Advice needed from Gallaudet students/ alumni

Hello everyone,
My name is Leighton and I was hoping to get some advice. I guess to tell a little about myself, I lost my hearing a little bit later in my life (13 1/2 years old). (Im 18 now btw). I have a baha attract system on the left side and a hearing aid on the right. I mainly rely on lip reading combined with the hearing I have to communicate. I grew up playing basketball and was really disappointed when I decided not to follow through with a scholarship offer to play at a D2 school in college. Because of my career goals, I began thinking about where to go to school after a year at jr. college. I really love DC and when I was researching colleges I came across Gallaudet. I have never identified as being a "deaf" person and I'm not sure how my family would feel about me going to a "deaf school", but I am interested in the possibility that I could play sports at Gallaudet while going to school. I guess my question is, would gallaudet be an ok option even for someone who has never experienced deaf culture before? also, are the academics there comparable to other schools in the area such as George Washington University or the College of William and Mary?
Thank you in advance for your advice and help!
-Leighton J.

Of course you can!!! lots of hoh or deaf kids who know none ASL and still involved in sports at gallaudet.

Frisky Feline said:

Of course you can!!! lots of hoh or deaf kids who know none ASL and still involved in sports at gallaudet.

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Thanks for replying so fast! What about academics? Would a degree from gallaudet be seen in the same way as other universities?

Ditto what Frisky said. I grew up mainstreamed with no idea about ASL/Deaf culture other than what I saw on tv or maybe read about. Some won't do well but for the most part many do. They have a NSP program-- "New Signers Program" during the summer (don't know if they do during other times...) which helps those new to signing learn and practice ASL.

As for academics... I don't know what it's like now. Some classes were... lacking when I was there so many years ago- their Honors English class had the exact same material as my "B track English (non Honors)" class in high school; others were definitely challenging and fun or frustrating to take lol.

Yes I would say a degree from Gallaudet would be seen the same way as any other college/university out there. I don't think many even notice WHERE the degree comes from anymore...years ago I know I've had people say they'd never heard of Gallaudet. Of course- that was right around when DPN happened.

I say look into it. They do have a great sports program too.

It is an accredited university so all the degrees obtained from Gallaudet are valid.

Frisky Feline said:

Of course you can!!! lots of hoh or deaf kids who know none ASL and still involved in sports at gallaudet.

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Yes! The old skool stereotype of Gally being full of hardcore Deaf kids (ie "monoglot" ASLers who K-12'd it in Deaf Schools) is very outdated.....Most are prelingally dhh....but that's b/c most dhh kids are prelingal dhh...I have known some postlingal/teen dhh kids who are really into the whole Deaf thing....it might be a lot of fun for you!

deafdyke said:

Yes! The old skool stereotype of Gally being full of hardcore Deaf kids (ie "monoglot" ASLers who K-12'd it in Deaf Schools) is very outdated.....Most are prelingally dhh....but that's b/c most dhh kids are prelingal dhh...I have known some postlingal/teen dhh kids who are really into the whole Deaf thing....it might be a lot of fun for you!

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Not all are solely ASL users true, some are oral, some use both but I believe that hardcore ASL is still very well and alive on the Gallaudet campus. I had a prior colleague who went there, hearing, now works in EI. Students are still required to take ASL and attain a certain level of fluency when they enroll in degree programs there. For some Master's and Doctoral level programs they require ASL fluency whether the applicant is Deaf, deaf, hard of hearing, or hearing. And in my certificate program using ASL was preferred during instruction and interaction. Written English message board answers to assignments and papers were accepted but they definitely took a backseat to ASL being a preference.