Alexander Graham Bell Association for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing
Founded1890
FounderAlexander Graham Bell
FocusSpeech
HeadquartersWashington, D.C.
Location
Area served
United States
MethodResources and advocacy
Key people
  • Susan Lenihan, Ph.D., Chair
  • Emilio Alonso-Mendoza, CEO
Employees
8
Websitewww.agbell.org

The Alexander Graham Bell Association for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing, also known as AG Bell, is an organization that aims to promote listening and spoken language among people who are deaf and hard of hearing. It is headquartered in Washington, D.C., with chapters located throughout the United States and a network of international affiliates.

History

The Association was originally created as the American Association to Promote the Teaching of Speech to the Deaf (AAPTSD). In 1908 it merged with Alexander Graham Bell's Volta Bureau (founded in 1887 "for the increase and diffusion of knowledge relating to the deaf"), and was renamed as the Alexander Graham Bell Association for the Deaf in 1956 at the suggestion of Mrs. Frances Toms, the mother of a deaf son who was able to achieve high academic standings in mainstream schools with the organization's help.[1] In 1999 the Association was finally renamed to the Alexander Graham Bell Association for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing.[2]

Controversies and criticism

The organization has a long history of staunch opposition to any positive depictions of the use of sign language, which the organization views as a threat to speech development. After NBC broadcast a theater performance using ASL in 1967, the organization wrote a letter to the company demanding that the show be pulled, claiming that sign language was artificial and foreign and that showing it on television was destroying the efforts of parents who tried to teach their deaf children speech. However, NBC refused to cave into their demands. Later on in 2008 the organization also protested the 2008 Pepsi commercial at the Super Bowl that showed signing; the organization's statement insisted that Pepsi should have used the money for the commercial to sponsor hearing aids and other hearing assistance technology instead of promoting sign language.[3] In 1992 the organization issued a resolution stating its opposition to the use of sign language in deaf education,[4] and although the 2008 position statement does not explicitly condemn ASL,[5] the organization continues to discourage its use, promoting exclusively oral methods that forbid the use of sign language, mainly the Auditory-Verbal and Auditory-Oral approaches.[6][7]

The foundation has been heavily criticized for misleading and inaccurate claims made in relation to the use of American Sign Language among the Deaf community after Nyle DiMarco was announced as the winner of season 22 of America's Next Top Model. The Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf, the National Association of the Deaf, the National Black Deaf Advocates and academics accused the foundation of inaccuracy, bias, pseudoscience, xenophobia and eugenics.[8][9][10][11]

The organization is heavily sponsored by cochlear implant and hearing aid companies.[12][13]

References

  1. ^ "Bell Ceremony: Give Glimpses of Life Of Telephone Inventor; "Always Loved Canada" ", Brantford Expositor, 14 September 1953, pp. 13, 19.
  2. ^ "AGBell". Alexander Graham Bell Association for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing. Retrieved April 3, 2010.
  3. ^ Edwards, Rebecca (2020-08-07). Deaf Players in Major League Baseball: A History, 1883 to the Present. McFarland. ISBN 978-1-4766-7017-1.
  4. ^ Lucas, Ceil (1995). Sociolinguistics in Deaf Communities. Gallaudet University Press. ISBN 978-1-56368-036-6.
  5. ^ "American Sign Language". www.agbell.org. Retrieved 2022-10-07.
  6. ^ Cole, Elizabeth B.; Flexer, Carol (2019-07-22). Children with Hearing Loss: Developing Listening and Talking, Birth to Six, Fourth Edition. Plural Publishing. ISBN 978-1-63550-158-2.
  7. ^ Welling; Ukstins, Carol A. (2017-09-06). Fundamentals of Audiology for the Speech-Language Pathologist. Jones & Bartlett Learning. ISBN 978-1-284-10598-8.
  8. ^ "News Impacting the RID Community: Nyle DiMarco & AG Bell Association". Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf. April 5, 2016. Archived from the original on October 6, 2018. Retrieved October 6, 2018.((cite web)): CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  9. ^ "Nyle DiMarco and Language for Your Child". National Association of the Deaf. April 3, 2016. Retrieved October 6, 2018.
  10. ^ "NBDA Letter to AG Bell President Meredith Sugar, Esq". National Black Deaf Advocates. April 3, 2016. Retrieved October 6, 2018.
  11. ^ Peter C Hauser (April 2, 2016). "Nyle is not the one spreading myths". Retrieved October 6, 2018 – via Facebook.
  12. ^ "Cochlear partners with AG Bell to help parents of children with hearing loss through the AG Bell Parent Support Line". Cochlear Hear and Now. 2020-10-13. Retrieved 2022-10-07.
  13. ^ "SPONSORS". 2023 AG Bell Global Listening and Spoken Language Symposium. Retrieved 2022-10-07.

Further reading

Categories