It is unfortunate that while it took the proponents of (American) sign language decades (centuries, even) to bring ASL to the current level of legitimacy only to have people like Dr. Cohen would use their title and give opinions that discredit everything.

I was boarding a plane one time and a mother, in the line ahead of me, was holding a (12-18 months old, maybe) baby when it (boy? girl? Can’t tell) saw me with my cowboy hat on and signed “hat”. The mother saw it signing and smiled. “Yes, it is a hat,” the mother affirmed. I smiled back because it felt good that she is using sign language with her baby whether the baby is deaf or hearing.

I have no idea who is Dr. Cohen but right now anything else he says will be without merit because he has shot himself in his foot. It’s because he had demonstrated casual approach to the question, without research or much forethought, and I shudder when I think of advices he would give to mothers when they have other kind of questions.

Subject: Refuting Pediatrician Michael Cohen, M.D.

Each comment written in response to Dr. Cohen’s advice column, especially Trudy Suggs’ own article is all well taken from different angles and perceptions, which are based mostly on actual experience, prior knowledge and academic studies. I certainly hope you all forwarded your reaction to Fit Pregnancy Magazine, per Suggs’ suggestion. If the magazine’s readership is 500,000 and probably subscribed by 57,2000 pediatricians (from Internet), your comments will definitely provided the other side of veracity. Whether there are other Dr. Cohens out there who profess the same “opinion,” we can only hope that is not the case. Relatively speaking, there are quite a few such ignorant, arrogant, misguided, misinformed and disrespectful doctors with a mindset like Dr. Cohen. Since Greek time, the cancer of ignorance is alive and well.

It is a matter of sheer coincidence that I am babysitting and housesitting for my hearing daughter and her husband. My hearing grandson is only 15 months old and a ball of energy and already performs his bilingual skills with aplomb, comfort and confidence. He picked up some 35 signs and knows 40 spoken words. My daughter and her husband are not using this approach as a game, nor for the fun of it. Addionally, it is not a fad and does not in any way serves as a distraction, whatever Dr. Cohen means by that perceptive. In due time they are definitely expecting their son to speak, hear and recognize more English words without his feeling frustrated emotionally, mentally or intelligently. Under no circumstances are they expecting a miracle or two. However, it is a wonderful miracle in actuality that the son can handle two languages comfortably and happily.

From a grandfather’s perspective, it amazes me that my grandson can do things most babies cannot: resort to one sign or two while his mouth is full, code switch in signs and babbling (toddler sounds), and signs concepts spontaneously and naturally. At the same time he is being visual, tactile and physical. In other words, signing allows him to put his five senses to work functionally and intelligently (both hemispheres of the brain). As a certified educator for nearly 40 years, my grandson is not delayed in language, cognizance and sensory development. In summary, my observation is based on research, experience and training. Are drawbacks, distraction, game, frustrations or miracles in vogue here? No overt evidence of Dr. Cohen’s negative opinion at all.

Dr. Cohen needs to be careful about mixing his assumption, opinion and ignorance together to formulate a misconception. By reading all the comments refuting his advice, maybe he will rethink his opinion, rectify his advice like a real physician and nobly concede his incorrect insight into a domain that is not his area of expertise.

It is unfortunate that while it took the proponents of (American) sign language decades (centuries, even) to bring ASL to the current level of legitimacy only to have people like Dr. Cohen would use their title and give opinions that discredit everything.

I was boarding a plane one time and a mother, in the line ahead of me, was holding a (12-18 months old, maybe) baby when it (boy? girl? Can’t tell) saw me with my cowboy hat on and signed “hat”. The mother saw it signing and smiled. “Yes, it is a hat,” the mother affirmed. I smiled back because it felt good that she is using sign language with her baby whether the baby is deaf or hearing.

I have no idea who is Dr. Cohen but right now anything else he says will be without merit because he has shot himself in his foot. It’s because he had demonstrated casual approach to the question, without research or much forethought, and I shudder when I think of advices he would give to mothers when they have other kind of questions.

Unfortunately, it’s just another example in a long line of doctors in the medical establishment that just don’t get it.

How would he feel if we said speech is a game? Which I don’t believe, of course, but just to compare? Simply the fact that most people in the world speak and a smaller percentage of us sign doesn’t mean what we use for communication should be trivialized.

Imagine … if somehow mankind had veered towards manual communication permanently, and never talked. Would be interesting, that.

J. Parrish Lewis

You have Vygotsky social Development Theory that states the child learns from traits and the opportunity for a language to be learned. No matter what the language is being taught, the child acquires it and use it to their benefit in order to communicate.

As a word of warning to the parents, it seems that Dr. Cohen gives the wrong advice then I fear that there are more advice that he gives which goes against the child’s learning development.

Also, I am a Teacher and I can argue against Dr. Cohen any day.

“In my practice, I also see delays in talking among some babies whose parents practice signing with them. The parents’ enthusiasm actually reinforces the babies’ not talking…”

Dr. Cohen’s observation is purely unfounded and if it is true then how can he refute the argument that many CODAs (thousands of them) are fluent in two languages – English and ASL? They learned ASL first at an early age before they started to learn Spoken English.

I will support Dr. Cohen if he meant to say, “In my practice, I also see delays in ASL among some babies whose parents practice oral methods with them. The parents’ enthusiasm actually reinforces the babies’ not signing…”

Dr. Cohen thinks of ASL as a game is oppressive and it totally degrades our language. Who gives him a right to judge a language that he has never acquired? He needs to refrain from making any statements on something he’s unfamiliar with and he needs to do what he’s preached by his medical professors – research! It’s not hard to find American Annals for the Deaf and Oxford’s Journal of Deaf Studies/Deaf Education and they provide many studies that say that ASL actually helps speech development.

I’d like to think Dr. Cohen’s response as a game because he strategically tells the readers that ASL does not provide any values in one’s speech development. This game needs to put to end and he has to apologize to the deaf community for making a public statement that degrades our language.

Dr. Cohen,

You call yourself a doctor? Did you take the Hippocratic Oath?

“Above all, do no harm”

Do you realize how much harm you’ve caused by sharing your baseless
“opinion”? Do you realize that hundreds of thousands of deaf babies
have been and are being denied of their human right to develop a
language because of the simple destructive myth that signing impedes
speech development? Do no harm? With your medical degree, you are to
uphold an academic integrity by sharing professional “opinion” based
on researches and proven facts such as that sign language increases
cognitive skills, for example. There is NOT ONE evidence that sign
language is bad for babies. Sign Language may very well be one of the
very few modalities that can connect all of humanity on the most
humane level, which is something that spoken or written modalities can
never achieve.

So-called doctor, do your research before you harm any more babies.

Your Hippocratic Oath should be revoked.

Ryan Commerson