Oceanbreeze

Jillio,

I'll have to google that. I really do wish my parents had other options, but they didn't. They were told that if I was to be mainstreamed, I must go to my neighborhood school. They plucked me from one environment and planted me into another. I had no means to slowly integrate into the new environment. I am sure I was told that I was going to a new school, and I probably was excited at first, but once I got there, it was a nightmare. I wasn't prepared for it, and the other students weren't prepared for me. I was the only student in the school who was in a wheelchair, and they simply didn't know how to deal with it. It was hell.

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jillio

I'm sure it was hell. And its sad that we don't seem to consider these issues when we are mainstreaming children at an ever increasing rate.

Matilda

Then why aren't they ever listening to us deafies? ... it has gone on for SO long.

jillio

Paternalism and audism. And that damned concept of "cost effectiveness"!

Matilda

What's so bad about us deafies ... a too-hard basket?

jillio

According to the audists, what's so bad about deafies is that they aren't hearies. Sad, isn't it?

Matilda

Yes.

Bottesini

Very sad.

CrzyMeg

Nothing bad about deafness. Just hearing people telling us that.

Bottesini

This thread is about mainstream school. Not just being deaf. If mainstream programs are good for deaf people. I am old mainstreamed person. You?

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CrzyMeg

Yes. I am mainstream person this moment

RilianSharp

I met a person recently who was mainstreamed he has hearing aid but his language skills are quite poor and he is even having bad hearing with the hearing aids. He I met in ASL 1 class and he failed the class.

Jiro

really? lol. For me - deaf means you cannot hear 100% even with technological assistance (what about CI?) but you can for HOH. lol

Jiro

To answer your question, Meggie... Yes I think it's good idea to be on mainstream because we live in real world where it's hard enough to survive. We (the disabled people) need to learn how to get along with mainstream and to function with them. Yes it is hard enough when we're in schools that have ignorant people, bullies, or administrators who are not very helpful.

All my life - I was in public schools. I just graduated from state college as well. My parents fought constantly with school boards for accommodations. In my high school, the school didn't have enough budget for new accommodation since I don't know ASL. The secretary of NJ education department (actually I'm not exactly sure of his position but he's responsible for budget approval) was extremely gracious enough to come down to have a talk with me. Trenton (state capitol) is pretty far! After 5 min meeting, he approved the budget for my accommodation. Back in 90's, things were pretty difficult but it gets easier in 2000's. Most schools are very willing to provide you every accommodations they can without question. I've been to 4 different colleges for summer programs and each was able to provide accommodation immediately without question. Yes there are some you may encounter that are very unwilling or provide you mediocre service. You just gotta fight for it and demand it! Just look at my avatar and that's the game face you gotta put on to people who do not want to help you.

shel90

So u think mainstreaming is ok even it means putting a deaf childrebn in a very restrictive environment where they dont have equal access to the curriculm as their hearing counterparts do? At the Deaf schools, language is accessible to ALL deaf children at ALL times no matter where they are at in school. To me that makes for a rich linguistic environment for deaf children that they most likely wouldnt have gotten by being mainstreaming. I sure hell didnt! I grew up always getting the info way after my heairng peers did which put me at an automatic disadvantage and I was always trying to keep my head above waters. Instead of learning how to function "normally", I was labeled as socially delayed. Well, of course cuz I didnt have full access to everything so I had to learn after my hearing peers did. It really sucked cuz I am the kind of person who wants to have access to information independently not having to depend on hearing people for it.

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jillio

I'm glad that your experience was positive, but regarding the bolded statement: That is decidedly untrue, especially at the elementary level.

CrzyMeg

I didn't have accommodations because I was still learning sign language and to speak english at time. I was little late at my age to start to learn the language at age 3.

jillio

Yes, you were a little late, but that is not unusual for many deaf childen. I find it sad that you were not provided accommmodations. Even though you were just learnig sign, being exposed to aterp on a daily basis would have increased your fluency at a tremendous rate.

CrzyMeg

My parents thought I spoke very well. Very plainly. I teach volunteerly math and sign language at school and at church.

jillio

Speaking well doesn't necessarily mean getting access to the curriculm. Accessing the curriculum is a receptive activity. Speaking is not. That's where we make our biggest mistake. Assuming that a child who speaks well is also able to hear well.

Bebonang

I had been in mainstream all through the elementary school (1st grade to 6th grade) and then mainstreamed in high school(7th grade to 12 grade). Both of this schools sucked big time, I had to learn to use ear phone with the teacher talking into the microphone. No sign language allowed in both schools. No notetakers, either. During the mainstream elementary school and from 7th to 9th, I had to go into Gym classes with the hearing children. Then by 10th grade, I was mainstreamed with the hearing students all the way to 12th grade with no accommodations which I need very badly. I did not know how to sign the English sign language. I started to learn English sign language and ASL when I graduate from high school. I was 20 years old back then. It was a very difficult situation for me to go through not understanding what the teachers said and I was struggling as best as I could to make the grades. I was surprised and amazed to make it to graduation. I still have my high school diploma and just looking at it with the sad expression knowing that I probably would have fail at all the subjects in the regular class, because I could not understand a damn thing what the teachers said. Geeze.

CrzyMeg

No access? I didn't get much involve in deaf community that much.

Reba

That's awful!

jillio

I wasn't talking about access to the deaf community. I was talking about access to the classroom curriculum.

CrzyMeg

Oh. I have acces to classroom curriculum since 4th grade. It was fine. I am graduating on May 28 with regular diploma.

VamPyroX

That's right.

Even at RIT, I've seen hearing students who have bad writing skills. (I even had a professor ask me if my mom did my paper or helped me with my paper because my writing was better than the rest of the class. *groans*)

Nowadays, people have become to dependent on slangs... mobile communication... online communication... l33t speaking (talking with abnormal characters)... that it affects their writing skills. I remember reading an article about one public school who had problems with their students using too many AIM lingos in their papers about what they did over the summer. (BRB, GTG, LOL, etc)

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deafdyke

Vampy, it's also that most people don't really know how to articulate themselves through writing. A lot of them don't read, so they don't subconsciously learn how to construct sentances with appropreate grammar and syntax. They also don't know how to set up an essay or construct really good writing.

deafdyke

Oh and Oceanbreeze,
One thing that I think could help a lot with kids with mobilty issues, is a regional co-op mainstream school, that would in turn serve as a regional magnet program for kids with mobilty issues. I really think that a lot of them problem is that most mobilty affected kids are lumped in with regular special ed kids. Those of us who have more tradtional disabilties have needs which are completly different from just LD kids.
I mean when's the last time you heard about an LD kid being pulled out for OT/ST etc?

fivesolasjz

I experienced being in a public school and was onced called myself "regular" student in a majority of hearing children. I went to a school for the Deaf for several years before I enrolled nto a public school system. I was the only deaf student in entire system and I have my regerts in some ways. I missed out the fun-socialize life while I was kid and now I graduated from a hearing university and experienced the same way I have went through in school. I am blessed to learn the difference between the deaf way and the hearing way. Unfortunately, I do not support or would advocate mainstreaming programs in public school because of a large percent of the deaf students that graduated from public school tend to become very isolated and not funcation very well in the society; compare to the deaf residential graduates tend to be able to adapt in a different settings in their course of their life. Another thing I would want to emphasis this is that I am very concerned about the future of our deaf generation--where is new leadership within the deaf communties? There are so many veteran Deaf leaders now are retired and not active involve in our deaf communites. We need more Deaf leadership people who do have a strong sense of unity and desire to protect the deaf culture and the value of deaf core.

jillio

I'm sorry, Meggie, I don't remember if you said or not: did you have an interpreter with you in the classroom?