Moments of Truth: Robert R. Davila: The Story of a Deaf Leader

Chapter 8. Giving Back to the Profession

77 Chapter 8 Giving Back to the Profession In the summer of 1972, with his Ph.D. completed, Bob felt it was now time to begin contributing to the field of deaf education. His marriage to Donna, two children, graduate studies, and part-time jobs kept him so busy that he seldom looked back. His family life in the barrio had become a distant memory. With a degree in educational technology under his belt, he was indeed excited about the transformation taking place in schools. The Nebraska symposia had brought him into contact with many educators who were similarly enthusiastic about the potential of technology in deaf education. It seemed to Bob that there was a need for a new breed of academic administrator in the schools—and he was more than ready to apply the theory he had learned at Syracuse to the classroom. The field of deaf education was in a state of flux. William E. Stokoe’s work establishing American Sign Language as a legitimate language was gaining increasing attention in schools serving deaf children. The Babbidge Report had concluded in 1965 that the current educational system (with its emphasis on speech, speechreading, and use of residual hearing) was a failure .1 Meanwhile, “Total Communication,” a philosophy which not only took into consideration the heterogeneity of students and their preferred means of communication, but was said to have promise in the teaching of English, was being advocated by many educators. Total Communication was still in its infancy in 1972. In 1968 the philosophy and instructional methodology of Total Communication had been introduced at the Maryland School for the Deaf. Until that time, teachers of deaf students used sign language only as a supplement, and in many programs it was allowed strictly with the students considered to be “oral failures,” or who had multiple disabilities. English was still the dominant language—in 78 Moments of Truth fact, English was the only recognized language in schools for the deaf even though American Sign Language (ASL) was used in the dorms among students and of course among deaf staff. David Denton claimed in his advocacy for Total Communication that by using signs in English word order and speaking simultaneously, along with amplification and speechreading, deaf students could acquire the tricky syntax of English. One underlying assumption was that it was possible to sign while retaining normal English syntax, and that speech and signs were compatible .2 Although linguists were to later challenge and, in the eyes of many, disprove this assumption, the concept was very attractive to educators of the deaf who for many years had recognized that deaf children readily used sign to acquire and understand language (in the more general sense) and academic content, but continued to struggle with poor achievement when learning through primarily oral-based efforts to teach English. Within this overarching philosophy, a technique known as “simultaneous communication” developed, a practice of combining manual components (signs and fingerspelling) with the use of speech at the same time, usually in English word order. Having grown up hearing for his first 11 years, Bob naturally adopted the “simultaneous communication” technique, most often signing and speaking at the same time. His Spanish seldom entered the picture, other than through the distinct Spanish accent in his English pronunciations, a constant reminder of his linguistic background and heritage. Bob and Donna had not anticipated the number of attractive employment offers that would soon come his way. They had planned to move back to WhitePlainswiththeirfamily,whereBobwouldresumehiscareeratFanwood. The house they had temporarily rented out to a Fanwood teacher in Elmsford wasreadyfortheirreturn. However, numerouspromising opportunitiescalled for a re-evaluation of their thinking. Bob first considered an offer at California State University at Fresno to serve as chair of the deaf education program. In need of a Ph.D. for the position, Cal State officials enticed Bob with a full professorship and the promise of tenure after a year. The offer was very tempting, given that both his and Donna’s families were located in California. At that time there were almost no other deaf individuals serving as faculty members in teacher preparation programs and certainly none as department chairs. To hold a position as chair would have indeed been another milestone. During a visit to Gallaudet College, however, Bob ran into John Schuchman, the college dean, who also made him an attractive offer—to becomeanassociateprofessorinGallaudet ’sgraduateschoolwiththeadditional Chapter 8—Giving Back to...