Oralism is an approach to educating deaf students that involves using sight and touch to help them learn to speak and communicate with others. While it has limitations, it can be effective for those with residual hearing and can lead to increased confidence and integration into society.
Oralism is one of the two main approaches to providing education for deaf students. Considered by many to be especially effective with children who have retained a small amount of hearing ability, oralism has its origins in the 18th century and continues to be a popular option for helping deaf children and adults function in society.
Understood as part of auditory training technique, speaking involves the use of sight and touch to help deaf people learn to communicate with other people. Learning to recognize what is being said by learning to lip read enables the deaf person to understand communication without the need to write a note or use sign language. In addition to teaching the deaf person to recognize words being articulated by another person, oralism also addresses the act of responding verbally. This process is enhanced by using touch to learn how the pronunciation of certain words is accomplished by lip movements and contractions of the throat muscles. The result is that an individual born without a sense of hearing can still learn to speak in a way that enables communication with others.
Opponents of oralism often point out that the process has limitations. It is generally accepted that lip reading does provide some assistance in relating to the world at large, but that the process is not exact. Many words require only minor differences in lip movement or throat contractions to be produced. This creates a situation where the deaf person has to attempt to interpret words in some sort of context in order to correctly interpret what has been said. Also, many people have a tendency to move their heads or walk around when they talk. Both of these tendencies can make lip reading more difficult.
Another oft-cited disadvantage of oralism is the amount of time and effort it takes to get results. Because speaking requires a great deal of repetition and a high level of dedication, the slow progress that is common to the technique can be daunting. Due to the length and intensity of speaking methods, many deaf people find the process less rewarding than learning to communicate using the written word or with the help of sign language.
However, oralism is often successful with children who retain a residual amount of hearing, as well as adults who lose their hearing later in life. For deaf people who benefit from oralism, the end result is a higher level of confidence and a sense of fitting in to society more easily.
Protect your devices with Threat Protection by NordVPN
