A little more to my K-12 story

[DeafBadger]

I went to a Deaf Night Out event tonight and there was a woman who used to be part of the hearing impaired program when I was grade school. For a couple years, she was one of the hearing impaired program teachers, before moving to a different city.

So I asked her if she knew why the hearing impaired program did not teach sign language.

Basically, there was an administrator of the program, a man who believed that if the deaf/hoh student could be oral, that no sign would be taught. If the student could not be oral, then the student would be sent to the Deaf School across the state.

She said there were one set of parents who questioned this and challenged the system. They had to bring a lawsuit to try to force the local hearing program to teach sign language. The court decided in favor of the system, which meant the parents had to send their child to the Deaf School to get any sign language instruction.

Even though that administrator had retired years ago, successive administrators have kept the same policy. So even today, deaf/hoh students going through the program are not permitted to learn sign language.

Now I have an answer as to why I wasn't taught sign language back then. It is still very sad and not right that it is continuing.

 

[deafdyke]

In other words, the reason you didn't get to learn Sign, is b/c of audism.
There's nothing wrong with speech skills, but dhh kids should deserve ASL. Even oral successes can benefit from ASL...especially as academic stuff gets harder.

 

[DeafBadger]

In other words, the reason you didn't get to learn Sign, is b/c of audism.
There's nothing wrong with speech skills, but dhh kids should deserve ASL. Even oral successes can benefit from ASL...especially as academic stuff gets harder.

Yep. And she also said that if I had been enrolled in a different city in my state, that hearing impaired program did teach sign language and used interpreters (in addition to teaching speech).

But parents in the city I was in did not know that. They thought the option was oral-only or the deaf school.

 

[deafdyke]

Yep. And she also said that if I had been enrolled in a different city in my state, that hearing impaired program did teach sign language and used interpreters (in addition to teaching speech).

But parents in the city I was in did not know that. They thought the option was oral-only or the deaf school.

Or going to Clarke....damn that sucks!

 

[DeafBadger]

I have to say, it's kind of good to ask people and learn about this, because it gives me answers to questions... at which point I can just put it away. Helps me get over it and move on.

 

[Lukin]

Reminds me of the Camelot Elementary School (or was it Canterbury Woods?). There were three local schools which offer deaf programs, one for ASL (via Total Communication program), one for Cued Speech, and one for oral.

After that, all those students go to a main middle school, where ASL is common, so it's not bad.

I met a long-time friend there. He told me experiences at the oral school. He was personally taken by 2nd or 3rd grade teacher to principal office, and she called his dad about this "problem". "Do not use SIGNS in this school ever".

 

[AlleyCat]

Reminds me of the Camelot Elementary School (or was it Canterbury Woods?). There were three local schools which offer deaf programs, one for ASL (via Total Communication program), one for Cued Speech, and one for oral.

After that, all those students go to a main middle school, where ASL is common, so it's not bad.

I met a long-time friend there. He told me experiences at the oral school. He was personally taken by 2nd or 3rd grade teacher to principal office, and she called his dad about this "problem". "Do not use SIGNS in this school ever".

The bolded part -- "where ASL is common" -- is that typical of where you live? I like that concept where ASL is common at a middle school.

 

[Lukin]

The bolded part -- "where ASL is common" -- is that typical of where you live? I like that concept where ASL is common at a middle school.

Yes, for deaf people, not for hearing students, who emigrate to after ES. Cued speech students still use cued speech, but it wasn't until 8th grade or high school that they decided to become fluent in ASL.

 

[shel90]

I have to say, it's kind of good to ask people and learn about this, because it gives me answers to questions... at which point I can just put it away. Helps me get over it and move on.

It is nice to have some closure.

Yep, shame on audist people.