Apparently, the gripe according to another news source was the school (which has been working with Hunter since he was 6 months old... this is not a typical public school, but one for the deaf) uses ASL (American Sign Language) and the sign with ASL is different then the sign for SEE (See Exact English).
I know of a sign-language teacher and I'm asking her the differences between these two styles. From what I know, however, ASL, is a standard within the country.
I'll update you when I hear from the sign-language teacher.
Deaf child's sign language name looks too much like gun, parent says school told him - U.S. News
Okay, I got a really detailed message from my friend (the sign language teacher). Apparently, ASL is what is commonly spoken among the deaf. The sign that Hunter was using was SEE. It sounds as if the school is trying to acclimate him over to ASL, which would be a different type of sign for things, including his name. See what my friend had to say.
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ASL is the natural language of the Deaf in the US and Canada. It developed from a creole of French Sign Language (taught at the first school for the Deaf in the US) and Martha Vineyard Sign (used by several of the first students of that school). It has a unique grammar and structure different from English (and also different from French). Linguists have analyzed ASL to have morphemes and "phonemes" which are basic components of a language. It is passed down from generation to generation in Deaf families and changes over time, also essential to the definition of language.
SEE stands for Signed Exact English. It was developed in the 1960's by hearing teachers of deaf children as a method to attempt to improve deaf children's learning to read and write English. It uses some ASL signs and some of its own and was designed to be used while speaking simultaneously. There are several problems associated with it.
People speak faster than they can sign English. Often with SEE, signs are dropped so instead of "I am going to the store" visually you end up with "I go store" which is neither good English or ASL. In ASL it's "STORE ME GO." That in-between structure is often called Pigeon Signed English, contact signing or simultaneous communication.
Often deaf children are not exposed to SEE until they get to school (between ages 3 - 6), so they are not being exposed to English language and grammar at an early age (presuming they are born with a severe hearing loss). Children begin "learning" grammar a long time before they begin using it. It is the continual exposure to it that enables children to develop language and use it. For example, young children will often say, "I runned" instead of "I ran" b/c they've processed that "ed" means "past" as it does in regular verbs. They can't articulate this but after a while they start using the correct form of the irregular verb by exposure w/o necessarily having specific instruction. Studies have shown that having access to ANY language from an early age and developing that internalized grammar enables children to learn a second language easier.
SEE is not language it is a manual code for English. It is not used by Deaf adults or native signers. Outside of the educational setting it has no natural purpose.
This may be waaay more info than you wanted but it's a topic I constantly have to fight with my students about. To make themselves understood when signing with hearing people many Deaf will use Signed English or PSE, but among themselves it is not used.
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I personally can see where the school MAY (see I wrote may) have been trying to get Hunter used to ASL and when they tried to show him the new sign, I could see the parents reacting the way they did.
It just doesn't jive that any school would tell a parent they have to change their name, but when you are using a different language, the name does get changed. Mark, Marco, Marcus, etc. The same would be true for two different sign languages.
