shel90

With the attitudes out there and even in some cases, people are demanding hearing teachers teach their children with CIs not the deaf teachers even if the languages being used are ASL and spoken English.

My question is...should deaf people now who are thinking about becoming teachers using ASL should even bother study for the field of Deaf education? Go thru 6 years of college only to find out that they cant teach deaf kids because of the demand for spoken language in the classroom?

What do u think? Shoud we just let hearing people take over Deaf ed again since it looks like it is leading towards that path with more and more children being implanted?

Should deaf people not run the risk of wasting their time and money going to college for a field that may discriminate against them in the future?

I am starting to feel a little bit of the discrimination ...not subtle but it is starting to happen.

Or just go for it and take the risks and prove these hearing people wrong?

The field of Deaf ed wasnt what I expected when I first applied ...all I wanted to teach all deaf children but only to end up battling the fight between ASL and Spoken English. That is not my passion..my passion is the children, not the political BS with the medical views.

It really brings me down sometimes cuz I feel like I am not good enough for deaf children anymore sometimes.

__________________
~Shel~

"A child educated only at school is an uneducated child." -George Santayana

Deafness

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ClearSky

I think that you can work with the current rather than against the current. Things will always evolve with technology, and I don't think that CI is going to stop any time. I think it's a good thing to educate yourself more about the CI, so that you can work with what you have with them.

Education doesn't always stop with a Deaf Education degree, so if you feel that you could use learning more in order to prepare for those children, then go ahead or change careers.

You will feel down if you work against it.

shel90

I dont want to work against it but I wont use spoken language in my classroom all day. I want to use ASL.

__________________
~Shel~

"A child educated only at school is an uneducated child." -George Santayana

ClearSky

You can do what you can now by focusing on your present students. It's just that we can't control the world because CI is coming into the picture. Proving other hearing people is working against the current in my opinion.

I think that the Deaf Education program needs to adapt some things to learn about the CI needs to make the degree useful in both ways because today deaf children are going to be in different environments.

shel90

I agree so the day ASL gets banned or discarded in the classrooms is the day I am quitting Deaf ed cuz I am not interested in going back to an oral-only environment all day struggling to communicate with my students. That wouldnt make for effective teaching. I really dont know what kind of jobs I would be good at other than teaching.

__________________
~Shel~

"A child educated only at school is an uneducated child." -George Santayana

lumbingmi

I know it isn't easy but if i were you, I would move and work at deaf residential school where ASL is strongly encouraged in the classroom. I am surprised that you have to fight against CI or spoken language considering the school where you re working at right now is one of elite deaf school. You must be working in elementary or middle school correct?
Two of my classmates who went to New Mexico School for the Deaf and Washington school for the deaf, they said these school forbid spoken language and ASL is the only language that is allowed to be taught to deaf children.

I think we need more deaf or pr0-deaf person to conduct research on Deaf Education. I was disappointed that many researches on Deaf Ed are from hearing researchers who have hidden agenda. Also, bi-bi philosophy is still new so it may take more years until parents and public to be finally accept ASL as supplement rather than being visible as threat to their deaf children's learning.

Btw, I think DeafBilingualCoalition.com - Home is starting out good but need more of parent involvements. Compare this with AGB, there are lot of parent involvements in AGB. So we need more parents involvements to help our cause for ASL to remain in the classroom.

__________________
Picard: Seize the time, Meribor, live now. Make now always the most precious time. Now will never come again.
Meribor: I love you, father.

lumbingmi

If you feel burn out from teaching k to 12, you could try teach at community college or going for your PhD and teach at university level.

__________________
Picard: Seize the time, Meribor, live now. Make now always the most precious time. Now will never come again.
Meribor: I love you, father.

ClearSky

That's what I thought. I don't know what to tell you, but I think focusing too much on what is hard to control is not going to make you feel better. Focus on what you can do now with your degree.

faire_jour

And remember, just because a hearing person implants their child, does not mean they do not value Deaf people or ASL. My daughter attends a bi-bi school and has had 7 teachers and aides in the last 3 years and only 1 has been hearing!

__________________
-Melissa Jensen

Mom to Miss Kat- 5, bilateral progressive loss, just became severe-profound (implanted 11-03-08 with a right side AB, activated 11-21-08)



http://misskatsmom.blogspot.com/

restless_heart

I do understand how you feel Shel. Don't quit. If you knew it will happen, maybe you can start looking for another school district where they only teachs ASL like lumbingmi said, you can always ask for transfer. If I were you, I would not give up my career and have no choice but to move to another school district, even it mean out of state... I know that really sucks...

I remember back then in the 70's we must speak without using sign language. I remember how difficult that was until I was 9 years old to learn SEE. We were able to commuciate smoothly with sign language (SEE or ASL doesn't matter, just an example.) because read lipery is very difficult. We cannot always understand while read lipery. As for me as a child for an example, I was taught oral...they seem to forget just say if your hearing batteries or CI batteries died, you are not able to hear...in some case, you do have to hear to read lipery...how will the deaf children understand oral if they cannot hear. Deaf children seems comfortable with ASL because oral reading can be so tiring at times. They seems to forget sometimes that some deaf children do need to hear while oral reading...I hope you will understand what I mean...Some people do get it or some people don't...same for ASL language...

Are you saying that we are going back to that phrase again, that deaf children must learn to speak and not allowed ASL or any sign language in the classroom? That BS!!! You are right Shel, I rather think of the children first and feel what was right. I would just say Hell with it and move to another school district or ask for transfer...but...the future, if all ASL are banned...that is gonna sucks big time, I guess we have to find another career...

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Never Give Up: My Stroke, My Recovery & My return to NFL...by Tedy Bruschi

shel90

I am not burnt out...it is in the classroom with those kids that I am the happiest.

I am burnt out from all the talk, mostly IRL, about the demand for oral-only Deaf education,the demand for hearing teachers to teach their kids, and the negativity against ASL.

That is not want I want to deal with when I became a teacher. I just want to work with the kids, that's all.

__________________
~Shel~

"A child educated only at school is an uneducated child." -George Santayana

shel90

That's why I do, but kinda hard when we get called to meetings with the audis, have CI consultants, or parents coming to our program bombarding oral-only in our faces year after year. And of course, in the back my head, I have that fear that I and many other deaf staff will be pushed out of Deaf ed in the near future.

__________________
~Shel~

"A child educated only at school is an uneducated child." -George Santayana

shel90

From the way things are sounding, that seems to be the agenda especially those who support AVT. In another forum and a blog, one mother of an implanted girl wants to do away with deaf schools and signing programs. Makes me sick.

__________________
~Shel~

"A child educated only at school is an uneducated child." -George Santayana

jillio

Shel, I understand exactly where you are coming from. It is the students that we are there for. It is the students that are our main concern. It is the needs of the student that keeps us going.
And our hearts break when we see students suffering because adminstration and parents find it acceptable to spend 50,000 dollars on an implant that may or may not work, but refuse to spend 50 dollars on a sign language dictionary that has been shown, time and time again to provide the benefits of bilingualism for a deaf child.

Buffalo

I am with you on more researching and we Deaf adults should do something about it.

__________________

It isn't that they can't see the solution. It is that they can't see the problem.
- Gilbert Chesterton

Byrdie714

Ugh!

Milan Conference revisited again?

ClearSky

Why would parents with CI children or parents who want oral education want to take their children to a deaf school where oral education isn't the primary focus?

It also makes me wonder of their commitment at home to the oral approach with their children.

The best option for their children is to open up a resource room program in a public school for those children who wants the oral education.

I had to go to another school district for a hearing impaired resource program that also mainstreamed in the classes we were doing well.

Unless the deaf school is for oral education or have a strong emphasis to guide children in that direction, then they shouldn't be bothering in deaf schools where ASL is strongly used or wanted.

jillio

Oftentimes, Clearsky, these chidlren fall behind with the services provided in the public school system, and then, when they no longwer know what to do, the public school refers to the deaf school. The parents at that point are often unwilling to let go of the oral approach.

Cheri

Cochlear implant children need spoken communication, If you refused to meet their needs then why are you complaining about the parents wanting a hearing teacher and not a deaf teacher when you refuse to use spoken language in your class room all day?

shel90

I have explained this to u several times...

There is a time and place for spoken English and that's one on one basis and I have no problem with that but for a whole class instruction spoken English is not fully accessible to these kids and the parensts are demanding a hearing teacher all day for BOTH asl and spoken English. Get it?

Concepts shud be taught using the language that is fully accessible to ALLLL children regardless of their hearing loss and those who benefit from spoken language do it in small group or one on one situations with the lessons.

That's how our program is set up and parents like that but with the exception of preferring hearing teachers over deaf teachers. That is where my venting comes from.

I don't mind using spoken English in those small groups but not all day..the key word is "all day". And since I don't mind, why am I not good enough to do the job? Is it cuz I am deaf? Since u r the expert, why don't u answer the question?

That is what I am feeling upset about.
This is my venting not a debate on how my classroom should be run. If u want to start a thread dictating on how classrooms should be run, pls start a separate thread. Like I said before, if u feel kids need this ior that and we r doing it wrong, then become a teacher or teacher's aide.

__________________
~Shel~

"A child educated only at school is an uneducated child." -George Santayana

Cheri

Where did I ever say I was an expert? I was only stating my opinion, and I don't know why you're getting all defensive.

shel90

Because you make so many opinions about how Deaf ed should be run and what the kids need and u have told me that you know all this from reading all kinds of research so I am saying that you are an expert based on what you told me. You got all upset when I stated that to really understand the big picture, one must get actual hands-on experience in the field which is it? Either one is an expert or one is not. Just like I am not an expert in teaching hearing children even reading research on different methodologies on how to teach them so I do not know the big picture of how it really works in a classroom full of 30 plus hearing kids with different learning styles until I get actual hands-on experience with it.

__________________
~Shel~

"A child educated only at school is an uneducated child." -George Santayana

shel90

They want their kids to have both ASL and spoken English but prefer to have hearing teachers. That's where this vent is coming from. It hurts me when I sit in meetings and to have to hear that plus a lot of other situations that are starting to pop up.

__________________
~Shel~

"A child educated only at school is an uneducated child." -George Santayana

Liza