Comments on "W(h)ither the Deaf Community?"

Responding to Johnston's projections for the future of Australian Sign Language (Auslan), I analyzed school enrollments in American educational programs and found similar trends. There are fewer deaf and hard of hearing children in school now than twenty years ago, with the largest decline, approximately 50 percent, among children with profound hearing losses. Consistent with the Australian data, although to a smaller degree, increasing numbers of children are educated through oral-only means, have cochlear implants, and are placed in integrated settings.

Despite these trends, Johnston's concerns for Auslan do not appear to apply to ASL, primarily because the American population, and, by extension, the American Deaf population, is fifteen times greater than that of Australia. Even with reductions in numbers a critical mass will remain. Secondly, the American Deaf community is heavily involved in education, more so than in any other country. The future of ASL and the American Deaf community is strong.