been sending it to people around the country...
...Stephen Goforth Atlanta, Ga...
...I generally do not agree with The Weekly Standard, but Charlotte Allen's "Identity Politics Gone Wild" (April 2) has explained the situation exceptionally well—both clearly and comprehensively...
...In short, Prof...
...Dershowitz as an advocate for Israel, but I have no real knowledge of his opinions on the subject of Jews and evangelicals...
...Zev Chafets Pelham, NY...
...Needless to say, I do not agree with every word of Allen's analysis...
...In the 21st century, this is finally changing with the return of bilingual education, which uses ASL to teach English and other subjects...
...That led me to start a website focused on news related to the deaf (deafnewstoday.com...
...I have great respect for Prof...
...Alan Wilding Taylorsville, Utah Charlotte Allen responds: Alan Wilding introduces a pointless quibble: Sign language is sign language...
...Other ways of communicating through signs, such as SEE 1, SEE 2, MCE, and so forth, are codes for the English language, much like Morse code...
...ASL in schools, I refer readers to my article, wherein I note that Deaf activists (a category that clearly includes Wilding) have their own definition of "bilingual" education...
...How, for example, would Prof...
...The name Alan Dershowitz doesn't appear at all in my book for the simple reason that it has nothing at all to do with him...
...and a bizarre answer—"Two words: Alan Dershowitz...
...Barry H. Bergen Washington, D.C...
...As a journalist working at CNN with friends who attended Gallaudet, I became aware of a lack of reputable information about the school and about Deaf Culture...
...Charlotte Allen says that there are several sign languages in America...
...I think, though, that he must have inspired Schachter in her review...
...Correspondence Galling Gallaudet As a faculty member at Gallaudet University, I have struggled over the past year to explain the politics, background, and nuances of the events at Gallaudet to curious friends and colleagues...
...There are, as well, some crucial aspects of the events, most notably the arguments about race and racism in the search, that she does not discuss, but no single article could contain everything...
...Much Ado About Alan Abby Wisse Schachter begins her (friendly) review of my book, A Match Made in Heaven, with a good question— "Why did Israeli-American journalist Zev Chafets write a book about Jews and evangelicals...
...Dershowitz didn't inspire my book...
...Most importantly, I was impressed by the quality of judgment and insight by someone outside the Gallaudet community...
...Having closely followed the protests at Gallaudet, I was impressed with Charlotte Allen's analysis...
Vol. 12 • April 2007 • No. 30
