merica 1). Heather Whitestone knows sign language and uses it when appropriate. She worked hard to learn to speak clearly, read lips and listen carefully and wants acceptance as an oral deaf individual. She feels that oral communication has opened more doors in her life than being strictly a sign language speaker would.
A powerful argument for oral training of children is the evidence of reading ability of teenagers who were given oral training instead of alternate methods of communication. Teenagers who had been taught to speak in English before learning to sign had reading score a full five grade level above other deaf teenagers (Westerhouse 1). This is very significant when it is
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