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You remind me of my hearing English teacher at MSSD. He's very much like you.
Why/how is deafness a fad?!
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You remind me of my hearing English teacher at MSSD. He's very much like you.
flip, I was saying about the ORAL SCHOOLS not ones that use ASL. Back even ten years ago, the oral schools were actual schools. Meaning they weren't just EI programs. Like the big three boarding schools had an active enrollment. Oral kids would transfer from the mainstream to Clarke/CID/St. Josephs, and would board in the dorms. CID and St. Joseph's closed their dorms a few years ago, so they are now serving either kids whose families move to St. Louis or kids who are transfers from the mainstream (not a lot b/c St. Louis has a very good deaf ed program) or kids who are served by early intervention, and still need a primary program. Clarke is the only boarding oral deaf school, and it's down to less then ten boarders. Now when oral kids have difficulty, they transfer to the state deaf school, instead of Clarke. Do you understand now?
Understand now, thanks for explaination!
But the thing is that the public oral programs are booming. But the good news is that if an oral kid is struggling they are sent to the state deaf school, instead of attending CID/Clarke/St. Joseph's as happened in the past. I just wish the oralists would get it through their head that mainstreaming is NOT innovative at ALL any more. Like it almost seems like the oralists and the inclusionists are the same people now. I do almost think that if Clarke had a high school program, it would be BOOMING. I bet you anything there are TONS of parents of mainstreamed oral dhh kids who wish there was school or program for them. Like I'm not all " rah rah rah GOOOOOOOOOOO oral" but at least a formal/private oral program is a lot better then solotaire mainstreaming it. I do think the best idea is going to a signing Deaf school. But there are SOME kids who may not cotton to ASL. Like they may be HOH but in an area that sucks for accomodnations etc.
Doubt oral schools can do a comeback, because of the glaring disapointing results for a whole century. Instead of oral schools, deaf school with voice tutoring as one of several choices is a more realistic option nowdays.
This is also what we see some places now. Funny is, this is how they did it before the 50s many places in europe. Don't mean to stigmatise hearing people, but giving them the power to rule schools isn't the most wise thing deaf people have done.
Bebonang
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That WOULD explain a lot. I didn't really think about that.
I don't mind hearing people becoming interested in deaf issues and culture, for the record. What bothers me is when it's a fad - in other words, they only become interested in it for a time then move on without investing anything "real" into it. THAT is what I don't understand. How is that in their minds, deafness is "cool" or "trendy"?
The Native Americans kind of deal with this a lot. There is a ton of cultural appropriation going on that is really disrespectful to their culture, and several of them hate it. There is a blog I follow, the name of it is "my culture is not a trend" on this very subject - what an apt name for this issue of deafness as a fad, too.
Anyway the issue that Native Americans have, if I understand correctly, is that they were oppressed by white people for so long, and had so much of their culture stamped out, taken away, or even made illegal, and were forced to become "more like white man". Now after all that has gone on, white man is starting to see Native American things as trendy, wearing Native American themed clothing, decorating their houses, giving themselves fake Native names, dressing up as a Native for halloween, even trying to take on the Native religion for themselves... the list goes on and on... and the Native Americans do not appreciate it because it is unfair (not to mention stupid). They are just being used and abused all over again. Which is totally understandable.
It's not just about the fact that people who do not belong to their culture are using their culture to improve their own, but that those same people at one point in the past persecuted them for the very things they are now idealizing.
I can't help but think that a very similar thing is going on with Deaf culture. And it's made worse that when it happens, it's only temporary, so then we feel they simply used us rather than actually educating themselves and others and learning about us with the goal of respecting us and our culture.
If the white people are fascinated over the idea of romantic Indian (Native) Culture, then that is what happened in Europe where there were white people living in small village of their own. They also dressed like we used to what they think we dressed in the old days. They tried to copied beating the drums and trying to sing the "traditional" songs. I watched that on the program years ago. The traditional man and his few native friends went over to Europe to see what the white people have done to themselves. They were a little bit disturbed by that. The white people tried to be like us. :roll:
But back in North America, we are still being discriminated no matter how we want to express our concerns for our people to have a better life, better education and better housing to the government and society.
It is still the same with Deaf Culture because most of the hearing people in the society don't understand how important being deaf is a lot better than being hearing and we are used to it. Hearing people want to change our deafness to hearing normally. Once you lose hearing, you can never bring the hearing back the way it was before. With the help of hearing aids or CIs, it still does not make it better to hear clearly at all. The hearing aid tools are just to help us hear noises, but not to pick up the words or sounds clearly. No hearing person can not make us be hearing like they are.
Agreed. Agreed 100%. I do think it's sad that the private oral schools are pretty much dead as schools. On the other hand, at least it's good that kids don't need 8 years of oral only before being mainstreamed...but still.....I think that the pro mainstreamers do not understand the HUGE downsides of mainstreaming. But yeah, now that kids don't need years and years to learn speech, Deaf schools can improve their speech offerings and raise dhh kids BILINGALLY, with both English and ASL!