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A Free Hand: Enfranchising the Education of Deaf Children
A Free Hand Enfranchising the Education of Deaf Children Author:Edited by Margaret Walworth, Donald F. Moores and Terrence J. O'Rourke In August 1990, a group of educators, administrators and researchers met at Hofstra University, Hempstead, New York, for a three-day symposium concerning issues related to the educational uses of American Sign Language. The late Terrence J. O'Rourke was a primary force in setting up this conference, as he had been with an earlier conference that... more » took place in 1971 in Westminster, Maryland. Participants at this earlier conference explored issues related to a new communication policy called "Total Communication." The proceedings, edited by Mr. O'Rourke under the title, "Psycholinguistics and Total Communication: The State of the Art," was constituted a landmark in the annals of deaf education. The meeting at Hofstra University almost twenty years later bore a logical connection to this earlier conference, even though the issue at hand was different: the increasing call for educational practices that more fully utilize American Sign Language (ASL).
At the Hofstra Symposium, which was organized by Frank Bowe, participants addressed issues related to rationale for using ASL educationally. Three representatives from programs using bilingual/cultural (or multilingual/multicultural) approaches described their programs; Joseph Fischgrund (Pennsylvania School for the Deaf), Marlon Kuntze (California School for the Deaf at Fremont), and Marie Philip (The Learning Center for Deaf Children, Framingham, Massachusetts) shared theoretical and practical insights. The ensuing discussion was lively, and included such panelists as ASL linguist James Woodward, ESL expert Michael Strong, deaf activist Larry Fleischer and Gallaudet graduate school dean Michael Karchmer, among others. Discussion also focused on papers submitted by Donald Moores, Hilde Schlesinger, David Sterwart and Margaret Walworth.
"A Free Hand" includes:
* A Foreword by Dr. Robert Davila, Assistant Secretary, U.S. Office of Special Education and Rehabilitation Services
* Four chapters of panel discussion regarding current issues facing educators of deaf children
* Papers written for the conference by Donald Moores, Hilde Schlesinger, David Stewart, and Margaret Walworth, and a chapter by Frank Bowe summarizing and reacting to the proceedings
* A version of Samuel Supalla's Deaf Way Plenary Address
* A shortened version of a paper by James Woodward« less