Rose Immortal
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- Oct 24, 2005
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I've noticed a lot of threads complaining about stereotypes but I haven't seen much discussion at all of what can be done to prevent them from happening in the first place (or at least making people aware of them so they can work to change).
As for me, I am a firm believer in the power of education--and the earlier, the better. I may not like a lot of government spending, but I'll almost always support education and the services that help people to get an education, because I strongly believe that by education a lot of future headaches can be prevented.
One example would be stereotypes. I see a lot of discussion here about the stereotypes some hearing people hold, but not a lot of talk about what kinds of proactive things could be done to prevent the problem in the first place.
I personally think one of the best things to do is to educate hearing kids when they're little. I don't know about others, but even though my school didn't discuss a lot of this stuff, my parents did their best to expose me to books that taught about stuff like ASL--and I think that went a long way towards shaping my attitudes as I grew up. I suggest teaching little children for a couple of other reasons...in my observation, little kids seem to be more open to learning and a little less bound up by prejudice. Also, I think sometimes questions from little kids are more accepted and treated with less suspicion than questions from adults--which may help the teacher/lecturer to feel more at-ease in explaining the things they really want to know (some of which may make a real difference).
So...here's your imagination task: suppose you've got a classroom full of curious little kids that want to learn from you about your experiences being deaf or hard of hearing. You've got a prime opportunity to help them to be more informed and understanding adults, so--what do they need to be taught and how do you teach them?
As for me, I am a firm believer in the power of education--and the earlier, the better. I may not like a lot of government spending, but I'll almost always support education and the services that help people to get an education, because I strongly believe that by education a lot of future headaches can be prevented.
One example would be stereotypes. I see a lot of discussion here about the stereotypes some hearing people hold, but not a lot of talk about what kinds of proactive things could be done to prevent the problem in the first place.
I personally think one of the best things to do is to educate hearing kids when they're little. I don't know about others, but even though my school didn't discuss a lot of this stuff, my parents did their best to expose me to books that taught about stuff like ASL--and I think that went a long way towards shaping my attitudes as I grew up. I suggest teaching little children for a couple of other reasons...in my observation, little kids seem to be more open to learning and a little less bound up by prejudice. Also, I think sometimes questions from little kids are more accepted and treated with less suspicion than questions from adults--which may help the teacher/lecturer to feel more at-ease in explaining the things they really want to know (some of which may make a real difference).
So...here's your imagination task: suppose you've got a classroom full of curious little kids that want to learn from you about your experiences being deaf or hard of hearing. You've got a prime opportunity to help them to be more informed and understanding adults, so--what do they need to be taught and how do you teach them?