Chapter 19: The Evolution of Total Communication

Total Communication started out as a compromise by Gallaudet so that children could learn ASL with the option of picking up Oral skills.  The term has been adopted by supporters of the oral method, however, and bent to mean learning the oral method with a little bit of ASL thrown in.  Simultaneous Communication is signing while speaking which typically ends up being very sloppy as far as the sign part goes.  Bilingual-Bicultural is a method where ASL is used to teach English.  Again we have many opinions on the many variations of Sign Language.  It must be a horrible feeling to have to pick a path for your deaf child when you know very little about what would be best for them with so many options and so many different opinions as to what is best.  Perhaps on the primary education level it would be best if there were not so many choices to ensure that all deaf children have a good foundation to build off of with whichever variation and style they choose to use.  Parents of deaf children should be educated on the pros and cons of each approach at the very least.