Don't let school put you in Special Ed class

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vadik24

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Here is my story:

When I was 8 years old, my family and I moved to America to have better education and better life. I have trouble hearing to not able to hear car incoming, bird chirping but can hear anyone who is near me so I got a hearing aid from Audiologist.

In 5th grade, my family moved to different city which means different school district(rich district). So the school district told my family it will be best for me if they put me in Special Ed class because I can't hear well. So they put me in Special Ed section.

In 8th grade, I complained to my Special Ed teacher that I want to take regular math class instead doing same thing non geometry math in Special Ed class. So the teacher said it will be hard but I didn't care, I was tired of being called Special Ed student so she let me to try it out and it was hard for me to understand geometry at the beggining. Weeks later I started to do well that my math teacher was surprised and told Special Ed teacher I'm doing well.

In 11th grade, I qualified to do running start in college but my high school advisor recommend me not to because college is hard and I will have high chance to fail the class so I got scared and didn't want to try it out because I felt like I wasn't smart enough to be regular student.

After finishing two years of english classes(I never learned how to write essay in high school due to Special Ed) and three years of math classes, I'm one year away to graduate from university to get Bachelors of Science in Computer Science with 3.0GPA(average).


So if a person has disability but he/she can read, write, and listen, don't put them in Special ED. Special Ed teachers will give you easy school work but you will not learn anything new about history, science, math,etcs. It's only thing my parent and I regret.
 
You're about 62 yo too late for me, I was in the reject class and I know what you mean , I was given work way belong my grade so I could not help but 'pass' my class. Good for you in your success ,it's nice to hear of people that beat the system and proved people wrong about you .
 
I have to say, as a Special Education teacher, I am a little offended. I observe and assess my students every single day, record information, and do my very best to provide them work that is equivalent to their needs. I have no doubt that you had a bad experience in Special Ed--there are some poor programs out there--but our classes are not the "reject class". My kids are NOT rejects, they are amazing, differently abled people whose only goal is to become happy citizens--just like you. They are not our rejects--I put my heart and soul into helping my kids and often they are more successful than "gifted and talented" kids who can't even use a washing machine without help.

Your singular experience does not define tens of thousands of classrooms, not are ANY of our kids "rejects."

EDIT: Excuse my angry tone, but I LOVE my kids and it breaks my heart when people dismiss them with words like reject.
 
Puck said:
I have to say, as a Special Education teacher, I am a little offended. I observe and assess my students every single day, record information, and do my very best to provide them work that is equivalent to their needs. I have no doubt that you had a bad experience in Special Ed--there are some poor programs out there--but our classes are not the "reject class". My kids are NOT rejects, they are amazing, differently abled people whose only goal is to become happy citizens--just like you. They are not our rejects--I put my heart and soul into helping my kids and often they are more successful than "gifted and talented" kids who can't even use a washing machine without help.

Your singular experience does not define tens of thousands of classrooms, not are ANY of our kids "rejects."

EDIT: Excuse my angry tone, but I LOVE my kids and it breaks my heart when people dismiss them with words like reject.
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Why are you offended if we describe how we felt?

That doesn't make sense.

You see things from the opposite side of the big desk up front.
 
This really depends on the program. I will say that the view of special education student curriculum is conservative. However, this is not without reason. Many social factors impede the education of deaf or special needs students. It's not all about books and learning or even oral vs sign. How a student fits in socially with his/her peers factors in to how well that student learns as well. A regular environment is much harder environment in which to learn given the size of the group because deaf students need repetition and regular teachers don't have the time for repetition. Those students need to ask more questions and will not always hear what was said correctly in class. Because of this, special education is a better environment for those students.

From my own experience, it was better to learn in certain special education classes during my middle school years. The teachers at my school were exemplary and the program was very well run. When I got to high school, the special education classes were too low for me because the program was not as good. I was moved to regular classes.

So, I can tell you it depends on the program and the people running it. It also depends on whether a student has trust in the teachers and the program(this is in addition to the social pressures the student feels). If the student does not trust the teachers, the student won't learn from those teachers.

In the end, it doesn't matter how fast a student gets into the working world. What matters is whether that student is prepared for it.
 
Puck said:
I have to say, as a Special Education teacher, I am a little offended. I observe and assess my students every single day, record information, and do my very best to provide them work that is equivalent to their needs. I have no doubt that you had a bad experience in Special Ed--there are some poor programs out there--but our classes are not the "reject class". My kids are NOT rejects, they are amazing, differently abled people whose only goal is to become happy citizens--just like you. They are not our rejects--I put my heart and soul into helping my kids and often they are more successful than "gifted and talented" kids who can't even use a washing machine without help.

Your singular experience does not define tens of thousands of classrooms, not are ANY of our kids "rejects."

EDIT: Excuse my angry tone, but I LOVE my kids and it breaks my heart when people dismiss them with words like reject.
Click to expand...


"singular experience'" ??? You really need to do reading up on this , it was far from being an singular experience . I was the only one in my reject class in Jr high school to finish high school. I was 20 yo by the time I was done b/c I was held back b/c I miss the cut off age my birthday is in Dec. Then I had to stay back in school. A couple of the boys in my class dropped out of school and got a job in a gas station . I when to school in the 50's - 67 and any student in 'special Ed' was called a reject student . We had one burnt out teacher for all our subjects , she insulted us right in of the class.
She had one boy almost crying in class and I wanted to pound the shit out the teacher. She insulted me too but I was used to it living in house.
You're not reading my comment right . I said "I was in a reject class" , I am talking about what it was like in I was going to school. :roll:
 
Puck said:
I have to say, as a Special Education teacher, I am a little offended. I observe and assess my students every single day, record information, and do my very best to provide them work that is equivalent to their needs. I have no doubt that you had a bad experience in Special Ed--there are some poor programs out there--but our classes are not the "reject class". My kids are NOT rejects, they are amazing, differently abled people whose only goal is to become happy citizens--just like you. They are not our rejects--I put my heart and soul into helping my kids and often they are more successful than "gifted and talented" kids who can't even use a washing machine without help.

Your singular experience does not define tens of thousands of classrooms, not are ANY of our kids "rejects."

EDIT: Excuse my angry tone, but I LOVE my kids and it breaks my heart when people dismiss them with words like reject.
Click to expand...

Puck, get over it. It's not a personal jab at YOU. Yes, Special ed is GREAT for LD, ADD and most mentally disabled kids.... But it IS targeted towards kids who are SLOWER, and therefore it's watered down, and it also can be not exactly the Best Place in the World. Nobody's saying that they're "retards" or "can't learn" ...But educating dhh or other low incidence but can still learn on par with specialized accomondations kids, is VERY different from educating kids like your students.
 
BTW, I was ALSO lumped in with special ed and it was horrible. It was a dumping ground for kids whose only issue was that they were apathetic towards learning. There are great stories and great kids, who are learning skills etc....and I'm VERY happy that your special ed program is so good.....but maybe your program is the exception
 
deafdyke said:
BTW, I was ALSO lumped in with special ed and it was horrible. It was a dumping ground for kids whose only issue was that they were apathetic towards learning. There are great stories and great kids, who are learning skills etc....and I'm VERY happy that your special ed program is so good.....but maybe your program is the exception
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OMG ! I know just what you mean about a 'dumping ground' . I failed fifth grade and was dumped in a the 'dumping ground' in a small school and each student in my class had a difference kind of LD. There was one other girl that HOH , a boy that no attention span . He would get under the teacher desk everyday and 'report' what color her underpants where .:roll:
We had one that has an IQ of an ice cube and few other kids . I was bored to tears and goof off a lot . It was a waste taxpayer money and of some students time , they could had been learning something in a regular class .
Damn I got ripped off horribly by put in the reject class. I had a 'B' average
in college, I did not belong in a dumping grounding.
 
vadik24 said:
Here is my story:

When I was 8 years old, my family and I moved to America to have better education and better life. I have trouble hearing to not able to hear car incoming, bird chirping but can hear anyone who is near me so I got a hearing aid from Audiologist.

In 5th grade, my family moved to different city which means different school district(rich district). So the school district told my family it will be best for me if they put me in Special Ed class because I can't hear well. So they put me in Special Ed section.

In 8th grade, I complained to my Special Ed teacher that I want to take regular math class instead doing same thing non geometry math in Special Ed class. So the teacher said it will be hard but I didn't care, I was tired of being called Special Ed student so she let me to try it out and it was hard for me to understand geometry at the beggining. Weeks later I started to do well that my math teacher was surprised and told Special Ed teacher I'm doing well.

In 11th grade, I qualified to do running start in college but my high school advisor recommend me not to because college is hard and I will have high chance to fail the class so I got scared and didn't want to try it out because I felt like I wasn't smart enough to be regular student.

After finishing two years of english classes(I never learned how to write essay in high school due to Special Ed) and three years of math classes, I'm one year away to graduate from university to get Bachelors of Science in Computer Science with 3.0GPA(average).


So if a person has disability but he/she can read, write, and listen, don't put them in Special ED. Special Ed teachers will give you easy school work but you will not learn anything new about history, science, math,etcs. It's only thing my parent and I regret.
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like^^^
 
I really am not taking it personally, or even trying to defend my specific class. I am trying to show how cruel and hurtful your words are to kids in special Ed. You guys do realize when you say "dumping ground" that it implies all the other kids in the program are trash? And maybe no one said "retard," but someone did say "rejects." No, special Ed is not the place for 99.9% of Deaf kids, but your words in these posts dehumanize every child that those programs are designed for, even though I know it is not intentional. Those kids are not trash or rejects, they are human beings with abilities a little different from yours or mine who learn in a different way.

How would you feel if they put a hearing person in a deaf class and then that person went out and told everyone he had been stuck in the dumping grounds with the rejects? Not very good, I bet. On fact, I bet you would be furious, with good cause. That is exactly how my kids feel when they hear stuff like you are saying. It may not be purposely ill-intentioned, but people aren't usually purposely ill-intentioned toward the Deaf when they say hurtful things, either. It is only fair we give to others the same thoughtfulness and dignity we expect for ourselves.

I understand that many of you were placed in special Ed and did not belong there--a horrible flaw in the system and the main reason I am learning ASL. The bureaucracy is a mess, the school districts are a mess, and most people have no clue when it comes to anyone different from them in even the slightest way. I feel your pain, I feel it even more so for the actual kids who come into my classroom years behind due to some physical difference that has nothing to do with intellect, but all I ask is that you make an attempt to aim your words at the people who deserve it--the legislation, the district, the diagnostician, and even me-- the teacher. But use words to say what fools THEY were, not words that imply that kids who are not on the same level as you intellectually are somehow the trash no one wants . Honestly, my special needs kids give me hope in life as they overcome every obstacle some idiot doctor has placed in front of them, living long beyond their expected years and leading happy, healthy lives.
 
Puck said:
I really am not taking it personally, or even trying to defend my specific class. I am trying to show how cruel and hurtful your words are to kids in special Ed. You guys do realize when you say "dumping ground" that it implies all the other kids in the program are trash? And maybe no one said "retard," but someone did say "rejects." No, special Ed is not the place for 99.9% of Deaf kids, but your words in these posts dehumanize every child that those programs are designed for, even though I know it is not intentional. Those kids are not trash or rejects, they are human beings with abilities a little different from yours or mine who learn in a different way.

How would you feel if they put a hearing person in a deaf class and then that person went out and told everyone he had been stuck in the dumping grounds with the rejects? Not very good, I bet. On fact, I bet you would be furious, with good cause. That is exactly how my kids feel when they hear stuff like you are saying. It may not be purposely ill-intentioned, but people aren't usually purposely ill-intentioned toward the Deaf when they say hurtful things, either. It is only fair we give to others the same thoughtfulness and dignity we expect for ourselves.

I understand that many of you were placed in special Ed and did not belong there--a horrible flaw in the system and the main reason I am learning ASL. The bureaucracy is a mess, the school districts are a mess, and most people have no clue when it comes to anyone different from them in even the slightest way. I feel your pain, I feel it even more so for the actual kids who come into my classroom years behind due to some physical difference that has nothing to do with intellect, but all I ask is that you make an attempt to aim your words at the people who deserve it--the legislation, the district, the diagnostician, and even me-- the teacher. But use words to say what fools THEY were, not words that imply that kids who are not on the same level as you intellectually are somehow the trash no one wants . Honestly, my special needs kids give me hope in life as they overcome every obstacle some idiot doctor has placed in front of them, living long beyond their expected years and leading happy, healthy lives.
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But this is a site for deaf people.

Maybe you don't like knowing how we feel, but it is where we express a lot of our lifelong frustrations.

It would be inconsiderate if we went out of our way to go to a site specifically for special education students, and said how we felt about it, but this is our site.
 
Okay, I can accept that. I don't really feel there should be any publicly viewable area where people disdain (albeit unintentionally) other people, but I understand that it's like a living room to you, where you can fully express yourself. If that is how you feel, so be it, but I really hope that, deep down, you don't really think those other kids are trash and that it's just frustration from the painful times you went through--because I promise you if you go to a Miracle League game you will come away with enormous respect for them. It's just hard for me to read because I have so much love for a group if kids who are often loved by no one else, not even their parents, and sometimes I feel like the Mom needing to defend her babies.
 
And note that I do agree: DON'T let your school put you in Special Ed if you are perfectly capable of regular academics, as most Deaf are. That is not the purpose of Special Ed.
 
Bottesini said:
But this is a site for deaf people.

Maybe you don't like knowing how we feel, but it is where we express a lot of our lifelong frustrations.

It would be inconsiderate if we went out of our way to go to a site specifically for special education students, and said how we felt about it, but this is our site.
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Facebook-Like-Button.jpg
 
Puck said:
Okay, I can accept that. I don't really feel there should be any publicly viewable area where people disdain (albeit unintentionally) other people, but I understand that it's like a living room to you, where you can fully express yourself. If that is how you feel, so be it, but I really hope that, deep down, you don't really think those other kids are trash and that it's just frustration from the painful times you went through--because I promise you if you go to a Miracle League game you will come away with enormous respect for them. It's just hard for me to read because I have so much love for a group if kids who are often loved by no one else, not even their parents, and sometimes I feel like the Mom needing to defend her babies.
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We never called any kids trash , we're saying when we went to school the school treated 'us' as trash and rejects . And I feel kids that do have LD should know what it was like in the 40's, 50's &60's maybe this give them more drive to prove to the world people with LD are able to support themselves and be a part of society instead of being dumped in a back room with a burnt out teacher . This is apart of our history and past , you wouldn't tell Blacks kids not to talk about it was like being Black in the 40's so please do not tell us to stop talking about our history of growing up deaf or hoh.
 
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That's true, and I never meant that you should stop talking about it. I forget sometimes that many people are referencing time periods where things were very different than they are today, so I apologize for that. I was taking this thread with the image of the current day system (which still sucks but at least is a LITTLE more equitable than it was in the past) when, you are correct, in the past anyone different was just thrown out like trash and forgotten there. I apologize for not thinking of it in those terms-if I had then I would not have been offended at all. One of the downsides of being relatively young--I don't remember the times when there was absolutely NO effort to help people not considered the societal norm and it is hard for me to imagine--just like it is hard for me to imagine how black people were treated in the past because while I see racism, I don't see the kind of terrible racism that my mother and grandmother tell me about.
 
Special Ed is getting is budget cut in a lot schools today , it's one of the first thing to get cut in schools .


http://www.special-education-degree.net/budget-cuts/


When I was in my second year of high school I was called to the principal office and both my parents where there too. My parents never told there was going be a meeting so I was shocked. The principal asked me if I remembered a girl from special ED class , he said she was cleaning toilet bowels and 'very happy'. This was the girl that had an IQ of an ice cube.
The principal asked me if I would like to do that too. My dad was agreeing with the asshole and my mom said nothing. I told the SOB "No, I would not that I wanted to finish school!" The principal then told me that I was wasting his time the teachers time and taxpayers money and to get out of school! I wish I had told him you know what.
This is what it was like in the 60's if you where hoh or deaf or had LD and if where hoh and had LD like me you where really a 'reject' student .
 
Puck said:
I have to say, as a Special Education teacher, I am a little offended. I observe and assess my students every single day, record information, and do my very best to provide them work that is equivalent to their needs. I have no doubt that you had a bad experience in Special Ed--there are some poor programs out there--but our classes are not the "reject class". My kids are NOT rejects, they are amazing, differently abled people whose only goal is to become happy citizens--just like you. They are not our rejects--I put my heart and soul into helping my kids and often they are more successful than "gifted and talented" kids who can't even use a washing machine without help.

Your singular experience does not define tens of thousands of classrooms, not are ANY of our kids "rejects."

EDIT: Excuse my angry tone, but I LOVE my kids and it breaks my heart when people dismiss them with words like reject.
Click to expand...

May I ask you what do you do to teach deaf children in your classroom? You did not mentioned any kind of accommodations like teaching them to sign ASL and having ASL interpreters, even if you are signing ASL. Would the kids be happy if you do teach them by signing ASL to them? Are you using close captioned or subtitles for them to learn video subjects or topics on what you need to teach them? How about regular hearing classroom, are they getting accommodations with ASL interpreters and close captioned video subjects including notetakers? Were they able to participate to ask or debate in the hearing classrooms?

I did not have those back when I was in the mainstream elementary and high schools. We (deaf students and myself in Special Education) were pretty much without accommodations at all. We were mostly in Oral-only programs. We struggled very badly and had asked principal for us to learn ASL and then have ASL interpreters but the principal said no because he thought that we can get along by lipreading which meant he does not know that we are having problem with sounds that don't make lipreading accurate at all. We only can make out by guessing and pick up some words when we lipread hearing students and teachers. That is something you have to understand our frustrations that we are not getting the accommodations. We are the one who are wasting our times trying to learn what we could not get them at all.

So tell me if Special Education had improved in 21st Century instead of 20th Century. If Special Education remain the same back in the 20th Century, then it is still very much hated in Special Education.

I have spoken my post. :(
 
whatdidyousay! said:
We never called any kids trash , we're saying when we went to school the school treated 'us' as trash and rejects . And I feel kids that do have LD should know what it was like in the 40's, 50's &60's maybe this give them more drive to prove to the world people with LD are able to support themselves and be a part of society instead of being dumped in a back room with a burnt out teacher . This is apart of our history and past , you wouldn't tell Blacks kids not to talk about it was like being Black in the 40's so please do not tell us to stop talking about our history of growing up deaf or hoh.
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EXACTLY!!!!!!! They treated...heck they STILL treat us like trash and rejects. If you're not a minimal accomondations superstar, you get lumped in with the special ed kids and told you're not going to college or achieve anything.
 
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