Oral Deaf Education Schools of today

[jag]

Granted this stage of a child's life whether the child is hearing or deaf is rough. It just becomes harder when the child is different from his/her peers so that is why I prefer that deaf children be mainstreamed with other deaf children their ages or go to a deaf school. It is not fun being the only deaf child out of the whole school and have kids on that child's case daily just because the child cant hear. That is what happened to me and in some cases, physical attackes occurred. Heck, I had to change one class cuz a group of girls were harrassing me to the point where I would get anxiety-like shakes just before that class. The school didnt do shit about those girls and just moved me to another class. NEVER in a MILLION years I would repeat that stage of my life. It was a living hell daily..from 6th grade to 9th grade were my worst years. If I had to repeat them, I would ask for deaf classmates or go to a deaf school.

Actually my oldest daughter is the one who had alot of problems not daughter no. 3 who got HA's in 4th grade and wore them that year and then lost them in 5th grade and didn't get new ones til 7th grade when it was necessary to move to different teachers for different classes. DD no. 3 had no problems with integrating into her class, she had friends and enjoyed not having to put up with listening to a speicific teacher yell at the class when one of the guys smarted off one time to many. HA's do have advantages. She had a moderate reverse slow bi lateral loss....is that enough of a loss for you? She's married and has a child and while she enjoyed taking ASL in college and enjoyed interacting with a deaf peer with an interpeter in tech. college she has never had a hugh need to seek out hoh/deaf individuals to find her identity.

Now the older child had classmates who put her through hell. She just evidently wasn't 'cool' enough for them. In 5th and 6th grade the thing the 'popular ' clic of girls did to themselves was oust one of them every few weeks. Everyone in that group got a turn at being a non popular person. One of the retired teachers in the hs said that my oldest daughters class was the worst bunch of girls that way that she had ever seen in her 40 yrs of teaching. and she'd seen lots of different clics in those years.


In conclusion my hoh child had NO NEED from a social stand point to be placed in a deaf school because of being different. My older daughter could have used a different school at one time from the socialization standpoint, but that wasn't an option.

 

[shel90]

Actually my oldest daughter is the one who had alot of problems not daughter no. 3 who got HA's in 4th grade and wore them that year and then lost them in 5th grade and didn't get new ones til 7th grade when it was necessary to move to different teachers for different classes. DD no. 3 had no problems with integrating into her class, she had friends and enjoyed not having to put up with listening to a speicific teacher yell at the class when one of the guys smarted off one time to many. HA's do have advantages. She had a moderate reverse slow bi lateral loss....is that enough of a loss for you? She's married and has a child and while she enjoyed taking ASL in college and enjoyed interacting with a deaf peer with an interpeter in tech. college she has never had a hugh need to seek out hoh/deaf individuals to find her identity.

Now the older child had classmates who put her through hell. She just evidently wasn't 'cool' enough for them. In 5th and 6th grade the thing the 'popular ' clic of girls did to themselves was oust one of them every few weeks. Everyone in that group got a turn at being a non popular person. One of the retired teachers in the hs said that my oldest daughters class was the worst bunch of girls that way that she had ever seen in her 40 yrs of teaching. and she'd seen lots of different clics in those years.


In conclusion my hoh child had NO NEED from a social stand point to be placed in a deaf school because of being different. My older daughter could have used a different school at one time from the socialization standpoint, but that wasn't an option.

Then I am happy for your daughter who doesnt need deaf/HOH individuals. I have met so many other deaf people who grew up like me wishing they had someone to relate to and now I am seeing students being referred to my school because things didnt work out well for them in the mainstreamed program. I know there are cases where a deaf/hoh child doesnt need ASL, deaf friends or deaf culture but I want parents to be aware and to keep a heads up for any of those issues just in case if your child or other deaf children become withdrawn, depressed, or angry.

 

[deafdyke]

jag, maybe a part of the reason why your daughter didn't do too badly is b/c she was relatively late deafened. She probaly didn't have the pragmatic language difficulties that a lot of other dhh kids had. But social issues are very common even for the high powered high acheiver types.
It's awesome that she didn't need that stuff......but you know...I really think that around fifth or sixth grade the state school for that particular disabilty, should evaluate and test the kid, just to make sure they don't fall through the cracks. I mean there are probaly a lot of kids out there who aren't being properly served b/c they're getting services from someone who has no idear how to educate or teach a dhh kid or kid with other disablities.

 

[rick48]

Granted this stage of a child's life whether the child is hearing or deaf is rough. It just becomes harder when the child is different from his/her peers so that is why I prefer that deaf children be mainstreamed with other deaf children their ages or go to a deaf school. It is not fun being the only deaf child out of the whole school and have kids on that child's case daily just because the child cant hear. That is what happened to me and in some cases, physical attackes occurred. Heck, I had to change one class cuz a group of girls were harrassing me to the point where I would get anxiety-like shakes just before that class. The school didnt do shit about those girls and just moved me to another class. NEVER in a MILLION years I would repeat that stage of my life. It was a living hell daily..from 6th grade to 9th grade were my worst years. If I had to repeat them, I would ask for deaf classmates or go to a deaf school.

I appreciate your sharing your experiences, but that is exactly what they are:your experiences. They are the complete opposite of my daughter's HS and JHS experiences. Each child is different and I think one has to be careful of presenting one's unique experiences as the norm. For my deaf daughter, having her transfer to a deaf school would have been a huge mistake, however for my younger hearing daughter, she chose to transfer to a private school because that was what was best for her.

For both my kids, their circle of friends extends beyond their school. For my deaf daughter, during HS she was friends with many other deaf kids because we involved her in the oral deaf community, for my hearing daughter, she is friends with other kids because of her involvement in sports.

There is no one way to raise any child!
Rick

 

[shel90]

I appreciate your sharing your experiences, but that is exactly what they are:your experiences. They are the complete opposite of my daughter's HS and JHS experiences. Each child is different and I think one has to be careful of presenting one's unique experiences as the norm. For my deaf daughter, having her transfer to a deaf school would have been a huge mistake, however for my younger hearing daughter, she chose to transfer to a private school because that was what was best for her.

For both my kids, their circle of friends extends beyond their school. For my deaf daughter, during HS she was friends with many other deaf kids because we involved her in the oral deaf community, for my hearing daughter, she is friends with other kids because of her involvement in sports.

There is no one way to raise any child!
Rick

U mentioned that your daughter was involved in the oral deaf community. Lucky for her to have that. With me, I only knew one other deaf girl in my high school so maybe that is why I struggled with the feeling of wanting to fit in. If I was involved with the oral deaf community, maybe things would be different. Who knows?

 

[deafdyke]

Rick.....you're lucky. Most places don't really have a significent young oral deaf population, or even a lot of dhh people in general. You don't realize how good you had it in terms of resources. Especially since most "deaf" resources are targeted towards Deaf people or people who use ASL/SEE.
I don't think that all dhh kids should automaticly go to a deaf school.....BUT, I do think that it's better to initially do a split placement sort of dealie, in terms of education. Very few public schools really have the resources to teach kids with classic disabilities. Most of their sped experiance tends to be with either kids with learning disabilites, or those dumbass slacker types who tend to really clog up special ed. I'm still really pissed at the fact that I was lumped in with the dumbasses. It really inhibited my acheivement in things. B/c I wasn't properly taught or given the proper services, I had to work harder at simple stuff. Like when I finally got to college, and FINALLY got proper services, I made DEAN'S LIST! You have to admit that the education that most public schools provide is targeted towards that mythical Average learner.......hey even GIFTED kids have difficulties acheiveing in public schools.

 

[shel90]

Rick.....you're lucky. Most places don't really have a significent young oral deaf population, or even a lot of dhh people in general. You don't realize how good you had it in terms of resources. Especially since most "deaf" resources are targeted towards Deaf people or people who use ASL/SEE.
I don't think that all dhh kids should automaticly go to a deaf school.....BUT, I do think that it's better to initially do a split placement sort of dealie, in terms of education. Very few public schools really have the resources to teach kids with classic disabilities. Most of their sped experiance tends to be with either kids with learning disabilites, or those dumbass slacker types who tend to really clog up special ed. I'm still really pissed at the fact that I was lumped in with the dumbasses. It really inhibited my acheivement in things. B/c I wasn't properly taught or given the proper services, I had to work harder at simple stuff. Like when I finally got to college, and FINALLY got proper services, I made DEAN'S LIST! You have to admit that the education that most public schools provide is targeted towards that mythical Average learner.......hey even GIFTED kids have difficulties acheiveing in public schools.

This just sparked a memory chord here...I just remembered that every summer during my elementary school years, I was put in a summer day camp with other children that have mental retardation or in a vegative state. I wasnt sent to the other camp where my classmates went cuz they didnt have the appropriate services for me. At first, I hated the camp and hated going to public places and have people laugh at me but I grew to love the other children at my camp and became protective of them when other kids made fun of them. Luckily, it turned out to be a positive experience for me after all.


I worked as a teacher aide for a deaf/hh program at a public school in Phx, and they lumped all 13 deaf kids ranging from kindergarden to 8th grade in one classroom separated from the school. I thought it was one of the worst oral programs I have ever seen in my life! All 13 kids had language arts class together and were taught the same lessons. How degrading is that for the older kids?

 

[R2D2]

This just sparked a memory chord here...I just remembered that every summer during my elementary school years, I was put in a summer day camp with other children that have mental retardation or in a vegative state. I wasnt sent to the other camp where my classmates went cuz they didnt have the appropriate services for me. At first, I hated the camp and hated going to public places and have people laugh at me but I grew to love the other children at my camp and became protective of them when other kids made fun of them. Luckily, it turned out to be a positive experience for me after all.


I worked as a teacher aide for a deaf/hh program at a public school in Phx, and they lumped all 13 deaf kids ranging from kindergarden to 8th grade in one classroom separated from the school. I thought it was one of the worst oral programs I have ever seen in my life! All 13 kids had language arts class together and were taught the same lessons. How degrading is that for the older kids?

Both examples are disgraceful.

 

[shel90]

Both examples are disgraceful.

Well...in a way I am glad the first one happened cuz I learned to be more compassionate and understanding towards individuals who have mental retardation but the reason for placing me there was disgraceful. That was 25 years ago so maybe things are different now.

Just thinking about that oral program at that one school district still makes me