Vallee, your stomach turned flips whenever there are private Catholic schools???? Whenever there are private Jewish schools???? Does that means you think that the private schools ought to be illegal???
I just remember where I read this. It came from a booklet from NAD and it is a reprint from "The Deaf American", Vol. 21, No. 11, July-August 1969, pages 3-6. Authors are McCay Vernon, Ph.D. and Bernard Makowsky, MSW. I'll read some parts.
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"Of prime importance in this endeavor is an understanding of the factors present that permit minorities such as Jews, Mormons and Orientals to attain prominence and success in American society whereas other groups such as Puerto Ricans, Negroes and American Indians do not."
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"By contrast Jews, Mormons and Orientals have either developed their own educational instituations, influenced public ones or combined these programs. In addition these minority groups are appropriately represented by their own in the overall political system assuring them of reasonable power and control over their basic socio-economic circumstance."
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(It goes on about how "the Indians schools were dominated by white bureaucrats secure in well-paying civil positions" and that African-Americans and Puerto Ricans were put in ghetto schools "where the control is in the hand of the dominant group power structure." There is no deaf person in top administrative positions. Remember this paper is dated 1969. It is about time for the Deaf President of Gallaudet!!!!)
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(This part talks of teachers who cannot fathom their students' life circumstances.) "Frequently there are low expectations or else a 'Lady Bountiful' milieu which is depreciating to minority group children and attack their self worth. The imposition of a value system in the best way may be undemocratic and in the final analysis is a reinforcement of an already poor self image."
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"The deaf youngster faces an analogous situation in many respects [Sanderson, 1969]. The National Association of the Deaf has long supported the use of the language of signs and finerspelling. Yet the child is taught that these modalities, the only ones he can master for purposes of full communication with other deaf persons and with his family, are bad. This negative value is transmitted by its being forbidden to him and his family by the school, His teachers rarely know the language and frequently refuse to use it if they do. Convertly and openly he and his parents are told that it is better if he chooses non-deaf friends, By contrast the Jew, the Greek Orthodox and the American Oriental teach their ethnic languages and relate them to English, the end result being a better mastery of both and a more healthy communication between child and family [Schlesinger 1967]."
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"The discrimination against the deaf as a group may be observed on many levels. Most public school program for deaf children, as for example in Chicago, forbid the hiring of deaf teachers. There are many teacher preparation centers which will not accept deaf candidates [Newman, 1969]"
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"Gallaudet, the world's only college for the deaf, has a policy of selection and requirements for educational certification that discourages and/or eliminates many deaf young people from becoming teachers." (Since Shel90 is a teacher so this must have been dropped since then.)
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"Needless to say the 'in group' educational power structure has resented the change in established procedures which has given more authority to deaf leadership. In reaction it has moved through other governmental agencies to create organizations and programs where control is not with deaf persons, but where the activities are termed 'for the hearing impared', yet where power and key positions are denied deaf persons."
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"By analogy what has happened quite often is that majority group misconceptions and values, for example the limiting of teaching to just 'oral' methods alone are being imposed on a minority. This ignoring of minority group sensitivity to minority group needs has inherent in it damaging, sociological and psychological effects on deaf students.
It is improbable that the educational establishment and its governmental bureaucrats will yield of their own accord to needed changes. Education is enormously clever at avoiding self examination and it is a full of an impentetrable web of vested interest. If progress is to come about, it will probably result from aggressive deaf leadership, new knowledge gained from psychology and sociology and from new professionals entering the field of deafness. Until this occurs there will continue to be an inapproprate and insensitive impostion of majority group values on a minority, a process which is undemocratic which fails to respect the rights of others and which as a damaging effect upon the individual."
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(This goes on and it is 5 pages long. I am reminding you again that this paper is from 1969. It may be old but it does speak to me deeply.)
Vallee, now do you see where I got this idea that there should be a separate deaf school with all deaf members of the school board? Jillio told me that my alma mater do get together with a hearing school for social times. I thought that was a great idea. I also know that my alma mater opens their door to hearing kids with aphasia. I thought that was a perfect school for them as hearing kids will make fun of them for sure. The deaf kids won't make fun of them as they won't know if they are speaking badly.
Jackie, this post is in keeping of your thread as well. I know you and Vallee won't agree with this paper but this paper was written by two hearing guys with degrees. It is hard for us to respect you (pro-oral) when we weren't being respected at all. Now, do you see why many of us deaf people are upset with oral only methold and even CI??? We weren't even respected at all and in fact we were being oppressed ever since the 1880 Milan Conference. No fighing, please. I am not using nasty words or things like that. I am just pointing out why many of us were upset at the education.
I like this paper very much even though it is old. Hey, I was still in that oral day school when this came out.
No fighting, please as I want to learn all I can about how to get to that school board. Elect to a school board and I bet that the school board is for hearing schools and deaf school, right??? How do one create a
new school board? Tell me, Vallee.
Maybe the majority of the board would be deaf if there isn't enough deaf people involved. There is not too many Deaf professionals. I don't know how the other Deaf people would want - all Deaf or majority of Deaf on board.
