Is mainstream good for deaf?

deafdyke said:
mainstream, regular classes regular school with minimal accomondations (and that's even with some other issues) Trust me Pinky.......mainstream special ed is not great. Like if you don't suceed with minimal accomondations like preferential seating and Resource Room, you're usually lumped in with the "Ummmm who's President So-and-So" dumbasses who tend to be legion in special ed programs. Besides, think of it this way. Why is it that people complain about how crappy public schools are.....but suddenly they are the PERFECT place for disabled kids?
Personally, I think that ALL dhh (and classicly disabled) kids should start off at a school especially for their disabilty and THEN gradually transistion to mainstreaming. I really think that it should be easier to do a split placement. Like a couple of days at the Deaf School/program, and then a couple of days at a mainstream program.
Also, whether or not a mainstream placement works out well or not, is very often due to socioeconomic factors. Like a mainstream placement in East St. Louis or Camden NJ or any other crappy city would prolly not work out well.
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She's right, Pinky. I'm hearing, but was born with a birth defect and have been wheelchair bound my entire life.

Because of this, I experienced special ed and mainstreaming and saw all sides of it. I also experienced some of it first hand. I was in a self contained class from the time I started school until 3rd grade. From then on, I was fully mainstreamed. As I went along, I had my own experiences in the mainstream that were akin to the deafies here. I was ridiculed, teased, isolated and so forth. I was pulled out of class for physical therapy. As a result, I missed out on alot of class time.

Things didn't improve for me until HS. It was there that I met other deafies who were mainstreamed like myself, and the majority of them struggled. I did have terps in some of my classes for those students who were profoundly deaf. However, if an HoH student happened to be in my class, they were NOT given terps. They were given preferential sitting, and that was about it. I never saw deaf students assigned note takers. We never did circle seating, except for when the teacher preferred it over lined desks.

As a lot of people have been saying, the mainstream isn't what it's cracked up to be. I did OK. I survived, but did I thrive? No, not really. And, this a hearie saying this! I have a lot of empathy for those deafies who had similiar or worse experiences than I did.

As for Sped, it's a joke, too. It's geared more to the learning disabled population. Those students who have ADD or dyslexia. Services for other special needs individuals like myself and others, leaves a HELL of a lot to be desired.
 
OceanBreeze THANK YOU!!!!!
I'm not saying that specialized schools are some wonderful utopia. Just pointing out that the mainstream really does have HUGE downsides, that tend to be swept under the rug by pro-mainstreamers. Oh, and I remember vividly being pulled out for things like: speech, OT,and PT.....To this day I have NO clue how I managed to fit all that in. But I do remember wishing that I could have attended a school where all those extra services were built into the school day.
I think Meggie might be saying that her family couldn't afford a lawyer to fight for a really good placement and accomondations. Remember, a mainstream school CAN legally provide minimal accomondations, and still be within legal rights.
 
Mainstream schools was not good for me at all.Too many problems with hearies.
 
deafdyke said:
OceanBreeze THANK YOU!!!!!
I'm not saying that specialized schools are some wonderful utopia. Just pointing out that the mainstream really does have HUGE downsides, that tend to be swept under the rug by pro-mainstreamers. Oh, and I remember vividly being pulled out for things like: speech, OT,and PT.....To this day I have NO clue how I managed to fit all that in. But I do remember wishing that I could have attended a school where all those extra services were built into the school day.
I think Meggie might be saying that her family couldn't afford a lawyer to fight for a really good placement and accomondations. Remember, a mainstream school CAN legally provide minimal accomondations, and still be within legal rights.
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I will qualify my statement above by saying this ...

I graduated HS in 1987. At the time, the shift towards full inclusion into the mainstream was beginning to really take hold. Many of the orthopedic units that I had known during my schooling were being closed down, and the self contained classes were being phased out. This was in a public school district in Maryland, where I'm originally from. I have no idea what it's like now, but I can only imagine it being a dog eat, dog world now.

There are people who thrive in a mainstream, and because of that, I think a parent should consider it as an option, and place there child according to his or her ability, but the moment the child starts to struggle, pull them and place them in another environment.

Also, if you place your child is in the mainstream setting, make SURE that child
has the appropriate accomondations. Don't settle for JUST peferential seating. If the child needs more services, provide them those services!
 
Oceanbreeze said:
I will qualify my statement above by saying this ...

I graduated HS in 1987. At the time, the shift towards full inclusion into the mainstream was beginning to really take hold. Many of the orthopedic units that I had known during my schooling were being closed down, and the self contained classes were being phased out. This was in a public school district in Maryland, where I'm originally from. I have no idea what it's like now, but I can only imagine it being a dog eat, dog world now.

There are people who thrive in a mainstream, and because of that, I think a parent should consider it as an option, and place there child according to his or her ability, but the moment the child starts to struggle, pull them and place them in another environment.

Also, if you place your child is in the mainstream setting, make SURE that child
has the appropriate accomondations. Don't settle for JUST peferential seating. If the child needs more services, provide them those services!
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That was my accodomation...preferential seating. Didnt help if the teacher walked around the classroom while lecturing. Sometimes, I wonder where was the common sense in some of my teachers.

I only had one teacher who really went out of her way to make sure I wasnt left out and that was my first grade teacher. For that, I remember her the most. The worst one was my 5th grade teacher who kept telling me how special I was before, during and after class in front of all the other kids. Yea, that definitely gave the bullies the ammunition to use as a justification to make my life miserable during recess and lunch times.
 
shel90 said:
That was my accodomation...preferential seating. Didnt help if the teacher walked around the classroom while lecturing. Sometimes, I wonder where was the common sense in some of my teachers.

I only had one teacher who really went out of her way to make sure I wasnt left out and that was my first grade teacher. For that, I remember her the most. The worst one was my 5th grade teacher who kept telling me how special I was before, during and after class in front of all the other kids. Yea, that definitely gave the bullies the ammunition to use as a justification to make my life miserable during recess and lunch times.
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I know! I saw alot of that, too. Experienced bullying as well. School sucked, to be honest. Not just for me, but for a lot of kids in the so-called mainstream.

Preferential seating doesn't do jack if the teacher is a "roving" lecturer!
 
Meggie2 said:
I can handle the bullys.
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A bully slammed a locker door on my hand nearly breaking it. He had been harrassing me all school year and for no reason. I didnt bother him, said nothing about him or anything. Someone told me cuz it was because of my deafness. My hand swelled up and I couldnt play softball for two weeks. I lied to my mom saying that I fell cuz I was ashamed.

Nope, I couldnt handle that..In fact, I didnt deserve that cuz all I wanted to do is go to school, learn and be left alone but no, they had to harrass, threaten and physically harm me.
 
shel90 said:
A bully slammed a locker door on my hand nearly breaking it. He had been harrassing me all school year and for no reason. I didnt bother him, said nothing about him or anything. Someone told me cuz it was because of my deafness. My hand swelled up and I couldnt play softball for two weeks. I lied to my mom saying that I fell cuz I was ashamed.

Nope, I couldnt handle that..In fact, I didnt deserve that cuz all I wanted to do is go to school, learn and be left alone but no, they had to harrass, threaten and physically harm me.
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Shel,I have been there.:(
 
Pepsi Lover said:
Shel,I have been there.:(
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Yea and the shitty thing was that I complained to the school administrators but they told me that I must have done something to provoke them. What the f*#ck? That's why I lied to my mom about what was really happening at school...I told her everything was fine cuz she was already stressed out with her relationship problems with her ex boyfriend at the time. I didnt want to burden her more.
 
shel90 said:
Yea and the shitty thing was that I complained to the school administrators but they told me that I must have done something to provoke them. What the f*#ck? That's why I lied to my mom about what was really happening at school...I told her everything was fine cuz she was already stressed out with her relationship problems with her ex boyfriend at the time. I didnt want to burden her more.
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I remember one time a teacher told my mother that I had to get use to it.Then my mother jump down her throat and I had to get sent to an another school.That was good to think about your mom.You seem like a strong person.
 
Meggie2 said:
What I did. I yelled at them. They turn around shock.
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Same here...it just made them laugh and make them continue. I worked on ignoring them and not reacting to them...it was hard but eventually, it worked. Took like several months though.

U are lucky that yelling worked for u
 
Pepsi Lover said:
I remember one time a teacher told my mother that I had to get use to it.Then my mother jump down her throat and I had to get sent to an another school.That was good to think about your mom.You seem like a strong person.
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Thanks..but I endured serious self-destructive behaviors in my 20s because the toll finally caught up with me and I had serious distorted views about myself. Thank god, I went to therapy and then discovering ASL and the Deaf community. Even with therapy and the discovery, it was still years before I was able to accept myself. I think the divorce from my ex hubby helped cuz my ex hubby was a part of my old life so as long as I stayed with him, I was reminded of my shortcomings. Once he was out of my life, I was able to truly focus on myself and learn about who I was and how to be the person I am for MYSELF not for others..now, I dont care if people love or hate me. It is ok that not everyone has to like me. LOL!
 
shel90 said:
Thanks..but I endured serious self-destructive behaviors in my 20s because the toll finally caught up with me and I had serious distorted views about myself. Thank god, I went to therapy and then discovering ASL and the Deaf community. Even with therapy and the discovery, it was still years before I was able to accept myself. I think the divorce from my ex hubby helped cuz my ex hubby was a part of my old life so as long as I stayed with him, I was reminded of my shortcomings. Once he was out of my life, I was able to truly focus on myself and learn about who I was and how to be the person I am for MYSELF not for others..now, I dont care if people love or hate me. It is ok that not everyone has to like me. LOL!
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You know Shel,you and I are a lot alike in someways.I am in a bad marriage.I was stuck in the "hearing world"I also put up with so much crap.I didn't start leaning ASL till I was 45.and that was just a few months ago.
 
Pepsi Lover said:
You know Shel,you and I are a lot alike in someways.I am in a bad marriage.I was stuck in the "hearing world"I also put up with so much crap.I didn't start leaning ASL till I was 45.and that was just a few months ago.
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Wow...can u get out?
 
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