The Deaf Bilingual Coalition is a grassroots group even though many of us are considered professionals in our areas. We are involved more as a community of people who are concerned about the current situation of denying access to American Sign Language for Deaf and Hard of Hearing infants and children during the critical years of development.
The idea of “coalition” is considered important for DBC’s identity. The people involved in DBC should be those who desire to make positive changes by promoting public awareness of the serious situation that Deaf infants and their families are in.
DBC stands by its mission and continues to promote a clear vision that we support ALL Deaf infants and children to have access to ASL from birth and to be fluent in ASL and English (bilingual). DBC is not against speech and listening training as long as it is partnered with ASL. DBC’s goal is to educate those who impact the lives of Deaf infants and children and find common ground to end the long-time friction between groups who have different philosophies on communication approaches.
