I monitor my son's Facebook. To be honest I don't do it often. His friends are kids from his arts magnet school and a couple of teachers. The posts are often creative and rarely worth worrying about . The fact that his friends are hearing and he is deaf doesn't matter online. He can express himself directly. I often feel his meaning in direct conversation is changed because of the communication barrier with his peers. If not changed maybe watered down. I could be wrong. With the power of written English he is free. He can join the casual chatting of typical hearing kids. Here is an example of his freedom with the written word,
A girl posts- "Sometimes I wonder what's real and what's fake... I hope I find out sooner than later."
This is followed by really cool and sweet comments.
Then my Deaf son posts- " What is real? How do you define real? If you're talking about what you can feel, what you can smell, what you can taste and see, then real is simply electrical signals interpreted by your brain."
Yep, I am not really worried about Facebook. This is a place where my son can by heard loud and clear.
And I love how your son shows his mastery of English, not only in structure, but in using it to express abstract conceptual thinking. More power to ASL as a first language and bilingual insttruction!
ReplyDeleteDon did you notice how he didn't mention "what you can hear"? He is going to kill me when he sees I posted his private conversation but I just found it to be so cool.
ReplyDeleteThis post makes me want to cry.
ReplyDeleteWhen I think about the English fluency and capacity for abstract thought that my seventh graders have compared to this...
All parents and children need to share a common fluent language.
You are so blessed. Your son is so lucky that you made the choices you did.
Thanks for sharing.
Kate
Even if he did say "what you can hear" it is true about "electrical signals interpreted by your brain."
ReplyDeleteHow you think Cochlear Implant works :)
Actually, I didn't notice that, Mel, but good observation! And of course he wouldn't feel a need to even think about that! Healthy!
ReplyDeleteActually, I think that's a quote from "The Matrix..."
ReplyDeleteJessica, I have not seen this movie but my cheers to you and cheers to captions!
ReplyDelete