The "Mainstreaming" Experience: "Isolated cases"?

shel90 said:
either they meet the iep requirements by hiring a terp or get fined by not hiring one. What can the schools do if no certified terps apply for the jobs?
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For one thing, schools can't sit on their duffs waiting for terps to apply for the jobs. They need to aggressively seek them out.

Years ago, I filled out an application in our school district for substitute interpreter. My application was turned down because I didn't have an education degree, and I hadn't taken the Praxis.

Shortly after, I got a call from the lead interpreter at the school. She asked me personally to sub for her for a six-week stint. I agreed. After that, I was in high demand as sub terp within the district. I never went thru the district for my assignments. Either the school terp or the sub coordinator would call me directly. I submitted my invoices as an independent contractor rather than a school employee. It worked out fine.

That may be one way to go for school terps. Hire them as independent contractors rather than school employees.
 
CSign said:
I tried to search the site, and couldn't find anything specifically pertaining to DHH students. Why do they shock them?

I can't believe a school is actually doing that. I would'nt put a shock device on my dog, let alone a child. That is outrageous!
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In one classroom it was observed that a new staff member was briefly informed that his role in the room was to monitor 1:1 student S and second party verification was not required before administering the GED. The new staff person was handed the SLED (GED transmitter) and verbally given direction and instruction in when to administer the GED. As the instructing staff person was departing, she also informed the new staff that student S is deaf . Judge Rotenberg Educational Center Human Rights Violations « Judge Rotenberg Center Abuses Blog
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and they like claim the ged students stops beating them selves deaf and/or blind a
 
Oh, I knew about the Judge Rotenburg Center. Been in the news a lot.
It's weird that a Deaf student would be in a program like this. There are a lot of programs out there for ED dhh kids.
 
Reba said:
For one thing, schools can't sit on their duffs waiting for terps to apply for the jobs. They need to aggressively seek them out.

Years ago, I filled out an application in our school district for substitute interpreter. My application was turned down because I didn't have an education degree, and I hadn't taken the Praxis.

Shortly after, I got a call from the lead interpreter at the school. She asked me personally to sub for her for a six-week stint. I agreed. After that, I was in high demand as sub terp within the district. I never went thru the district for my assignments. Either the school terp or the sub coordinator would call me directly. I submitted my invoices as an independent contractor rather than a school employee. It worked out fine.

That may be one way to go for school terps. Hire them as independent contractors rather than school employees.
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I wish I had the answers but because I dont work there, I cant make any assumptions without hard facts. All I know is that from some of my friends who work in those programs that there are a few cases like that.
 
Well, in Australia, if you're a solo deaf kid in a hearing school and you need terp. Since the school's funding won't cover the cost of one full time terp, the next best thing they would do is to hire a teacher assistant for the deaf kid, no guarantee the assistant would know Auslan.

Very, very difficult to get funding for full time interpreters in private school, let alone public schools.

The only option for deaf kids, if their parents knows the options, is to attend a school with deaf program (terps provided) or deaf school.
 
Reba said:
Is it possible for parents to search for terps themselves? Then, if they find one they like, they can give the contact information to the school.
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In a few of my many emails to the district I offered to help them find an interpreter. They never took me up on the offer. I suppose parents could find an interpreter, and formally let the SD know they've found one. It's ultimately up to the district to hire them though.

If the students current interpreter isn't fully certified or meeting the Childs needs, it would make the Childs case much stronger in the sense that the district isn't meeting their obligations, especially with someone who is qualified being handed to them.
 
Just asked one of my friends for more information about one of the situations and if the school was aggressively finding terps. She said that they have posted announcements on their websites asking all of the parents if they know of any interpreters and that they were in need of some. And to contact a certain number.
 
I have no idea the standard of terp in England schools cos I never had one at primary mainstream. They refused allow me have one. At college, I asked for interpreter and they gave me what they thought was interpreter but it was CSW with only level 2 in BSL, that very low. They said interpreter is too expensive and said CSW is good enough, CSW signing skills was so poor I can't follow so I just told them take notes instead in class and I just play about on computer until tutor finishes talking then read CSW notes. Lucky tutor was very nice and helpful, she go through with me 1 to 1 after class every day make sure I know all important parts and any information I need to know to do my work and can email them at any time if I get stuck. Still managed to get highest grade. I was very relieved for that!

Uni was oppsite for me and they had meeting with me and interpreter agency in summer before term starts to chat what services I wanted and interpreter agency gave me their email address and mobile number to text so I can ask them directly and uni pay them. All are highly qualified interpreters.
 
Wow. I never knew the difficulties a deaf or hoh kid would have with terps (I'm assuming, being new and all, that terps are interpreters...) because, alas, I was mainstreamed when I was in the 4th grade. Did I sign before that point? Yes, I did. Did I mainstream successfully? Yes, I did. I went straight from an all deaf class to, well, a regular school as the main population of the world (and the U.S., I suppose, since that's where I'm from) would view it. Did my education suffer from it? Well, I don't think so - I managed just fine.

Here's the shocker part of my story - well, perhaps not so much anymore, I'm sure - but I'm classified as being severely hearing impaired, with just about full loss in my right ear, and about, oh, 10 to 20 percent hearing in my left. I'm now 36 years old, and just imagine back in the day (which was a Wednesday, btw!) the aids and the tools available to deaf kids who were mainstreamed. Did I have terps? Nope. I had speech therapy.

Before everyone gets all up in arms... Yes, I can speak. I can speak pretty damn well, so well, in fact, that no one who talks to me actually realizes that I'm deaf. Or more accurately, hard of hearing.

I have gone to college, (Go Blue!), worked jobs, even got promoted to a department supervisor, etc., etc. I've interacted with the hearing community on a daily basis ever since I was mainstreamed. That is one of my regrets that I've recently discovered - the loss of any connection to any deaf communities that I could've easily been a part of. I've lost so much of my sign language, it's not even funny. Regardless, it's like riding a bike - I've been chatting up a deaf employee at my new job and I'm amazed at how much I actually did retain. But I digress!

Everyone talks about how hard it is for the kid to be mainstreamed in terms of interpreters and whatnot.

I disagree, 1100%. It's not the schoolwork. It's not the teachers. It's not the school itself. It's the kids, the classmates, the teasing, the bullying, the misunderstanding, the ignorance, the nastiness.... I could go on, but I think you get the idea. Alas, such is the world we live in. Kids grow up making fun or being scared of the unknown. So when young ones are introduced or see someone who can't hear/see/talk etc., etc... what's the first reaction? IF they're young enough... they are curious. They ask. They probe. But getting older... (Ugh. 5th grade memories. They suck.) They laugh. They belittle. They mock the sign language.

I'm getting off the soapbox now. I apologize for the long-winded rant. I also apologize for the fact that this is my first post, when I should've posted an intro first!
 
that is why so many parents choose to give their children access to that language. So they won't be left out and can communicate with those peers
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. On the other hand, the gross majority of oral only kids have HUGE HUGE social deficts simlair to kids who also use ASL, so that theory is shot to hell.
 
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deafdyke said:
that is why so many parents choose to give their children access to that language. So they won't be left out and can communicate with those peers
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. On the other hand, the gross majority of oral only kids have HUGE HUGE social deficts simlair to kids who also use ASL, so that theory is shot to hell.
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the comment was in regard to not having access to the language of the classroom and that of their peers. I didn't say anything about socializing, but you also know the research doesn't bare out your opinion.
 
My parents thought that by me being in the classroom among hearing students I would have the English language model all around me. I was exposed to spoken language with consistent speech therapy and auditory training as well. Yet, the only model I got was from written English as I'm profoundly deaf. The phonic trainer was pointless as it just amplified useless noise and actually hurt my ears to the point there were constant ringing. I didn't understand the teacher nor my peers. Everything I did, I did on my own accord by reading, studying, and doing my work AHEAD of time. I don't call that language access. Many people do, though.
 
Many schools WANT to provide the best interpreter but they either don't know where to go/ask/look (I mean, not many interpreter agencies are in the yellow pages) OR they have searched relentlessly but either there are no interpreters available in the area or the interpreters are not willing to work for that pay/setting, etc. It's not always the school's fault.

However, there should be reasonable standards in place. And the parents should be well-informed if the interpreter is not certified AND qualified. Also, many interpreters do not interpret during recess or at lunch because they need breaks (they also should have those breaks) but ironically, that is when the child needs access to his/her peers and to learn social language and social skills.
 
deafbajagal said:
Many schools WANT to provide the best interpreter but they either don't know where to go/ask/look (I mean, not many interpreter agencies are in the yellow pages) OR they have searched relentlessly but either there are no interpreters available in the area or the interpreters are not willing to work for that pay/setting, etc. It's not always the school's fault.

However, there should be reasonable standards in place. And the parents should be well-informed if the interpreter is not certified AND qualified. Also, many interpreters do not interpret during recess or at lunch because they need breaks (they also should have those breaks) but ironically, that is when the child needs access to his/her peers and to learn social language and social skills.
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That's where contracting with private practice or agency terps comes in. Especially with an agency, the school will have a pool of terps from which to choose rather than being stuck with just one who either might not meet the students' needs, or won't have a sub available when needed.

The other benefit of a pool of terps is that the students will be exposed to more than one signing model. Also, schedules can be arranged so terps get the breaks they need while at the same time the students have terps available for recess and lunch. For example, terps could work in shifts. That would also allow the terps to still pick up additional freelance work for extra money. (The understanding and contract being that the school work would take precedence in any conflict of assignments.)

Instead of looking just in the Yellow Pages, the search should be done online and thru referrals from other public consumers such as hospitals, VR, colleges, and social services.
 
I disagree, 1100%. It's not the schoolwork. It's not the teachers. It's not the school itself. It's the kids, the classmates, the teasing, the bullying, the misunderstanding, the ignorance, the nastiness.... I could go on, but I think you get the idea. Alas, such is the world we live in. Kids grow up making fun or being scared of the unknown. So when young ones are introduced or see someone who can't hear/see/talk etc., etc... what's the first reaction? IF they're young enough... they are curious. They ask. They probe. But getting older... (Ugh. 5th grade memories. They suck.) They laugh. They belittle. They mock the sign language.
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OMG YES!!!!!!
Young kids can be OK....It still kind of amazes me that there are some kids who don't even see me as "special needs" or who don't think I have a strange voice.
But access to education can be hell too..........I mean not too many mainstream schools are really experianced with dhh or other kids with disabilties.
faire joure, really? Then how come so many oral kids still have major delays and social issues and are still on IEPs, and who need preteaching and are still in special ed classes? Bear in mind that the pro oral research you cite is done by AG Bell, not some neutral unbiased third party. Of course they would want to paint the best possible picture of oral education. They don't want to hear about the downsides.
 
deafbajagal said:
My parents thought that by me being in the classroom among hearing students I would have the English language model all around me. I was exposed to spoken language with consistent speech therapy and auditory training as well. Yet, the only model I got was from written English as I'm profoundly deaf. The phonic trainer was pointless as it just amplified useless noise and actually hurt my ears to the point there were constant ringing. I didn't understand the teacher nor my peers. Everything I did, I did on my own accord by reading, studying, and doing my work AHEAD of time. I don't call that language access. Many people do, though.
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That is what many people fail to understand. I guess it is very hard for them to wrap their heads around it.
 
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shel90 said:
deafbajagal said:
My parents thought that by me being in the classroom among hearing students I would have the English language model all around me. I was exposed to spoken language with consistent speech therapy and auditory training as well. Yet, the only model I got was from written English as I'm profoundly deaf. The phonic trainer was pointless as it just amplified useless noise and actually hurt my ears to the point there were constant ringing. I didn't understand the teacher nor my peers. Everything I did, I did on my own accord by reading, studying, and doing my work AHEAD of time. I don't call that language access. Many people do, though.
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That is what many people fail to understand. I guess it is very hard for them to wrap their heads around it.
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i don't know anyone (today) who advocates for mainstreaming a deaf child who can not understand spoken language through listening. It seems counterintutive to me.
 
faire_jour said:
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i don't know anyone (today) who advocates for mainstreaming a deaf child who can not understand spoken language through listening. It seems counterintutive to me.
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....
 
faire_jour said:
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i don't know anyone (today) who advocates for mainstreaming a deaf child who can not understand spoken language through listening. It seems counterintutive to me.
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Well, it DID happen before..... it did happen to me. I know you said "today", but you also said that it seemed counter-intuitive to you, implying why would anyone do it NOT JUST today, but also in the past. But... it happened. Many, many, many times.

Not that I have a problem being mainstreamed, but, I gotta tell you, sometimes your comments (like this one) seem really really naive and/or somewhat ignorant and it makes people not want to believe you. Sorry, FJ, just sayin'!
 
faire_jour said:
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i don't know anyone (today) who advocates for mainstreaming a deaf child who can not understand spoken language through listening. It seems counterintutive to me.
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Daredevel7 said:
Well, it DID happen before..... it did happen to me. I know you said "today", but you also said that it seemed counter-intuitive to you, implying why would anyone do it NOT JUST today, but also in the past. But... it happened. Many, many, many times.

Not that I have a problem being mainstreamed, but, I gotta tell you, sometimes your comments (like this one) seem really really naive and/or somewhat ignorant and it makes people not want to believe you. Sorry, FJ, just sayin'!
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I've got to agree, DD. Many of us have shared horror stories while growing up mainstreamed (not all of us, but some) but things have changed. From all that I read these days, the schools have changed, the programs have changed, the methods have changed. Even FJ has said so. (Remember, "but that's not how it is today" posts...) You CAN get through school just fine without having perfect hearing as long as you have access to communication (whether that be via ASL, CART, HAs, CIs, etc.) and being in the right programs. Parents are far more educated today about choices and placement and options.
 
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