Quote:
Originally Posted by shel90
It just seems like you didnt have faith cuz you kept questioning it or saying that the results were mixed...just gave me the feeling. I have nothing against that if u dont feel confident in it. If I was in your shoes or wasnt in the field of Deaf ed, maybe I would feel the same way but because I am in it full time and I see the differences between it and the TC programs. Maybe those Deaf people who called it a joke were really in TC programs but thought their programs were BiBi because the BiBi approach is relatively new. If that's the case, then I agree with them about TC approach being a joke. I have seen and worked in TC programs...I wasnt impressed with them at all. Just my opinion. I guess it is because I prefer to stick with pure models of languages not invented systems of each language.
The BiBi movement started around 1993 so we have to wait and see those kids who grew up with it from infant all the way to high school but so far it is looking good. However, the big problem and misunderstandings about them is that so many kids enter these programs at a much much older age after they have been in other kinds of programs only to become language and academically delayed. Unless they are able to catch up after being transferred to the BiBi programs, they are always going to perform years behind their age appropriate levels.
We all have to keep that important factor in mind. It could be the big reason for the mixed results you speak of.
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I also wanted to add this...
as for mixed results, here is a perfect example....my school is a BiBi program but we got 74 new students in the past 4 years from the mainstreamed program. That is MORE THAN HALF of our student population so of course, the test results are gonna show a larger margin of low literacy scores due to those kids being language delayed from not having full access to language during their younger years. It has nothing to do with the BiBi program...however, I can say this...all of the kids' language and literacy skills have improved dramatically since being referred to our program. None of them have regressed so if they had been with us since toddlers, they would be performing at much much higher levels.
Right now, we have a first and 2nd grade class composed of kids who have been with us since babies and all of them are reading at grade level. One kid is even reading at one grade level above and he is from a hearing family.
Because I see and personally experience this, I believe that the bibi approach is the least riskiest approach of all.