Deaf School or Oral School?

Deafguy25 said:
I was simply pointing out that in the mainstream setting she would have very limited access to a Teacher of the deaf, but if she did choose the oral route she could still have professionals who specialize in working with deaf kids.
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Did you take the oral route?
 
Deafguy25 said:
My parents are Deaf, so my home language was ASL, but I was mainstreamed starting in Kindergarten.
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Really? Have to admit to being surprised at learning that. How come you didn't go to a deaf school?

You're unusual in the sense that you are an implanted deaf son of deaf parents who was mainstreamed. I'm very interested in hearing your story.
 
nancyj said:
Well agian thank you everyone. I am taking it all in and trying to sort through it, as it can get a little overwhelming at times. I think my mind is made up and we will not be mainstreaming and it was all decided at a local restaraunt the other night.

Rhyanne( that's the baby) and I were waiting on our order to go. A family walked in with a little girl no more then 5 or 6. The first thing she asked is what was on my babies ears. I told her they were hearing aides to help her ears work like hers. And the next thing she said was " Well I don't want to be her friend then" her mom said everyone needs friends and then took her to wait outside.

My thought is those are the kids she would be mainstreamed with I dont want that to be her everyday school life.

I feel she is going to be subject to everyones ignorance already why make it during the majority of her school days. We have found hearing adults to be the cruelist like asking "can she be fixed?" "oh poor baby" "she seems happy in spite of what she is going through"....well she isn't broken, she isn't a poor baby could be way worse, and happy in spite...inspite of what? she isn't in any pain or anything..

Sorry just needed to vent. I am sorry most of you go through this all the time, how do you get used to it?
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It almost destroyed me but since finding ASL and the Deaf community at 25 years old plus with maturity, I have learned to ignore it.

For children, it can take a toll on them if they view themselves as "broken" hearing people. Some children seem to handle it but become nasty adults to others. There are some who do overcome the comments and stuff but it would take a very very strong personality of the child.
 
nancyj said:
Well agian thank you everyone. I am taking it all in and trying to sort through it, as it can get a little overwhelming at times. I think my mind is made up and we will not be mainstreaming and it was all decided at a local restaraunt the other night.

Rhyanne( that's the baby) and I were waiting on our order to go. A family walked in with a little girl no more then 5 or 6. The first thing she asked is what was on my babies ears. I told her they were hearing aides to help her ears work like hers. And the next thing she said was " Well I don't want to be her friend then" her mom said everyone needs friends and then took her to wait outside.

My thought is those are the kids she would be mainstreamed with I dont want that to be her everyday school life.

I feel she is going to be subject to everyones ignorance already why make it during the majority of her school days. We have found hearing adults to be the cruelist like asking "can she be fixed?" "oh poor baby" "she seems happy in spite of what she is going through"....well she isn't broken, she isn't a poor baby could be way worse, and happy in spite...inspite of what? she isn't in any pain or anything..

Sorry just needed to vent. I am sorry most of you go through this all the time, how do you get used to it?
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YAY!!!! Someone ACTUALLY gets it!!!!! She will have access to the hearing world.....never fear. Most of us who are hoh do....You know, one thing you can ask your husband...." If the baby had a chance to grow up bilingal in say...French and English, wouldn't you take it?" I really do think that if audis and professionals put it that way, oral only would be as obscure as Cued Speech.
I love that you actually get it.....so many hearing parents do not understand the negative social side of mainstreaming. There are a lot of really cruel kids out there....and unfortunatly we're not all lucky enough to live in diverse towns.
 
Deafguy25 said:
I was simply pointing out that in the mainstream setting she would have very limited access to a Teacher of the deaf, but if she did choose the oral route she could still have professionals who specialize in working with deaf kids.
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Yes that's a really good point. At least oral schools....and REAL schools, not just early intervention "schools" do have the advantage that they have experiance with dhh kids. Granted it's not as good as a Sign using program, but at least oral programs are far far better then solotairing it.
 
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I'd like to know how much we, taxpayers spend on interpreter services at mainstream schools. I can imagine it's very expensive.
 
Buffalo said:
By the way, did you ever met your brother? Is he out now?
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I met him once at our sister's wedding when I was 16. He looked normal to me but he signed slow since he was not well-educated. A staff from the mental hospital just took him out after 2 hours. I never saw him again and I don't know where he is now.
 
CSign said:
I think a lot of the parents on this forum "get it."
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Oh that's true, but it's especially nice to see a parent of an audilogically hoh kid get it, b/c those kids tend to be encouraged to be basicly auditory verbaled. Meaning regular school, regular classes with accomondations with maybe some speech therapy and maybe a teacher of the Deaf. HOH kids can benifit strongly from ASL and Deaf ed too!
 
CrazyPaul said:
I'd like to know how much we, taxpayers spend on interpreter services at mainstream schools. I can imagine it's very expensive.
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I've calculated it to be north of $20m a year for just the Denver Metropolitan area.

That's enough for three more deaf schools here.
 
Interesting perspective.

Seems to me that it would make sense to open more deaf schools then !!!!!
 
AlleyCat said:
Interesting perspective.

Seems to me that it would make sense to open more deaf schools then !!!!!
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with understanding better with Deaf/Hoh's needs then it will be OK. Like Deaf teachers or Hearing teachers who KNOWs ASL. Then all is good.
 
There are many, many good arguments for sending kids to some of the schools for the deaf out there we've talked about, but cost savings is not one. And it's not an argument you want to pose: sending a child to a school for the deaf costs your school district anywhere from 4 to 8 times what accommodations in a mainstream or inclusion environment can cost.

Argue for it, yes, but I think it's stronger to do so on the basis of providing equal access to education, teaching tailored to deaf learners.
 
GrendelQ said:
There are many, many good arguments for sending kids to some of the schools for the deaf out there we've talked about, but cost savings is not one. And it's not an argument you want to pose: sending a child to a school for the deaf costs your school district anywhere from 4 to 8 times what accommodations in a mainstream or inclusion environment can cost.

Argue for it, yes, but I think it's stronger to do so on the basis of providing equal access to education, teaching tailored to deaf learners.
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Well, don't you realize how many deaf students go to deaf schools? It's cheaper than paying an interpreter at a mainstream school for one deaf student (6 hours/day X 5 days/week) everywhere. The taxpayers also pay for his/her teachers who earn about $25-30 per hour. The teachers of the Deaf earn the same but no interpreters are needed at deaf schools.

I understand your point about equal access to deaf students who want to go to mainstream schools but I, as a taxpayer rather want my tax money going to deaf schools, not those interpreters at the mainstream schools. IMO, it's a waste of money.
 
CrazyPaul said:
Well, don't you realize how many deaf students go to deaf schools? It's cheaper than paying an interpreter at a mainstream school for one deaf student (6 hours/day X 5 days/week) everywhere. The taxpayers also pay for his/her teachers who earn about $25-30 per hour. The teachers of the Deaf earn the same but no interpreters are needed at deaf schools.

I understand your point about equal access to deaf students who want to go to mainstream schools but I, as a taxpayer rather want my tax money going to deaf schools, not those interpreters at the mainstream schools. IMO, it's a waste of money.
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No, my daughter attends a deaf school, and our local district (and yes, our neighbors via taxes) pays more than $90k annually for her placement. So, I really don't want to see cost savings coming up as an argument for bringing her back not the mainstream environment. At her bi- bi school, the teacher:student ratio is 2:5 rather than 1:28, so there are many more teachers being paid for at higher rates. In MA, special Ed teachers, which tods are considered, must be "highly qualified" specialists. Our bi-bi school employs MANY interpreters, btw.

That's why I say don't use cost savings--you'll lose that argument fast. There are many other reasons for attending a deaf school(just look at that ratio, for example!)
 
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