Don’t rule out mainstream schools for deaf children

Byrdie714 said:
I wonder what the latest update is on this child?

Would it really benefit him to be in a classroom with sign language? Probably not since the kid no longer uses sign language.
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Hehas no choice of whether to use it or not. His parents decided on oral only. Therefore, it is impossible to determine how much more he would be able to comprehend if he was givent he advantage of sign.
 
I quite agree.....................I mean it just makes me SO ANGRY that the default seems to be "speech only" with Sign only reserved for kids who are oral failures. What ever happened to a full toolbox approach? Sure there are kids who have done well under a one tool approach, but I really do think the gross majority of dhh kids would really thrive under a bilingal full toolbox approach.
 
jillio said:
You are correct...the way the deaf are treated within society is totally dependent upon the way the majority hearing view deafness. I have taken some time to study various deaf cultures in other countries and they way the majority culture views them, and how their status as a citizen is affected by cultural perceptions of deafness. There are many countries in which the deaf are afforded equal status, and are not viewed as disabled in the least. Of ocurse, very few of these are Westernized countries. It appears that the more technologically advanced a country is, the more disabling deafness is believed to be. I find that very odd, because technological advances have actually decreased the communication problems for the deaf.

Martha's Vineyard is one example of the way in which deaf and hearing can live together with equal status.
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Could you please give us a few examples of what countries that the deaf people have equal status? I would think that the technological advances would decrease the communication problems.

When I first learn of Martha's Vineyard, I was thrilled and really wish that it would be applied to the whole USA now.
 
Buffalo said:
Could you please give us a few examples of what countries that the deaf people have equal status? I would think that the technological advances would decrease the communication problems.

When I first learn of Martha's Vineyard, I was thrilled and really wish that it would be applied to the whole USA now.
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The first 2 that come to mind is a village in Mexico where the deaf and the hearing live as equals, much the same as in Martha's Vineyard. Hearing are fluent in sign, and children, both hearing and deaf, learn sign from birth. Deafness is not viewed as inferior to hearing. The other one would be a deaf community in Bali, Indonesia that functions in the same way. Deafness is considered to be a different way of being than hearing, but not an abnormal way of being. Again, hearing and deaf all use sign to the degree that it is impossible sometimes to tell who is hearing and who is deaf. These are examples of true integration, not the forced oral integration that we experience in the U.S. and other more Westernized countries.
 
jillio said:
The first 2 that come to mind is a village in Mexico where the deaf and the hearing live as equals, much the same as in Martha's Vineyard. Hearing are fluent in sign, and children, both hearing and deaf, learn sign from birth. Deafness is not viewed as inferior to hearing. The other one would be a deaf community in Bali, Indonesia that functions in the same way. Deafness is considered to be a different way of being than hearing, but not an abnormal way of being. Again, hearing and deaf all use sign to the degree that it is impossible sometimes to tell who is hearing and who is deaf. These are examples of true integration, not the forced oral integration that we experience in the U.S. and other more Westernized countries.
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That is just so awesome! Too bad the US, the politicans and policy makers are just way too close-minded. The mentality here in the US is perfection.
 
shel90 said:
That is just so awesome! Too bad the US, the politicans and policy makers are just way too close-minded. The mentality here in the US is perfection.
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We seem to have a lot to learn about the meaning of equality in the U.S.
 
Despite equality being the very foundation of this country when the Declaration of Independence was signed. :?
 
Sadly so Shel!

Maybe we should sign a Deaf Declaration of Independence

"We the deaf people..." :D
 
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