So those who didn't get a college degree are the ones whose reading/writing skills r weak?
From my personal experience, it didnt matter..it depended on the individual's desire. My best friend who is deaf, and another deaf guy and I grew up together in oral only prgrams without ever being exposed to ASL. My best friend was placed 1 grade above us even though we were all the same age cuz she was performing better than us. Well, I was the only one out of the 3 who got college degrees. Both of them r married...the guy is working for his dad and my best friend is a homemaker..she has never held a job for long.
My brother has a college degree and is currently studying for his master's despite not being able to pick up on oral language and having to learn ASL at the age of 5. He struggled with his English skills but took action while at Gallaudet and started taking extra classes to improve his writing skills. They aren't perfect but a whole lot better than when he graduated from high school. However, he grew up learning more advanced concepts in literacy and math than I did. I got by barely with classes like math, science, and, yes, English cuz I missed out on what was being discussed in class due to my inability to understand everything being said. I just did whatever I could to get by so I could graduate..I felt I never really learned much. I was so niave about how things worked in the world upon graduation as opposed to my brother who knew about debt, being independent, and how to apply for different jobs when he graduated. I think my brother, despite his weak English skills, had more knowledge than I did growing up. He was involved in different clubs like the student council, dramatics and sports while I was only involved with softball. I tried joining a club but everyone talked too fast and I couldn't understand what they were saying so I was left out a lot despite my attempts to stay involved so it turned me off. That's why I wish I knew sign language growing up ..at least I would have an interpreter there but because I didn't know sign language so there was no point of hiring a terp for me or at least what was what the schools said. I believed that I didn't need one but looking back I didn't know shit.
I felt my teachers never really took the time to interact with me..they seemed impatient with me cuz I was always asking them to repeat themselves. My brother told me that he felt bonded with many of his teachers at the deaf school.
Oh well..at least I got to experience real learning when I went to Gallaudet. I don't care how many people here say how shitty Gallaudet is..I just remember a hell a lot more about what I learned in my classes than what I learned at Arizona State. At ASU, I was doing whatever to get by cuz I couldn't understand the oral terps and I was just learning ASL. By the time I was fluent in it enough to get an ASL terp, I was in my last semseter at ASU.
It's related to a few things: reading/writing skills, 'deaf psychosis', and ignorance.
What's up with 'deaf psychosis'? Well, there were some guys who felt that they didn't need to depend on hearing people to employ them and preferred to work with only deaf people or a bunch of deaf people. These guys managed to find a job at one company where they all got to work together in one department. After a few years, most (or all) of them were fired from their jobs due to a few things. They were always... on their pagers, talking to each other, giving hearing co-workers a hard time, etc. One of them got his girlfriend pregnant. They later broke up. He got his next girlfriend pregnant. He's still jobless. Another got his girlfriend pregnant and both were forced to get married (family values). He now is an overnight stocker. Another got married, but divorced months later. He got his next girlfriend pregnant... I think twice. Another one finally got his AAS degree... 13 years later.
Oh, reading and writing skills? Many did manage to get into college, but they gave up or were kicked out because they sucked badly or took too long. One came to NTID and failed so many classes that his VR cut support. He left and went to community college. He came back to NTID a couple years later, fucked up again... and left. Oh yeah, let's not forget the guy who took 13 years to get his AAS degree... cuz he struggled with his reading and writing. One guy graduated from my high school with a reading, writing, and math level that was so fucking horrible that it makes elementary school kids look smarter. The deaf department convinced the school to modify his failing grades (to C's) so that he could move on to the next grade. After graduating, he ended up living with his parents and doing 'maintenance engineering' work for his parents.
What about ignorance? One gal came to RIT and seemed to be doing fine at first. She then considered herself to be 'above' the inferior deaf students that she only hung out with a few people that she knew she could control and manipulate. She manipulated one gal to be her roommate while she cheats her. She managed to be girlfriend to a guy who was one of those 'inferior deafies' knowing that she could have sex with other guys without him knowing. Even though he found out, she didn't care cuz he was too lovesick for her. While she was at RIT, she got pregnant then an abortion... then left school. She came back, then left again. Another gal came to RIT, but decided to be 'cool' by drinking and getting stoned. She got pregnant and left school. She broke up with her boyfriend and married her next boyfriend. She still has no college degree.
Your brother kept going. He improved. That's good for him. I know one deaf gal who got an AAS, a BS, and a MS degree all from NTID/RIT. Now, she's a teacher.
Math, Reading, and Writing are the 3 key things that most colleges expect us to do well at before doing anything else. Some people do manage to get by without them, but that's a rarity. Like I said, ignorance is part of some of the problems. They may suck at reading/writing, but they could have at least tried to work harder instead of just giving up and doing other stupid things like getting drunk/stoned and getting pregnant.
Yes, teachers are also important. That was also part of the problem in my mainstream school. Almost all of my mainstream teachers were positive with us. All (except 2) of the deaf education teachers were real pricks and cruel to the deaf students. Then, they let them pass to the next grade as if they don't care. When I talked to them and asked them why they don't let the deaf students learn real English, they told me that it's because those students are deaf and need to be treated like children.
That's why the world is fucked up with teachers being pricks and deaf people being lazy and ignorant.
Never mind. You still don't get it!
to metamantis with how good that reply was!!
