Your points made my heart smile and mind nodding.

The deaf community has begun the war Stokoe made with a small lightfire. The progress is still too slow. Human societies moves and changes slowly. We have made great strides yet we will not sit back and think its over – much more work need to be done. Federal govt recognize ASL as language and placed on census. All deaf children have easy access to sign language and (ALL-TC) at school, if not at home. AGBad declare that, with research, young deaf children will learn to talk better if used sign language etc etc etc.

Our “war” has just begun and more work to be done.

Remember that Stokoe’s work is one of a kind work that put us in a new phase of historical progress. This is no longer a see-saw contest between the Oralists and the Manualists. Also, both the DPN and UFG protests were unlike anything that had happened before.

Check out this Modern Language Association report to see how there was been an explosion of interest in hearing students studying ASL. See especially PDF page 14 where it shows a 432% growth in enrollment in ASL classes between 1998 and 2002:

http://www.mla.org/pdf/06enrollmentsurvey_final.pdf

Also, I don’t think the advent of cochlear implants is really going to impact the fact that the philosophy of bilingualism for deaf children has made tremendous, tremendous strides. I think that hearing parents are eventually going to get the right information (especially now that the Internet is available) and they will not be fooled by the CI companies or AG Bell. They will realize that deaf kids need to be bilingual, regardless of whatever hearing devices come into play.

This is no longer a contest between “Oralists and Manualists”, really.

I think that it is now a contest between truth and fiction. Truth is on our side.

I checked on whether Dr hocokan had made comments in your blog, but he didn’t show up here when I made a mistake. I thought that Dr hocokan’s comment appeared here, but I found that other topic “We all have been abused by Oralism!”

I have to do research about the fact that Hocoka is the correct spelling, not hocokan.

“The hocoka, or medicine wheel, forms the basis for Lakota psychology, philosophy, spirituality, and culture. Each quadrant has a specific meaning and together they create the balance necessary for a healthy life and world.”

DrDonG, I want you to continue vlog to go publicly to the Deaf audience because your vlog is very good. (Sorry To Confuse You (With The Truth!)

PS. I studied Mayan (Indian) people’s culture, which is different from Native American’s culture.

I’m confused. What does Hocokan have to do with the discussion we have been having here?

“Hocokan is a Lakota term for a complete circle, medicine wheel and wholeness.”

Hocoka
“When Council Fires were held or when a band or group made camp, the open space at the center of the circled tipis was called hocoka”
http://brokenchains.us/AITPRF/test-answers.html

Lane, as I pointed out earlier, has shown a fairly cyclical pattern of dominance and repression of one method over the other for several centuries. I agree that we are now entering a period of support for the manualist philosophy, but we are experiencing counter-forces which are threatening that support and recognition for ASL and other natural sign languages, such as Cochlear Implants, AVT (which is really nothing new, just repackaged). The important thing is for us to continue to document why ASL works and how having a Deaf community benefits us as Deaf people and as part of a global society so that the counter-forces do not gain long-term traction. It is premature at this time to say we have “won”. But I am hopeful (and at the same time, sometimes pessimistic) that we are on the way to having a clear-cut “win”.

Yep! AGB makes hundreds of thousands or millions off our Deaf bodies and what do they give back to us as Deaf people? Almost nothing! Those people who defend AGB are being used by AGB twice: first as children and now as free PR for AGB….

BTW, welcome back! I’m not a frequent reader of your blog, at least not since UFG, but when I want a gossip fix, you’re the man to go to! And you do make for “interesting” conversations…