RIT/NTID Presidents’ Statement in Support for Full Language Acquisition!

All,

The momentum is going strong!

Rochester Institute of Technology and National Technical Institute of Technology (RIT/NTID) presidents, Bill Destler and Gerry Buckley co-wrote a statement in support for full language acquisition for D/deaf children.

This statement is followed by Gallaudet University’s President Roberta “Bobbi” Cordano, and this is to respond to current social media “storm” about Nyle DiMarco and Alexander Graham Bell Association for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing.

To read the whole statement, please click here.

In this statement,

To the best of our knowledge, there is no credible evidence-based research that suggests that exposing D/deaf and hard-of-hearing children to American Sign Language from infancy will harm their ability to acquire English (which is essential to employment success in the workplace), or for that matter to hinder the development of spoken language. To suggest otherwise is plainly irresponsible. Indeed, on our campus of 1,200 D/deaf and hard-of-hearing students, there is no evidence of ASL disappearing or its value being diminished. NTID researchers continue to collaborate with others around the United States and world, seeking evidence to support best practices in child development and education.

Thank you, RIT/NTID for joining on the ASL bandwagon!

Best,
Amy Cohen Efron