Miss-Delectable
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School: Debating deaf education | argusleader.com | Argus Leader
Like many, I pay taxes, have voted in elections, own my home, am married and have beautiful children. We love living in South Dakota. It's the perfect place to raise a family.
Or so we thought until the governor announced his proposal to close the School for the Deaf. Our two sons, ages 4 and 6, are deaf and attend that school. When the school's misguided superintendent announced plans to boost its outreach program by directly serving public schools that would be burdened with the enormous task of educating over 400 deaf students scattered in isolated, mainstream programs, my husband and I said to each other, "We're outta here."
My husband and I are also deaf. I'm a product of mainstreaming, and I can personally attest to the fact that this proposal will not work. I attended a large public high school with 2,000 students in Iowa, with an interpreter and a resource teacher who could sign. Sign language classes were offered to any interested high school students who wanted to learn how to "communicate" with the deaf.
Yet, I was still isolated. My lunch hours were spent in the school library reading books, and weekends were spent at home reading more books.
In the classroom the interpreter would sign what the teacher said but not the side conversations between other students. When I asked my classmates to repeat what they said, I was often told to "never mind, it's not important." A few schoolmates were friendly enough to learn the alphabet in sign language, but "How are you? I am fine" was the extent of our conversations. Of course, I also stuck out like a sore thumb with my interpreter (an adult) standing by me at all times.
I would get together with other mainstreamed deaf students, but that was few and far between, maybe two or three times a year. I was miserable. I would fake sickness to avoid school, and my grades showed it.
I was sent to the Iowa School for the Deaf my senior year, and my life was transformed. I made lifelong friendships, was able to participate in sports, became secretary of the student government and was the editor of the school yearbook. For the first time, I was happy. I became the extrovert that I never knew I was.
Every deaf child has the right to the same access as their hearing counterparts. They should know what is being said in the hallways, outside during recess and even at the lunch table. They should be able to communicate freely with their peers, to tease each other and even quarrel just like any other child does.
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Every child must have a happy, healthy social environment in order to fully benefit from any educational setting. Placing deaf children in public schools and leaving them to teachers who are not prepared or qualified to handle their special communication needs is not the solution.
Neither is simply expanding the outreach program and sending staff to occasionally work with only the teachers. Every deaf child is different and has specific needs. Only qualified deaf educators will be able to properly educate students and give them the right tools to become productive, successful members of society.
My husband, who grew up in a school for the deaf, and I have seen too many deaf adults and children who have suffered lasting consequences from the same experiences I had. We know exactly what will happen if SDSD closes and the outreach program is left with minimal contact with teachers and students.
There is no way that we will allow our children to experience the same thing I went through. This is why we are more than willing to sell our house, quit our jobs, pull up stakes and move to another state for our children - and we are not the only ones who feel this way.
Our hearts are breaking for those parents with deaf children who cannot move out of state and have no choice but to accept whatever decision is made. This is why we must demand that our state provide better educational services that deaf children in South Dakota deserve.
I know, because I've been there.
Kim Bearon works at the Communication Services for the Deaf and has two children currently attending the South Dakota School for the Deaf.
Like many, I pay taxes, have voted in elections, own my home, am married and have beautiful children. We love living in South Dakota. It's the perfect place to raise a family.
Or so we thought until the governor announced his proposal to close the School for the Deaf. Our two sons, ages 4 and 6, are deaf and attend that school. When the school's misguided superintendent announced plans to boost its outreach program by directly serving public schools that would be burdened with the enormous task of educating over 400 deaf students scattered in isolated, mainstream programs, my husband and I said to each other, "We're outta here."
My husband and I are also deaf. I'm a product of mainstreaming, and I can personally attest to the fact that this proposal will not work. I attended a large public high school with 2,000 students in Iowa, with an interpreter and a resource teacher who could sign. Sign language classes were offered to any interested high school students who wanted to learn how to "communicate" with the deaf.
Yet, I was still isolated. My lunch hours were spent in the school library reading books, and weekends were spent at home reading more books.
In the classroom the interpreter would sign what the teacher said but not the side conversations between other students. When I asked my classmates to repeat what they said, I was often told to "never mind, it's not important." A few schoolmates were friendly enough to learn the alphabet in sign language, but "How are you? I am fine" was the extent of our conversations. Of course, I also stuck out like a sore thumb with my interpreter (an adult) standing by me at all times.
I would get together with other mainstreamed deaf students, but that was few and far between, maybe two or three times a year. I was miserable. I would fake sickness to avoid school, and my grades showed it.
I was sent to the Iowa School for the Deaf my senior year, and my life was transformed. I made lifelong friendships, was able to participate in sports, became secretary of the student government and was the editor of the school yearbook. For the first time, I was happy. I became the extrovert that I never knew I was.
Every deaf child has the right to the same access as their hearing counterparts. They should know what is being said in the hallways, outside during recess and even at the lunch table. They should be able to communicate freely with their peers, to tease each other and even quarrel just like any other child does.
Advertisement
Every child must have a happy, healthy social environment in order to fully benefit from any educational setting. Placing deaf children in public schools and leaving them to teachers who are not prepared or qualified to handle their special communication needs is not the solution.
Neither is simply expanding the outreach program and sending staff to occasionally work with only the teachers. Every deaf child is different and has specific needs. Only qualified deaf educators will be able to properly educate students and give them the right tools to become productive, successful members of society.
My husband, who grew up in a school for the deaf, and I have seen too many deaf adults and children who have suffered lasting consequences from the same experiences I had. We know exactly what will happen if SDSD closes and the outreach program is left with minimal contact with teachers and students.
There is no way that we will allow our children to experience the same thing I went through. This is why we are more than willing to sell our house, quit our jobs, pull up stakes and move to another state for our children - and we are not the only ones who feel this way.
Our hearts are breaking for those parents with deaf children who cannot move out of state and have no choice but to accept whatever decision is made. This is why we must demand that our state provide better educational services that deaf children in South Dakota deserve.
I know, because I've been there.
Kim Bearon works at the Communication Services for the Deaf and has two children currently attending the South Dakota School for the Deaf.