Good experiences at school?

[dreama]

A lot of people have shared their bad experiences of being isolated in mainstream schooling. I am wondering if anyone could share their good experiences now. Of being in signing deaf school and what that is like?

 

[dreama]

No responses?

Come on! Surely not everyone has been traumatised in the mainstream? What about the deaf who went to deaf school and had a good time as well as a good education and can speak coherantly about it.

we need examples here of good practices where deaf education went well. The best way to do it is to show how Deaf people who focus on signing rather then speaking aren't missing out after all.

So if you are one of the lucky ones who grew up in a signing family going to a signing deaf school or who had hearing parents who were happy to embrace their deafness I would really like you to share your experience.

 

[Mrs Bucket]

dreama, I've had good experiences being mainstreamed.

I personally feel that my learning experiences have helped me a lot for the future because I personally feel if I didn't have the learning experiences, I know I would have coped a whole lot differently with both my hearing and vision loss.

I realise I am very very fortunate to come from a diverse family background and a dominantly Deaf culture background as well. My family did ASL and my parents advocated Bi-Bi education.

I was really lucky & quite blessed to have parents that was very involved with their children's education.

My parents made sure we [my two sisters and I] knew we had the best education we had & my parents also wanted us to have the best of everything.

Parents always want their children to have the best of everything, of course, and I still do want the best for my nieces and nephews. It is a natural instinct.

I'm a firm believer and a strong advocate for Bi-Bi and ASL first for babies.[deaf or hearing] I strongly believe ASL encourages and enables easier language acquisition.

My hearing nephew Joe is L1 and L2. Joe knows ASL, English and Spanish too as well. My sister and BIL is looking into a private school for Joe so he can be in a French Immersion program because his language acquisition skills are excellent for a 4 year old boy.

Deaf education is excellent, yes, when supported by both parents and educators. The key word, support system, is very important.

My niece and nephew goes to a wonderful Deaf school that has gone through so much change, educationally and emotionally. It's amazing seeing my little niece and nephews becoming mature adults. I must admit I still think of them as my little niece and nephews when I see the adult niece & nephew chatting with me.

The Deaf education system is wonderful for the Deaf child, some are too quick to put it down and I wish the naysayers wouldn't be too quick to judge.

The support system between parents and educators is wonderful and I can see why the naysayers judge, it is because they did not have that support system.


I hope this helps and do hope others reply more as well.

 

[shel90]

If there are no responses then probably everyone's experiences were not so good. :eeek:

My only good experience growing up mainstreamed was playing softball on a very competitive level.

 

[dreama]

Thanks for responding Mrs Bucket and Shel.

Whilst many have suffered in mainstream without signing or adequate support it I feel it neccessary to provide good models of how things CAN be with early BiBi models.

 

[missywinks]

If there are no responses then probably everyone's experiences were not so good. :eeek:

My only good experience growing up mainstreamed was playing softball on a very competitive level.

You were a softball player toooooo???? COOOL. What position? I played Rep 'A' level softball from when i was 11 years old until last year when I had to take a break to have a back surgery.

I agree, that was the best part of my childhood growing up. All of us were on an 'equal playing field' out in the field. It was funny (and weird at times..) because fans would come to watch the "deaf" player. :roll: Yeahhhh, a deaf person can throw the *&^%$# ball!

 

[dreama]

dreama, I've had good experiences being mainstreamed.

I'm glad it worked out so well for you. Are your sisters of similar ages to yourself? Did your mainstream setting provide you provide things in accessable formats (signed and written english).

Accademically I did well if teacher wrote on blackboard. Not always the case. Other then that there was just me and my FM. I could have greatly benifited from close captions but they weren't available at the time. Ironically the school that my PHU was joined to was far less inclined to write things on the blackboard since they seemed to think having a partial hearing unit would solve all the problems. Socially I did better at PHU as their was other deaf even though they were not signing deaf. My accademic progress however, took a nose dive.

 

[shel90]

You were a softball player toooooo???? COOOL. What position? I played Rep 'A' level softball from when i was 11 years old until last year when I had to take a break to have a back surgery.

I agree, that was the best part of my childhood growing up. All of us were on an 'equal playing field' out in the field. It was funny (and weird at times..) because fans would come to watch the "deaf" player. :roll: Yeahhhh, a deaf person can throw the *&^%$# ball!

I was a pitcher and played outfield. I got a college softball scholarship. 60 plus games a semester! Got burnt out and turned down another softball scholarship.

I dont know if people came to watch me cuz I was deaf but I had the highest number of strikeouts in my region so people came to watch that or I hope!

 

[dreama]

playing softball on a very competitive level.

Congratulations on achieving that! Hope you don't mind me asking but how did you manage with the commuication involved in team sports? Or could you just guess?

I'm afraid I was hopeless at sports.

 

[shel90]

Congratulations on achieving that! Hope you don't mind me asking but how did you manage with the commuication involved in team sports? Or could you just guess?

I'm afraid I was hopeless at sports.

Thanks!

It wasnt an issue..the position of pitching was so easy cuz all catchers use hand signals to tell me what kind of pitch to throw. Softball was my life so I knew what to do automatically and what kind of plays to make.

However, in the dugout, it did get kinda lonely but I was always too focused on the game to notice the chatter among my teammates. I was very highly competitive so when I played, all I cared was about winning..didnt care about having full acess, socializing or anything.

I was the same way on the swimming team.

I guess it was a good thing cuz I dont really have any bad memories whenever I played sports.

 

[missywinks]

my experience in school was a good one. in fact, i look back and i miss it in some ways.

Both of my elementary and secondary school had a deaf program of approximately 30 deaf students. There were approximately 200 hearing students in the elementary and 800 in secondary school (smaller compared to other schools around here).

Most of the time, I was mainstreamed in hearing classroom with an interpreter. I took a few deaf classes. I didn’t like the deaf classes because the teachers in that program could not sign for shit. At least the interpreters were fluent in ASL which made it easier for me to learn.

Both of the schools had ASL classes for the hearing students and since both schools were smaller compared to other schools around here, almost all students took ASL classes so everyone was pretty much exposed to deaf culture and asl which made it easier for us. I was able to develop good friendships with a group of hearing and deaf peers.

Some days, I would prefer to socialize with my deaf peers, other days, I would socialize with my hearing peers or both at the same time. On the weekends, I would bring one deaf friend and go to hearing parties. But what I enjoyed the most was, going to the deaf parties- they were more fun because I would be 100% included. No matter how hard my hearing friends tried to include me or my deaf friends, it was not possible for them to make us feel 100% included.

had the best of both worlds!

 

[shel90]

my experience in school was a good one. in fact, i look back and i miss it in some ways.

Both of my elementary and secondary school had a deaf program of approximately 30 deaf students. There were approximately 200 hearing students in the elementary and 800 in secondary school (smaller compared to other schools around here).

Most of the time, I was mainstreamed in hearing classroom with an interpreter. I took a few deaf classes. I didn’t like the deaf classes because the teachers in that program could not sign for shit. At least the interpreters were fluent in ASL which made it easier for me to learn.

Both of the schools had ASL classes for the hearing students and since both schools were smaller compared to other schools around here, almost all students took ASL classes so everyone was pretty much exposed to deaf culture and asl which made it easier for us. I was able to develop good friendships with a group of hearing and deaf peers.

Some days, I would prefer to socialize with my deaf peers, other days, I would socialize with my hearing peers or both at the same time. On the weekends, I would bring one deaf friend and go to hearing parties. But what I enjoyed the most was, going to the deaf parties- they were more fun because I would be 100% included. No matter how hard my hearing friends tried to include me or my deaf friends, it was not possible for them to make us feel 100% included.

had the best of both worlds!

U are SO SO SO lucky! What a great school experience u had!

 

[shel90]

dreama, I've had good experiences being mainstreamed.

I personally feel that my learning experiences have helped me a lot for the future because I personally feel if I didn't have the learning experiences, I know I would have coped a whole lot differently with both my hearing and vision loss.

I realise I am very very fortunate to come from a diverse family background and a dominantly Deaf culture background as well. My family did ASL and my parents advocated Bi-Bi education.

I was really lucky & quite blessed to have parents that was very involved with their children's education.

My parents made sure we [my two sisters and I] knew we had the best education we had & my parents also wanted us to have the best of everything.

Parents always want their children to have the best of everything, of course, and I still do want the best for my nieces and nephews. It is a natural instinct.

I'm a firm believer and a strong advocate for Bi-Bi and ASL first for babies.[deaf or hearing] I strongly believe ASL encourages and enables easier language acquisition.

My hearing nephew Joe is L1 and L2. Joe knows ASL, English and Spanish too as well. My sister and BIL is looking into a private school for Joe so he can be in a French Immersion program because his language acquisition skills are excellent for a 4 year old boy.

Deaf education is excellent, yes, when supported by both parents and educators. The key word, support system, is very important.

My niece and nephew goes to a wonderful Deaf school that has gone through so much change, educationally and emotionally. It's amazing seeing my little niece and nephews becoming mature adults. I must admit I still think of them as my little niece and nephews when I see the adult niece & nephew chatting with me.

The Deaf education system is wonderful for the Deaf child, some are too quick to put it down and I wish the naysayers wouldn't be too quick to judge.

The support system between parents and educators is wonderful and I can see why the naysayers judge, it is because they did not have that support system.


I hope this helps and do hope others reply more as well.

Just like Misswinks, u are SO lucky too! To have both...how wonderful.

 

[missywinks]

I was a pitcher and played outfield. I got a college softball scholarship. 60 plus games a semester! Got burnt out and turned down another softball scholarship.

I dont know if people came to watch me cuz I was deaf but I had the highest number of strikeouts in my region so people came to watch that or I hope!

OOOMMMMGGGGG!!!!!!!!!! i was a pitcher too, and played ss. my nick name was the terminator because of the number of strikeout's too.

i got a 4-year scholarship to the university of nebraska but turned it down because i wanted to get married instead. :shrug:

 

[missywinks]

dreama, I've had good experiences being mainstreamed.

I personally feel that my learning experiences have helped me a lot for the future because I personally feel if I didn't have the learning experiences, I know I would have coped a whole lot differently with both my hearing and vision loss.

I realise I am very very fortunate to come from a diverse family background and a dominantly Deaf culture background as well. My family did ASL and my parents advocated Bi-Bi education.

I was really lucky & quite blessed to have parents that was very involved with their children's education.

My parents made sure we [my two sisters and I] knew we had the best education we had & my parents also wanted us to have the best of everything.

Parents always want their children to have the best of everything, of course, and I still do want the best for my nieces and nephews. It is a natural instinct.

I'm a firm believer and a strong advocate for Bi-Bi and ASL first for babies.[deaf or hearing] I strongly believe ASL encourages and enables easier language acquisition.

My hearing nephew Joe is L1 and L2. Joe knows ASL, English and Spanish too as well. My sister and BIL is looking into a private school for Joe so he can be in a French Immersion program because his language acquisition skills are excellent for a 4 year old boy.

Deaf education is excellent, yes, when supported by both parents and educators. The key word, support system, is very important.

My niece and nephew goes to a wonderful Deaf school that has gone through so much change, educationally and emotionally. It's amazing seeing my little niece and nephews becoming mature adults. I must admit I still think of them as my little niece and nephews when I see the adult niece & nephew chatting with me.

The Deaf education system is wonderful for the Deaf child, some are too quick to put it down and I wish the naysayers wouldn't be too quick to judge.

The support system between parents and educators is wonderful and I can see why the naysayers judge, it is because they did not have that support system.


I hope this helps and do hope others reply more as well.

i was lucky as you- i had great parents who advocated heavily for my education. parents are the key! glad you had a wonderful experience as well.

 

[shel90]

OOOMMMMGGGGG!!!!!!!!!! i was a pitcher too, and played ss. my nick name was the terminator because of the number of strikeout's too.

i got a 4-year scholarship to the university of nebraska but turned it down because i wanted to get married instead. :shrug:

Do u regret it? I regret turning down the 2nd scholarship but during my 2nd year of college, the other pitcher quit leaving me as the sole pitcher. I had to pitch all 60 plus games in one semester. It was extremely stressful cuz the team was depending on me so much to throw good pitches.

 

[missywinks]

Do u regret it? I regret turning down the 2nd scholarship but during my 2nd year of college, the other pitcher quit leaving me as the sole pitcher. I had to pitch all 60 plus games in one semester. It was extremely stressful cuz the team was depending on me so much to throw good pitches.

OOOOMMMMMGGGGG, this is getting creepy. I ended up being the solo pitcher in my last year too because the other pitcher got kicked off due to poor marks. i got blisters in between my hands and it hurt like H-E-L-L. my coach would put fake skin (kinda like glue) so i could keep playing especially in touranments. it was pure torture.

yes and no. i kind of regret it because i would have loved the new experience playing for a different team plus, free education! but at the same time, i wasnt too keen about going to nebraska! if it was california, sssuuurrrrreeeee!

 

[dreama]

Thanks!

It wasnt an issue..the position of pitching was so easy cuz all catchers use hand signals to tell me what kind of pitch to throw. Softball was my life so I knew what to do automatically and what kind of plays to make.

However, in the dugout, it did get kinda lonely but I was always too focused on the game to notice the chatter among my teammates. I was very highly competitive so when I played, all I cared was about winning..didnt care about having full acess, socializing or anything.

I was the same way on the swimming team.

I guess it was a good thing cuz I dont really have any bad memories whenever I played sports.

That's good that you had your sports at least. I'm afraid I was often at sea when playing sports. Particularly team games. Although that could also have been to do with being mildly Asperger as well as HOH?

 

[dreama]

my experience in school was a good one. in fact, i look back and i miss it in some ways.

Both of my elementary and secondary school had a deaf program of approximately 30 deaf students. There were approximately 200 hearing students in the elementary and 800 in secondary school (smaller compared to other schools around here).

Most of the time, I was mainstreamed in hearing classroom with an interpreter. I took a few deaf classes. I didn’t like the deaf classes because the teachers in that program could not sign for shit. At least the interpreters were fluent in ASL which made it easier for me to learn.

Both of the schools had ASL classes for the hearing students and since both schools were smaller compared to other schools around here, almost all students took ASL classes so everyone was pretty much exposed to deaf culture and asl which made it easier for us. I was able to develop good friendships with a group of hearing and deaf peers.

Some days, I would prefer to socialize with my deaf peers, other days, I would socialize with my hearing peers or both at the same time. On the weekends, I would bring one deaf friend and go to hearing parties. But what I enjoyed the most was, going to the deaf parties- they were more fun because I would be 100% included. No matter how hard my hearing friends tried to include me or my deaf friends, it was not possible for them to make us feel 100% included.

had the best of both worlds!

Thanks very much for sharing experience. So what you had was hearing kids learning sign, not just deaf struggling with speech. Sounds like a good model to follow.

 

[shel90]

OOOOMMMMMGGGGG, this is getting creepy. I ended up being the solo pitcher in my last year too because the other pitcher got kicked off due to poor marks. i got blisters in between my hands and it hurt like H-E-L-L. my coach would put fake skin (kinda like glue) so i could keep playing especially in touranments. it was pure torture.

yes and no. i kind of regret it because i would have loved the new experience playing for a different team plus, free education! but at the same time, i wasnt too keen about going to nebraska! if it was california, sssuuurrrrreeeee!

Just posted pics of myself as a high school kid pitching for my high school softball team int he Pics of you thread..



California breeds champion softball players.