Parents sue to keep SD School for the Deaf open

[deafdyke]

I had grandparents with the phenomenon of institutionalization which is what you get with those boarding schools.

I am incredibly glad I had the opportunity to stay home and attend my local school.

Botte ....Not quite. The boarding schools are insistutions, but not ......Victorian asylum places. Nowadays, the boarding school is more of a home away from home. Exactly like what you get with prep boarding schools.
Plus I mean, not every kid has the advantage of a healthy middle class home life. For a lot of kids the "home life" at the schools for the deaf can provide stability or a sense of home.

 

[KarissaMann05]

Guess some people want to shut down deaf schools. What a shame.

There you go. Like I said, nobody will care except the supporters for Deaf Culture.

Indeed, it sucks when people don't give a crap if deaf schools are going to shut down. It just prove me enough to know Deaf Culture is not really important to people. Don't forget this, your thread had a poll and there was one option who voted yes on closing deaf schools. :roll:

Honestly... I'm so sick of anti-deaf, anti-deaf community, anti-deaf culture, and anti-deaf anything, and all BULL! Give a FUCKING rest!

I hope parents win the case...

Well, if they lose and I guess deaf schools are not really that important anymore as if it is stupid idea. :roll: ... ... ... And, nobody will care.

 

[shel90]

There you go. Like I said, nobody will care except the supporters for Deaf Culture.

Indeed, it sucks when people don't give a crap if deaf schools are going to shut down. It just prove me enough to know Deaf Culture is not really important to people. Don't forget this, your thread had a poll and there was one option who voted yes on closing deaf schools. :roll:

Honestly... I'm so sick of anti-deaf, anti-deaf community, anti-deaf culture, and anti-deaf anything, and all BULL! Give a FUCKING rest!

I hope parents win the case...

Well, if they lose and I guess deaf schools are not really that important anymore as if it is stupid idea. :roll: ... ... ... And, nobody will care.

Not only that, lots of people would be put out of a job especially deaf people and do we want more people collecting SSDI or SSI, do we? Finding jobs out there is hard enough for anyone .

 

[KarissaMann05]

Not only that, lots of people would be put out of a job especially deaf people and do we want more people collecting SSDI or SSI, do we? Finding jobs out there is hard enough for anyone .

What you said is... true... I forget about that one...

 

[Bottesini]

Botte ....Not quite. The boarding schools are insistutions, but not ......Victorian asylum places. Nowadays, the boarding school is more of a home away from home. Exactly like what you get with prep boarding schools.
Plus I mean, not every kid has the advantage of a healthy middle class home life. For a lot of kids the "home life" at the schools for the deaf can provide stability or a sense of home.

Obviously you don't know what the term means.

 

[shel90]

Botte ....Not quite. The boarding schools are insistutions, but not ......Victorian asylum places. Nowadays, the boarding school is more of a home away from home. Exactly like what you get with prep boarding schools.
Plus I mean, not every kid has the advantage of a healthy middle class home life. For a lot of kids the "home life" at the schools for the deaf can provide stability or a sense of home.

A small percentage of students live in the dorms. Most of them are daily students but when they go home, there is almost no interaction with them and their families due to communication barriers. That's why many of our students beg not to get sent home sick or stay at the dorms. However, with the younger children, it is improving because the families are getting more opportunities to learn ASL than before so more children are now coming from hearing families who can communicate with them easily. It is nice to see that.

 

[Bottesini]

And if deaf education goes to the public schools, and parents receive this training, you keep nuclear families together and it is a winning situation.

If you have kids growing up at home and forming a normal attachment to their parents, you will see them begging not to be taken away from home.

 

[shel90]

And if deaf education goes to the public schools, and parents receive this training, you keep nuclear families together and it is a winning situation.

If you have kids growing up at home and forming a normal attachment to their parents, you will see them begging not to be taken away from home.

Do you honestly think all public schools will provide ASL classes for free to the parents and have an early childhood intervention geared for deaf students only? Maybe in the richer counties but I dont know. I cant imagine Baltimore City public schools providing that! That school system is so poor. Historically public schools tend to put deaf children under the special education umbrella and it can be confusing which is why there are stories of deaf children placed in classes for children who have other special needs.

My friend has a deaf 3 year old daughter and she was deciding whether to place her daughter at the public school or at the deaf school. She visited the public school and said that the deaf program there was so horrible ..they had like 20 kids ranging from preK to 8th grade all in the same classroom. She like like, "Huh Huh no way" and made her decision to place her daughter at the Deaf school where she will be in classes with the same age peers like hearing children are at the public schools.

 

[shel90]

Save the costs on transportation, bed and board, SDSD teacher's salaries, only to parcel out the money to school districts for interpretering costs. My feeling is that the interpretering costs may be much more than what they are paying to keep SDSD open since the deaf kids are all spreaded out, thus more interpreters. Any thoughts, disagreements, or agreements on this???

As for the costs, I am not sure but I definitely would prefer to see students to be in an educational environment where they can communicate with almost everyone they come into contact with instead of relying on an interpreter solely especially in social situations.

 

[Bottesini]

Do you honestly think all public schools will provide ASL classes for free to the parents and have an early childhood intervention geared for deaf students only? Maybe in the richer counties but I dont know. I cant imagine Baltimore City public schools providing that! That school system is so poor. Historically public schools tend to put deaf children under the special education umbrella and it can be confusing which is why there are stories of deaf children placed in classes for children who have other special needs.

My friend has a deaf 3 year old daughter and she was deciding whether to place her daughter at the public school or at the deaf school. She visited the public school and said that the deaf program there was so horrible ..they had like 20 kids ranging from preK to 8th grade all in the same classroom. She like like, "Huh Huh no way" and made her decision to place her daughter at the Deaf school where she will be in classes with the same age peers like hearing children are at the public schools.

That is what I would like to see. I feel it would be well worth fighting for.

Historically does not mean it has to be that way now. In some places you get what I want from the public schools.

Historically schools for the deaf and blind served as warehouses. I truly believe deaf can do anything and deserve a place in greater society.

So yes I think it could happen to have my vision take place.

 

[shel90]

That is what I would like to see. I feel it would be well worth fighting for.

Historically does not mean it has to be that way now. In some places you get what I want from the public schools.

Historically schools for the deaf and blind served as warehouses. I truly believe deaf can do anything and deserve a place in greater society.

So yes I think it could happen to have my vision take place.

I am not going to continue to defend deaf schools and my teaching position. However, I will say this..it is a shame that people view us that way just simply because we work at a deaf school. Nobody really realizes how hard we work to ensure that these kids get the education they deserve and how much we care. I dont know what happened in the past but all I know is that in my experience, I havent seen any "wharehouses". I am sure those who work at blind schools probably work just as hard too and probably tired of the stigma attached to their jobs.

Are you doing something about your vision? Are you going out there to advocate for deaf children's rights in the public schools?

 

[Bebonang]

I am not going to continue to defend deaf schools and my teaching position. However, I will say this..it is a shame that people view us that way just simply because we work at a deaf school. Nobody really realizes how hard we work to ensure that these kids get the education they deserve and how much we care. I dont know what happened in the past but all I know is that in my experience, I havent seen any "wharehouses". I am sure those who work at blind schools probably work just as hard too and probably tired of the stigma attached to their jobs.

Are you doing something about your vision? Are you going out there to advocate for deaf children's rights in the public schools?

I put the bold sentence which I have tried to explained many times that the mainstream public schools who do not allowed sign langauge like ASL and not have a good Deaf program with separate classrooms. In the only-oral program in elementary and high school, we had to struggled trying to understand what is being said in the hearing classrooms that does not give us the education all the way and always left out in the dark except to read the books. No wonder we did not get a good grade like A or B. So the Deaf schools is the better options for us to get an education and every Deaf or deaf child can choose to be in the Deaf school or in the public schools if they have an ASL interpreters. As for Deaf schools being warehouses for the Deaf students being away from home, just because a person think that the children have to be away from families, it is not true. There are some Deaf schools that are good or bad. It take a person or parents to visit any kind of school that is right for their child to get a good education without the hassle of having the deaf children trying to understand hearing people. Hearing people including hearing parents need to listen to the needs of a deaf children, and if the deaf children is being ignored, then the hearing parents or authorities do not care about their needs.

 

[Bottesini]

I am not going to continue to defend deaf schools and my teaching position. However, I will say this..it is a shame that people view us that way just simply because we work at a deaf school. Nobody really realizes how hard we work to ensure that these kids get the education they deserve and how much we care. I dont know what happened in the past but all I know is that in my experience, I havent seen any "wharehouses". I am sure those who work at blind schools probably work just as hard too and probably tired of the stigma attached to their jobs.

Are you doing something about your vision? Are you going out there to advocate for deaf children's rights in the public schools?

Yes.

 

[shel90]

Yes.

Oh wow...so you have attended IEP meetings, contacted legislators, and held in-services to train the public school teachers about deaf children's needs? That's awesome!

 

[shel90]

Cant keep quiet no longer

I have been working at a Deaf school for 7 years and it is already like a 2nd home to me and many of the children there expressed the same. It is my heart and soul besides my family and for anyone to disregard that is very hurtful. I try to react nicely about it by educating people that not all deaf schools arent the way they described. Maybe in the past and maybe in some but if there are some deaf schools that people feel are horrible, isnt anyone doing anything to help improve them? It seems like the easy answer is to shut them down but many fail to understand the phychological ramifications of it. For anyone to support the shutting down of deaf schools is like telling me all the hard work I and others have contributed to ensure that these kids get the education they deserve is not worthy. I am very passionate about my job and I have been more criticized about it simply because I work at a deaf school not because of what I do or dont do. I feel that the staff who work at deaf schools dont get enough respect from the public and then to get the same disrespect from deaf people is even more hurtful.

If there are any teachers or staff that hurt the children, then they should be addressed as individuals rather than making blanket statements about the rest of us. I would like to know..how many of you have stepped inside a deaf school and observed it from an objective view?

Again I have stated previously that all deaf schools have room for improvement but so do public schools. Do we cry for the shut down of public schools? No..so why the support for the shut down of Deaf schools? There are people with jobs and they do it for the love of the children not for the pay cuz I have news for you..the pay really stinks!

There is a strong sense of community at where I work and I feel proud to be a part of it. It is unique...there are just no words to describe it. Older and former students have expressed that to me and to my co-workers. I am sure there are some students who hated their experiences at the deaf schools and dont want to anything to do with us but I would be happy to hear from them and their experiences so I can help make the schools better for the future but all I get were "Deaf schools suck." It is not enough information. If they suck because of dorms, then maybe they child shouldnt go to the dorms in the first place but the parents make the decisions about that not the school. It is not like the old days when all deaf children were required to be residents of the school. The dorms are there for students who live far and the parents have been pleased with the schools enough to send their children to the dorms for the week. However that consists a very small population.

Now, I dont know about every deaf school...if there are some that are so awful, then I hope someone is doing something to help improve them. If people are complaining about it and doing nothing about it, maybe they are just as much as fault as the administrators for not taking action. I can't solve every deaf school's problem but I can say this...my experience with them has been so positive and all the students I have come in contact with have expressed that. Maybe they will feel differently in the future...who knows? All I just wanted to say that the shut down of deaf schools are not going to solve all the problems in Deaf education. It is not as simple. It is a very complicated system that needs revamping. I am out there on committees to be part of different teams focusing on improving the quality of deaf education. My job is my life besides my family. To tell me that all deaf schools suck and should all be shut down is telling me that my job is not respected at all. It can be hurtful.

I may get banned after this but I just couldnt keep quiet any longer.

 

[faire_jour]

Iam not thinking of my own needs. I am thinking of the children because deaf schools are probably the only place where most of them have full access to language and communication at all times and they will have direct communication with everyone not just the terps only.

Besides I have wrked at a public school before and it is isolating for me as well. I prefer to work someplace where I can effectively communicate with every child and every coworker. Call me a baby or whatever but after being isolated constantly growing up, it is nice not to be in that situation anymore.

But a Deaf or bi-bi school doesn't have to be a huge place with dorms like they used to be. Kids can be served in smaller schools, locally, rather than being shipped to a state residential school.

 

[shel90]

But a Deaf or bi-bi school doesn't have to be a huge place with dorms like they used to be. Kids can be served in smaller schools, locally, rather than being shipped to a state residential school.

Do you think that word "shipped" is kind of degrading to these children?



If the public schools have a great Deaf BiBi program, that's great but I was talking about the shut down of all deaf schools. Is that what people really want? I know that, in reality, not all public schools will adopt or start a BiBi program or hire all of the staff who have lost their jobs from the Deaf schools. Most of the schools will place deaf children under the special ed dept and as a result, they get placed with other children who have different needs from their own. I have seen that happen too often. How many schools will set up a BiBi program if there are only 1 or 2 deaf children there? By shutting down all deaf schools, the children will be so scattered around and I honestly feel that each school are not going to creat a whole program for a handful of students. That's my whole point. The money wont be there.

As for hiring TODs, most schools will most likely place deaf children with their special educators who have no experience nor training to work with deaf children. Their view would be "We already have a special educator..why would we need to spend more money on another teacher just for one or two students?"

If a public school is going to set up a program to meet the needs of deaf children, then a large number of students will be needed and it would go back to the same thing...grouping all of the deaf children back together just like they were at the Deaf schools.

 

[faire_jour]

Do you think that word "shipped" is kind of degrading to these children?



If the public schools have a great Deaf BiBi program, that's great but I was talking about the shut down of all deaf schools. Is that what people really want? I know that, in reality, not all public schools will adopt or start a BiBi program or hire all of the staff who have lost their jobs from the Deaf schools. Most of the schools will place deaf children under the special ed dept and as a result, they get placed with other children who have different needs from their own. I have seen that happen too often. How many schools will set up a BiBi program if there are only 1 or 2 deaf children there? By shutting down all deaf schools, the children will be so scattered around and I honestly feel that each school are not going to creat a whole program for a handful of students. That's my whole point. The money wont be there.

As for hiring TODs, most schools will most likely place deaf children with their special educators who have no experience nor training to work with deaf children. Their view would be "We already have a special educator..why would we need to spend more money on another teacher just for one or two students?"

If a public school is going to set up a program to meet the needs of deaf children, then a large number of students will be needed and it would go back to the same thing...grouping all of the deaf children back together just like they were at the Deaf schools.

I have a very good friend who was sent to a state school for the Deaf at 18 months, I would consider that being "shipped".

I would think that the Deaf programs would work as sort of "magnet school", the Deaf kids in the populated area would pull all the deaf kids together and they would hire the teachers as appropriate. That is what we do in Salt Lake. There are no residental kids, and the school is just in an old elementary building.

 

[shel90]

I have a very good friend who was sent to a state school for the Deaf at 18 months, I would consider that being "shipped".

I would think that the Deaf programs would work as sort of "magnet school", the Deaf kids in the populated area would pull all the deaf kids together and they would hire the teachers as appropriate. That is what we do in Salt Lake. There are no residental kids, and the school is just in an old elementary building.

Ok..first time I heard of an 18 month old being sent away. Which school was that? Our dorm policies dont accept babies or toddlers...staff from the family education dept drive all over the state to go to the homes of the little ones for early childhood education and intervention. We call them "home" visits..that's where the parents get the support from staff.


So people want to get rid of the dorms, is that what I am understanding? When people say, "Let's shut down deaf schools"..it means the whole thing..the buildings, dorms, the programs, and firing all staff. IF people really just want the dorms shut down, then why not say "Let's shut the dorms down"?

 

[Daredevel7]

Ok..first time I heard of an 18 month old being sent away. Which school was that? Our dorm policies dont accept babies or toddlers...staff from the family education dept drive all over the state to go to the homes of the little ones for early childhood education and intervention. We call them "home" visits..that's where the parents get the support from staff.


So people want to get rid of the dorms, is that what I am understanding? When people say, "Let's shut down deaf schools"..it means the whole thing..the buildings, dorms, the programs, and firing all staff. IF people really just want the dorms shut down, then why not say "Let's shut the dorms down"?

Haven't you (and others) said "Shut down the oral only programs"?

In fact, I've only seen ONE person say "Let's shut down deaf schools" (others just don't have faith in them, but that doesn't mean they believe they should be shut down) but I've seen NUMEROUS people say "Screw the oral only programs, they should be abolished."

Just saying that you have a LOT of people on your side and you shouldn't feel hurt. Also, has it occurred to you that you work in a very good school?