Deaf Education - One size does not fit all

A bit risky and requires knowledge, but another possibility is to visit a TC schools, and check if they got teachers f l u e n t in ASL, who understand the secrets of bi-bi. My impression with the TC schools in the states is what happens in the classroom depends on the teacher. If the teacher got many students with deaf parents, and perhaps also are deaf, the changes is big the teacher is okayed by people who really can evaluate teachers, and the students are above the average. That's what I call a possibly good place to put your kids.
 
flip said:
A bit risky and requires knowledge, but another possibility is to visit a TC schools, and check if they got teachers f l u e n t in ASL, who understand the secrets of bi-bi. My impression with the TC schools in the states is what happens in the classroom depends on the teacher. If the teacher got many students with deaf parents, and perhaps also are deaf, the changes is big the teacher is okayed by people who really can evaluate teachers, and the students are above the average. That's what I call a possibly good place to put your kids.
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Thanks Flip. I was hoping for information to post here for folks that may visit this thread in the future that are looking for the same thing.
 
shel90 said:
No, they do those kinds of modifications.

I am saying that they have always felt reluctant using both signing and speech to teach. Here is why according to them...

The hearing teachers that have worked at my place of employment for 20 plus years were there when my school changed from a TC program to a BiBi program. They said that they can see the difference in their lessons when using just one language instead of both at the same time. They said they never felt comfortable Sim-comming the lessons cuz too often the kids were misunderstanding the concepts and they would have to repeat or act them out which was very time-consuming for them. Also, they said that both the teeachers and the students would get burnt out from cognitive overloading.

They said since ASL is a conceptual language itself, the concepts are taught much more effectively and the kids are learning faster therefore less time wasted on explaining one concept over and over again.

For that, I will take their word for it cuz that is about 20 teachers agreeing to the same thing.
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forgive my ignorance again, but what is simcomming?
 
dreamchaser said:
forgive my ignorance again, but what is simcomming?
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Talking and signing at once. Not a good thing if you ask me. It's not recommended for us to split our focus onto two different tasks at once. Heck, multi-tasking isn't good for us either because we force ourselves to split our focus into different places all at once.
 
one size fits all related question

What an interesting thread.

I have a question that is not meant to cause a controversy, and I hope I can pharase it right.

Quality of education if probably more important to a Deaf child than to a hearing child. Why? Because they have to competer harder in the job market etc., there are many things to consider about educating your child.

My question is about the emotional environment in mainstream environments. Are most mainstreamed children happy in their schools, and if not,, Why? Are they included and feeling comfortable with their peers? If there are problems that you see, how would you fix it? If your child can't acclamate to a mainstream emotionaly, what then?

So, I guess the question is how much does a childs emotional happiness, and social acceptance affect his education?
 
Banjo said:
Talking and signing at once. Not a good thing if you ask me. It's not recommended for us to split our focus onto two different tasks at once. Heck, multi-tasking isn't good for us either because we force ourselves to split our focus into different places all at once.
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Yeah... it's like moving one hand up and down while moving the other hand left and right... or patting your head while rubbing your stomach. ;)

It's difficult to do. I know some interpreters who do it very well because they have been doing it for years.
 
dreamchaser said:
What an interesting thread.

I have a question that is not meant to cause a controversy, and I hope I can pharase it right.

Quality of education if probably more important to a Deaf child than to a hearing child. Why? Because they have to competer harder in the job market etc., there are many things to consider about educating your child.

My question is about the emotional environment in mainstream environments. Are most mainstreamed children happy in their schools, and if not,, Why? Are they included and feeling comfortable with their peers? If there are problems that you see, how would you fix it? If your child can't acclamate to a mainstream emotionaly, what then?

So, I guess the question is how much does a childs emotional happiness, and social acceptance affect his education?
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I don't really think that they have to compete harder. It's just a matter of how they are educated.

For instance, a deaf child who prefers to follow ASL over English is going to have a harder time going through school that is based on the English system.

Everyone has to try hard in some ways because of how their minds and bodies were made. For me, English and Math are my best subjects. I learn them very easily with almost no effort. Others don't do well in those subjects and have to work harder.

I don't do well in Science and Liberal Arts, but I have friends who do very well in those subjects. So, I have to try harder when they can do it with little effort.

I've had professors tell me that I write better than the hearing students in the same class. I had no problem, no tutor, no help, nothing... so, was there really a need to say that they should have made the assignment easier because I was deaf? No. I was treated like a hearing person (except I'm deaf with need for interpreters). So, I got through school like everyone else.
 
I learned ASL as a hearing parents of a Deaf child and it didn't fry my brain. I just signed up for the ASL courses from our local community college. At the end I will even be skilled enough to take my state's interpreter test and have a new career. (half way done, written test passed!) I am easily able to converse with Deaf adults and our family attends a Deaf church where I voice for the childrens' services.

Oh, and by the way we have only know my daughter is Deaf for 3 years! All that progress took less than 36 months!
 
VamPyroX said:
I don't really think that they have to compete harder. It's just a matter of how they are educated.

For instance, a deaf child who prefers to follow ASL over English is going to have a harder time going through school that is based on the English system.

Everyone has to try hard in some ways because of how their minds and bodies were made. For me, English and Math are my best subjects. I learn them very easily with almost no effort. Others don't do well in those subjects and have to work harder.

I don't do well in Science and Liberal Arts, but I have friends who do very well in those subjects. So, I have to try harder when they can do it with little effort.

I've had professors tell me that I write better than the hearing students in the same class. I had no problem, no tutor, no help, nothing... so, was there really a need to say that they should have made the assignment easier because I was deaf? No. I was treated like a hearing person (except I'm deaf with need for interpreters). So, I got through school like everyone else.
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That's strange cuz my top student for my language arts class is from a Deaf family where her first and only language was ASL before she entered kindergarten. Now, at 3rd grade, she is surpassing all the 3rd graders for reading and writing. She can write an organized paragraph without veering off subject. I dont know how ASL is making learning English harder for her..it just seems to make it easier. Yes, she needs to work on her grammar and I have been working with her on that. Because she has such a strong L1 language, it is so easy to explain the English rules to her as opposed to the other children whose L1 language is much weaker than hers. I have to constantly model the English rules for them over and over again while with this student, all I have to just explain it to her and she gets it right away.

In my 5 years of teaching, it is the students who have sign language at home whether their parents are hearing or deaf who perform better.
 
faire_jour said:
I learned ASL as a hearing parents of a Deaf child and it didn't fry my brain. I just signed up for the ASL courses from our local community college. At the end I will even be skilled enough to take my state's interpreter test and have a new career. (half way done, written test passed!) I am easily able to converse with Deaf adults and our family attends a Deaf church where I voice for the childrens' services.

Oh, and by the way we have only know my daughter is Deaf for 3 years! All that progress took less than 36 months!
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BRAVO for you!!!! I wish my parents were like u..they never learned sign language for my Deaf brother and I. Because I have good oral skills, I can communicate with them to a degree but my brother who has no oral skills struggles to communicate with them and I end up as the interpreter.

I know of a hearing couple who has a deaf 2 year old who just learned ASL two years ago. They can converse with deaf people just fine and because they use it at home with their daughter, their daughter's language level recently has been scored 6 months above her age.
 
My daughter goes to a bi-bi school for the Deaf and she is "on grade level". She has the same language skills as any hearing child, they are just in ASL instead of English. She is doing as well as any Deaf of Deaf child I have seen, and unfortunatly better than any other Deaf of hearing I have met.
 
faire_jour said:
My daughter goes to a bi-bi school for the Deaf and she is "on grade level". She has the same language skills as any hearing child, they are just in ASL instead of English. She is doing as well as any Deaf of Deaf child I have seen, and unfortunatly better than any other Deaf of hearing I have met.
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Your daughter is so lucky to have parents who are willing to meet her deaf needs instead of vice versa. I grew up orally without any exposure to sign language nor the Deaf community. I grew up with a lot of serious self-esteem issues cuz I was trying to be "hearing" because I was constantly told that if I worked hard enough, I would be able to hear and talk like my hearing friends. When I was in middle school, I showed a brief interest in the Deaf community and ASL but as soon as I expressed that, I was told that I didnt need it cuz I was too smart for it. After high school, I was seriously depressed and doing all kinds of self-destructive behaviors to get myself to fill the void I grew up with. At the time, I didnt know what was missing...when I finally learned ASL at the age of 25, I realized that it was the void I felt all of my life. Since then, I have found true happiness and self-acceptance. :)

Yes, I still interact with hearing people...the balance is what I love having instead of being in an oral environment 24/7 like I was growing up. Too hard for me.
 
We felt that we were the adults, it was our job to come to her. Plus, I CAN see ASL, but she CAN'T hear English, wouldn't it make more sense to use the language we BOTH have access to?
 
faire_jour said:
We felt that we were the adults, it was our job to come to her. Plus, I CAN see ASL, but she CAN'T hear English, wouldn't it make more sense to use the language we BOTH have access to?
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Wow! I couldnt have said it better! I have tried explaining that over and over again to so many parents here who are against ASL but they say ASL is not needed, ASL is too hard to learn, or ASL will intervere with spoken language skills. One excuse after another.

I had such a hard time growing up without full acess to language since ASL was denied to me. I was always left out, misunderstanding people, and so many more.
 
faire_jour said:
I learned ASL as a hearing parents of a Deaf child and it didn't fry my brain. I just signed up for the ASL courses from our local community college. At the end I will even be skilled enough to take my state's interpreter test and have a new career. (half way done, written test passed!) I am easily able to converse with Deaf adults and our family attends a Deaf church where I voice for the childrens' services.

Oh, and by the way we have only know my daughter is Deaf for 3 years! All that progress took less than 36 months!
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:gpost:
 
faire_jour said:
We felt that we were the adults, it was our job to come to her. Plus, I CAN see ASL, but she CAN'T hear English, wouldn't it make more sense to use the language we BOTH have access to?
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Bingo! It is such a simple and logical concept. You have made my day brighter.
 
faire_jour said:
We felt that we were the adults, it was our job to come to her. Plus, I CAN see ASL, but she CAN'T hear English, wouldn't it make more sense to use the language we BOTH have access to?
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faire_jour - There is a communication tool that provides visual access to English for both of you and that is cueing.
 
loml said:
faire_jour - There is a communication tool that provides visual access to English for both of you and that is cueing.
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She said she is already fluent in ASL in another thread.
 
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