Deaf time in the twenty-first century: considering rights frameworks and the social relational model of Deaf childhood

Abstract

This paper considers Deaf time, or imagined futures of Deaf communities, as we question the efficacy of a rights framework to support the social relational model of Deaf childhood, which positions Deaf children within Deaf cultural discourses. We probe a disability rights discourse where the inclusion movement promotes the right of all children to high quality education and full participation in society. However, there is a gap between rhetoric and practice in early childhood education, which has often been a site of disablement for Deaf children and their families. In addition, legal recognition of the right to sign language in several contexts has not prevented a decline in numbers of Deaf children learning sign language. In planning for future Deaf communities, we examine Deaf cultural childhoods through the development of a parent ASL curriculum that is aligned with the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR). The curriculum is contextualized in relation to disability rights, sign language rights, and the rights of children outlined in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child and Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

Keywords:

• Sign language
• Deaf children
• parents
• human rights
• early intervention
• inclusion