I had some time to think some more about mainstreaming while I was waiting for Kristin to finish her ASL class. I see many benefits for most children but I'm not a big fan of mainstreaming for Deaf children. The view is that all children should be educated with their peers in the "least restrictive environment". I just am not sure this is the least restrictive environment for Deaf children.
Why?
Most Deaf kids start out at a disadvantage. They have hearing parents that don't realize at first anything is going on with their child's hearing. These children miss out on a lot of language development. Deaf parents of Deaf children and even hearing children start out signing from the get-go. The language development is there. When the hearing parents realize something is "wrong" they go to a medical professional. These professionals view deafness as a problem that needs to be fixed. In years gone by, they'd recommend lip reading to the parents, not sign language. Nowadays it's the cochlear implant. Sign language is usually not encouraged and hearing parents are not introduced to Deaf adults.
Deaf kids used to go to state schools for the Deaf almost exclusively. That's where they learned language and sort of "caught up" where they lagged. The children learned their language and culture not so much from teachers as from peers with Deaf parents. Deaf culture is a whole other big topic I could get into another time. The biggest complaint about Deaf schools, I guess, is that the education isn't comparable to hearing schools.
Okay, so now deaf children are mainstreamed into hearing schools. Some schools have a Deaf program so at some point during the day, the child at least gets to interact with other deaf kids. Many times, though, the child is mainstreamed into a school with no other Deaf students. There's a teacher of the Deaf and an interpreter, that's it. The child usually becomes attached or dependent on one or both of the adults. The adults are the ones who teach the child sign language (if the parents will allow it) and fill in so many of the gaps the child has with everything that goes on.
This has been my experience interpreting for Deaf children in a mainstream environment over the years: it's isolating and frustrating and lonely for the kids, especially when they start out in school not knowing any sign language. That puts them at a big disadvantage because they miss so much. The best lip reader gets 30% and guesses the rest. It's exhausting to watch lips moving for hours at a time. Having a cochlear implant doesn't mean the child can hear and understand everything. Teachers and interpreters have to re-teach a lot!
Deaf kids are cut off from their hearing peers due to communication barriers. Hearing kids often don't want to repeat or explain things so deaf kids are left out. There are a few kids that are interested enough to sign and explain but there's not many. In Deaf school, the environment is different because everyone signs. Some hearing kids avoided the deaf kids as if they were afraid they were going to catch "it".
Then of course, any difference can make a kid a target for bullies and teasing. That kind of stuff happens everywhere, it's true. Still, my feeling is why put a target on a kid's back?
I believe that mainstreaming Deaf children puts them in the most restrictive environment. More than once I've shared my view with the parents of students I interpreted for. The kids were miserable and not performing well. I would tell the parents privately that I thought their children would do better in a school for the Deaf--even if it meant my job would go away. A few years later, I met several of the kids who transferred to Deaf schools from hearing schools and was gratified to see how they'd flourished.
My view would be much less popular now because of the cochlear implant--implanting children is an issue that makes me froth at the mouth and is another topic I could rant on later. Hearing parents think the implant is a miracle operation; that it restores their child's hearing and ability to understand. It doesn't. There are times when the implant has to be turned off or come out and then the child is as deaf as ever. Parents are less likely to learn to sign when the child is implanted. That's unfortunate because it leaves the child at a disadvantage at home and at school.
On the up side, I did meet a teenager who was implanted successfully you could say. She came to my Deaf Culture class and spoke to us. Her speech was very clear. When it came to Q&A, though, I noticed our instructor became an interpreter for the teenager. She was unable to understand questions from the audience but at least was able to fall back on sign language. She was about to go into her senior year and was presently at a school with a Deaf program. However, the district wanted to disband that and send everyone to their home schools. The student would be alone, without Deaf peers. She and her parents were fighting the district about that. I don't know what happened.
As for Little T, because he's hearing, I think mainstreaming would benefit him at some point. Right now, there is a program at his school for kids on the autistic spectrum so he would still see his friends from those classes. Next year, T will be in third grade and will move to a new school. I'm thinking that's the ideal time to start mainstreaming him for more classes. New school, new routine to get used to. I hope that's the way it goes.
Showing posts with label Deaf. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Deaf. Show all posts
Sunday, November 20
Monday, October 10
A Bag of Apples
The growing nationwide protests against corporate greed is beginning to remind me of the protests of the '60s and '70s. I remember the news coverage but wasn't really sure what to think. I was too young and immature to really come to any kind of conclusions about them.
In 1976, though, I was 21 and participated in a demonstration and sit-in at the then HEW (Health, Education & Welfare) building in Washington, D.C. The protest was because the regulations for the Vocational Rehabilitation Act of 1973 were still unsigned. This was a law that was supposed to stop discrimination against the disabled in the educational and workplace settings. It was a good law but couldn't be enforced because the HEW Secretary hadn't signed the regulations. After all these years, I don't remember why he hadn't and I don't remember why he wouldn't when the "oversight" was pointed out to him. The disabled community got fed up--pretty much the way the dwindling middle class has become fed up.
I was working at the National Center for Law and the Deaf. My boss was the executive director. We had lawyers working there that took on all kinds of cases, mostly having to do with discrimination. My boss was more on the advocacy end. Anyway, he called a meeting with all of us and explained the upcoming protest. If we decided to go along, we'd be picketing outside the building--with the possibility of going in and sitting in overnight or for days--as long as it would take to get Secretary Califano to sign the regs. My boss said it was all intended to be peaceful but that there was a good chance we'd be arrested for trespass if we sat in.
I decided to go. I'd seen my parents suffer discrimination almost everywhere and some of the experiences were pretty humiliating. I knew other Deaf people also were oppressed and had been discriminated against. I was young and the thought of jail didn't scare me.
There were hundreds and hundreds of people at the protest. Hundreds were blind; hundreds were in wheelchairs; hundreds had all sorts of disabilities. We carried signs and marched. At some point, I saw my boss meeting with the leaders of other groups. He came over to us and said a group was going to go into the building. Two Deaf employees and I volunteered to go in with my boss and the others. The leaders of the other groups were asking for their own volunteers. There was at least 20 of us going in.
When we got to Secretary Califano's office, my boss asked to meet with him. Mr. Califano's secretary looked at us with an expression of amusement and confusion. She informed us that Mr. Califano was out. Of course. So we all sat down on the floor.
It was later in the afternoon. I'd only brought my purse and a jacket with me. I was wondering if I should have brought more stuff...like food. The two Deaf employees, Susan and Fred, were friends of mine and sat down next to me. We spent the next few hours just chatting. I saw my boss conferring with Deaf leaders Fred Schreiber and T.J. O'Rourke. Around 4:30, the secretaries packed up and left for the day. We were on our own--or so we thought.
Within the hour, the police had shown up. Until then, we'd freely gone to get a drink of water from the fountain or go to the bathroom. The police wouldn't let us anymore, except for once an hour. For some reason, they wanted us to take our shoes off.
My boss used the phone--this was before cell phones!--to call a pay phone outside. He and the other lawyers had previously arranged this system to be used in case we went into the building. He could get news from the street this way. Around 7, he asked one of the lawyers to order pizza for everyone in the building.
About an hour later, the lawyer called from the pay phone and told my boss the pizza delivery guy had been stopped at the door. No one would be allowed in. Well, of course we should have anticipated that.
Fred Schreiber and T.J. O'Rourke were both excellent storytellers and that was our entertainment for the evening. Trying to tell a Deaf story in writing just loses too much in translation. There's a lot of facial expression and feeling that goes into the stories. You have to see it to appreciate it.
I remember one tense incident though. Schreiber's wife showed up with his prescriptions and the police wouldn't let her come in. They didn't want to bring the medication themselves either. We found out, of course, by a call from the pay phone. I remember my boss got on the phone with the policeman in charge and arguing with him. Politics and position mean everything, though, because Schreiber got his medication when my boss said, "Do you really want the president of the National Association of the Deaf to possibly die because you wouldn't let him have his heart medication? There's press outside all over the place!"
It was hard to get comfortable because we had to sit or lie down on the floor. The lights stayed on. The air conditioning was turned up full blast. We knew all of this was designed to make us uncomfortable and leave. The thing is, we felt totally committed to our cause. We'd tried to get the regs signed the proper way and had been confounded time after time. All around the country, the disabled and advocates had gotten fed up. There were sit-ins in other HEW buildings as well.
Around 2 in the morning, I rolled my coat up in a ball and went to sleep. My two friends curled up on either side of me. We didn't sleep soundly but we got some rest.
I woke up around six the next morning and sat up sleepily. The elevator doors opened and an elderly man stepped out. I recognized him as an employee of HEW. He approached us with a bag in his arms. The police standing guard didn't really notice him right away. When they did, they moved on him and that's when he threw the bag into the room with us.
Apples began bouncing everywhere as a couple of cops grabbed that elderly man and threw him against the wall. Other cops ran into the room, grabbing for the apples and snatching them out of the hands of the protestors. It was the craziest thing I'd ever seen. I think the cops got all the apples back. They pushed the elderly man into the elevator and I had no idea what was going to happen to him. After the whole thing was over, I found out he'd been ejected from the building. He'd heard we had no food and had bought the apples from a produce stand.
We didn't stay inside the building very long after that. Too many protestors had health issues and so we ended up leaving.
As a result of the protests, though, Secretary Califano signed the regulations. I felt like I'd been a part of something important.
I've been thinking about going down to Philadelphia just for the day. My sitting in days are over but I can do other things.
One thing that made me mad this morning was a sign I saw about how teachers making $50,000 (which ain't a lot) are being asked to take a salary cut of 20% but God forbid we should ask millionaires to pay 3% more in taxes. That totally gets me. It's not just teachers--it's a lot of workers from what used to be the middle class. They have to take cuts in salary either directly or by paying more health insurance costs. Yet Congress has all their benefits paid for 100%, enjoys a healthy salary and retirement. Don't even get me started on the benefits and perks corporate millionaires enjoy! I can think of a couple of signs I'd make!
In 1976, though, I was 21 and participated in a demonstration and sit-in at the then HEW (Health, Education & Welfare) building in Washington, D.C. The protest was because the regulations for the Vocational Rehabilitation Act of 1973 were still unsigned. This was a law that was supposed to stop discrimination against the disabled in the educational and workplace settings. It was a good law but couldn't be enforced because the HEW Secretary hadn't signed the regulations. After all these years, I don't remember why he hadn't and I don't remember why he wouldn't when the "oversight" was pointed out to him. The disabled community got fed up--pretty much the way the dwindling middle class has become fed up.
I was working at the National Center for Law and the Deaf. My boss was the executive director. We had lawyers working there that took on all kinds of cases, mostly having to do with discrimination. My boss was more on the advocacy end. Anyway, he called a meeting with all of us and explained the upcoming protest. If we decided to go along, we'd be picketing outside the building--with the possibility of going in and sitting in overnight or for days--as long as it would take to get Secretary Califano to sign the regs. My boss said it was all intended to be peaceful but that there was a good chance we'd be arrested for trespass if we sat in.
I decided to go. I'd seen my parents suffer discrimination almost everywhere and some of the experiences were pretty humiliating. I knew other Deaf people also were oppressed and had been discriminated against. I was young and the thought of jail didn't scare me.
There were hundreds and hundreds of people at the protest. Hundreds were blind; hundreds were in wheelchairs; hundreds had all sorts of disabilities. We carried signs and marched. At some point, I saw my boss meeting with the leaders of other groups. He came over to us and said a group was going to go into the building. Two Deaf employees and I volunteered to go in with my boss and the others. The leaders of the other groups were asking for their own volunteers. There was at least 20 of us going in.
When we got to Secretary Califano's office, my boss asked to meet with him. Mr. Califano's secretary looked at us with an expression of amusement and confusion. She informed us that Mr. Califano was out. Of course. So we all sat down on the floor.
It was later in the afternoon. I'd only brought my purse and a jacket with me. I was wondering if I should have brought more stuff...like food. The two Deaf employees, Susan and Fred, were friends of mine and sat down next to me. We spent the next few hours just chatting. I saw my boss conferring with Deaf leaders Fred Schreiber and T.J. O'Rourke. Around 4:30, the secretaries packed up and left for the day. We were on our own--or so we thought.
Within the hour, the police had shown up. Until then, we'd freely gone to get a drink of water from the fountain or go to the bathroom. The police wouldn't let us anymore, except for once an hour. For some reason, they wanted us to take our shoes off.
My boss used the phone--this was before cell phones!--to call a pay phone outside. He and the other lawyers had previously arranged this system to be used in case we went into the building. He could get news from the street this way. Around 7, he asked one of the lawyers to order pizza for everyone in the building.
About an hour later, the lawyer called from the pay phone and told my boss the pizza delivery guy had been stopped at the door. No one would be allowed in. Well, of course we should have anticipated that.
Fred Schreiber and T.J. O'Rourke were both excellent storytellers and that was our entertainment for the evening. Trying to tell a Deaf story in writing just loses too much in translation. There's a lot of facial expression and feeling that goes into the stories. You have to see it to appreciate it.
I remember one tense incident though. Schreiber's wife showed up with his prescriptions and the police wouldn't let her come in. They didn't want to bring the medication themselves either. We found out, of course, by a call from the pay phone. I remember my boss got on the phone with the policeman in charge and arguing with him. Politics and position mean everything, though, because Schreiber got his medication when my boss said, "Do you really want the president of the National Association of the Deaf to possibly die because you wouldn't let him have his heart medication? There's press outside all over the place!"
It was hard to get comfortable because we had to sit or lie down on the floor. The lights stayed on. The air conditioning was turned up full blast. We knew all of this was designed to make us uncomfortable and leave. The thing is, we felt totally committed to our cause. We'd tried to get the regs signed the proper way and had been confounded time after time. All around the country, the disabled and advocates had gotten fed up. There were sit-ins in other HEW buildings as well.
Around 2 in the morning, I rolled my coat up in a ball and went to sleep. My two friends curled up on either side of me. We didn't sleep soundly but we got some rest.
I woke up around six the next morning and sat up sleepily. The elevator doors opened and an elderly man stepped out. I recognized him as an employee of HEW. He approached us with a bag in his arms. The police standing guard didn't really notice him right away. When they did, they moved on him and that's when he threw the bag into the room with us.
Apples began bouncing everywhere as a couple of cops grabbed that elderly man and threw him against the wall. Other cops ran into the room, grabbing for the apples and snatching them out of the hands of the protestors. It was the craziest thing I'd ever seen. I think the cops got all the apples back. They pushed the elderly man into the elevator and I had no idea what was going to happen to him. After the whole thing was over, I found out he'd been ejected from the building. He'd heard we had no food and had bought the apples from a produce stand.
We didn't stay inside the building very long after that. Too many protestors had health issues and so we ended up leaving.
As a result of the protests, though, Secretary Califano signed the regulations. I felt like I'd been a part of something important.
I've been thinking about going down to Philadelphia just for the day. My sitting in days are over but I can do other things.
One thing that made me mad this morning was a sign I saw about how teachers making $50,000 (which ain't a lot) are being asked to take a salary cut of 20% but God forbid we should ask millionaires to pay 3% more in taxes. That totally gets me. It's not just teachers--it's a lot of workers from what used to be the middle class. They have to take cuts in salary either directly or by paying more health insurance costs. Yet Congress has all their benefits paid for 100%, enjoys a healthy salary and retirement. Don't even get me started on the benefits and perks corporate millionaires enjoy! I can think of a couple of signs I'd make!
Tuesday, July 14
Violating the rights of others goes on and on...
Last week, I wrote a post about being shocked and sickened that the civil rights of other people in this country continue to be violated...even now, in 2009. Deaf people (like my parents) have been repressed and discriminated against as well. Here's the latest example I've seen:
Read the rest of the article here.
Hello? There's been laws passed that are supposed to end this BS--most recently, the ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act). Hiring an interpreter for a deaf person is an undue burden? Please. Give me a break! A city can find money for anything else but whines about having to hire an interpreter?
Would you want to be treated like Sarah Burke was? How about Roger Krebs or Shawn Vigil?
And a local example of continued bigotry against African Americans, a swim club in PA cancelled the contract of an inner city day camp. The contract was so that the camp could bring 65 minority children to the pool one day a week during the summer to cool off! The children heard racist comments the first day they visited. Parents pulled their own children out of the water. A mother told the camp director she'd see to it the kids were not allowed to come back. The kids themselves, based on what other members said, were well behaved and not causing a problem.
A couple of days after the first visit, management at the pool cancelled the camp's contract.
Protests began. The management realized they had a problem on their hands and said the contract wasn't cancelled because of race, it had to do with safety. There were too many kids. Uh huh. The protests continued. Now the club has issued an apology and invited the camp back. Um, can you say too little too late? So it's not about safety after all? Ugh.
susan greene
Greene: A sign of apathy for deaf
By Susan Greene
Denver Post Columnist
Posted: 07/12/2009 01:00:00 AM MDT
Sarah Burke was cooking dinner for her family when police came knocking at her door.
As she tells it, the Denver officers kept ignoring the obvious fact that both she and her husband are profoundly deaf and unable to read lips.
Police finally asked the couple's son to sign to Burke that she had a bench warrant for allegedly failing to file paperwork related to a 2-year-old misdemeanor case. "Contempt of court" was a concept that the 8-year-old boy couldn't grasp, let alone interpret.
The cuffs tying Burke's hands behind her back kept her from communicating the best way she knows how — in American Sign Language. She spent the night in jail without an interpreter to explain what she was in for. ...
Read the rest of the article here.
Hello? There's been laws passed that are supposed to end this BS--most recently, the ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act). Hiring an interpreter for a deaf person is an undue burden? Please. Give me a break! A city can find money for anything else but whines about having to hire an interpreter?
Would you want to be treated like Sarah Burke was? How about Roger Krebs or Shawn Vigil?
And a local example of continued bigotry against African Americans, a swim club in PA cancelled the contract of an inner city day camp. The contract was so that the camp could bring 65 minority children to the pool one day a week during the summer to cool off! The children heard racist comments the first day they visited. Parents pulled their own children out of the water. A mother told the camp director she'd see to it the kids were not allowed to come back. The kids themselves, based on what other members said, were well behaved and not causing a problem.
A couple of days after the first visit, management at the pool cancelled the camp's contract.
Protests began. The management realized they had a problem on their hands and said the contract wasn't cancelled because of race, it had to do with safety. There were too many kids. Uh huh. The protests continued. Now the club has issued an apology and invited the camp back. Um, can you say too little too late? So it's not about safety after all? Ugh.
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