Mainstreaming

[Jenny315]

I was mainstreamed from second-grade on. I graduated from a public high school and also from a public university. I did well academically, even though my social skills lacked. Where I'm from, there is not a lot of Deaf in the community. We do have some, but not as many as some bigger places.
A professor I had for child signing class in my undergrad told me that if I went to Gally for my master's in deaf education, it would be too easy for me. She said I was doing very well at the university I was at--University of Nebraska-Lincoln. It's true, I did do well there and was challenged academically. In my third year I made the Dean's List twice when I was in my pre-education classes.

Anyway...speaking from college experience, I didn't find mainstreaming all that bad. It was what I was used to.

 

[Sunshine1]

I was mainstreamed from second-grade on. I graduated from a public high school and also from a public university. I did well academically, even though my social skills lacked. Where I'm from, there is not a lot of Deaf in the community. We do have some, but not as many as some bigger places.
A professor I had for child signing class in my undergrad told me that if I went to Gally for my master's in deaf education, it would be too easy for me. She said I was doing very well at the university I was at--University of Nebraska-Lincoln. It's true, I did do well there and was challenged academically. In my third year I made the Dean's List twice when I was in my pre-education classes.

Anyway...speaking from college experience, I didn't find mainstreaming all that bad. It was what I was used to.

Wonderful .. Congrats!

 

[deafdyke]

I actually think that total mainstreaming should be very very limited. I mean sheesh, even oral superstars have severe social difficulties in the hearing world. Early on I think the majority of dhh kids should be put in a split placement (part time deaf school and part time hearing school) sort of dealie, so that they can figure out what the best placement for them is.
Too many kids with classic disabilites get lumped in with the "Umm who's President Bush?" type of dumbasses who seem to be legion in special ed. Most mainstream teachers (even sped teachers) really don't know how to teach kids with classic disabilites.

 

[sr171soars]

Er...I'm one of those *cough* oral superstars. I was mainstreamed from 3rd grade on and never looked back and went on to U of Md. Academically, it really wasn't a problem whatsoever. I do agree that the social aspect was the toughest part. The main thing was the "common" cultural knowledge part more than anything else. I sure don't see how being in a part time deaf school would have done anything in that regard in my opinion. What I mean is stuff like the latest TV shows, street lingo (changes all the time), general events in news that everybody more or less knows and so on. This is stuff that every day people talk about and the only way to know that is to hear it. I didn't catch up till my early twenties...

 

[LuciaDisturbed]

I was mainstreamed on and off K-12 but was mainstreamed more than I was in the school for the deaf. I have to say that I always did so much better being completely mainstreamed than I ever did at the school for the deaf. I was more happier, too.

 

[deafdyke]

sr17, you were probaly mainstreamed back when they were a little better about their attitudes....Like they thought that the mainstreamed kids would be smart.....nowadays they lump all kids with classic disablities into the same "Umm who's President Bush?" type group.
Going to a school for the deaf would have given you a social life, much better then in the hearing world.....that's all I'm saying. Also by doing a split placement, if you'd been better at visual learning, you could have capitalized on that strengh by going to a deaf school.

 

[sr171soars]

sr17, you were probaly mainstreamed back when they were a little better about their attitudes....Like they thought that the mainstreamed kids would be smart.....nowadays they lump all kids with classic disablities into the same "Umm who's President Bush?" type group.
Going to a school for the deaf would have given you a social life, much better then in the hearing world.....that's all I'm saying. Also by doing a split placement, if you'd been better at visual learning, you could have capitalized on that strengh by going to a deaf school.

You may be right that in my day mainstreaming meant one thing and today or the recent decade or so that it means something else altogether.

From a purely social standpoint, yes you probably are correct that I would have had a better social life. However, still I believe I came out ahead as I'm an avid believer in the "sink or swim" school.

There are always tradeoffs in life...

 

[Oceanbreeze]

I'm gonna jump in here. The mainstreaming debate irritates me, so I'm going to give my two cents.

As most of you know, I'm hearing. However, I have physical disabilities. I was mainstreamed in a regular education class in the third grade, so I feel somewhat qualified to speak about this.

I honestly believe that mainstreaming should be the first choice for children. I believe that kids deserve the opportunity to prove to themselves. In my situation, I was judged mentally retarded, and my Mom had to fight to get me into a mainstreamed classroom. The "diagnosis" proved incorrect. I have some learning disabilities, but I was able to learn and keep up with other children. This should also be afforded to deaf children as well. Now, if the child has difficulty adjusting, or just can't handle the experience, than ok. Send the child to a deaf school.

As to socialization, I admit that's tough. I won't say I had a rosey experience socially. I didn't. Kids were cruel, but you can make social adjustments for the child, so they don't feel left out. But, I really think you are holding some deaf children back by automatically opting for a deaf school when mainstreaming would be better for them.

Just my two cents.

 

[LuciaDisturbed]

I'm gonna jump in here. The mainstreaming debate irritates me, so I'm going to give my two cents.

As most of you know, I'm hearing. However, I have physical disabilities. I was mainstreamed in a regular education class in the third grade, so I feel somewhat qualified to speak about this.

I honestly believe that mainstreaming should be the first choice for children. I believe that kids deserve the opportunity to prove to themselves. In my situation, I was judged mentally retarded, and my Mom had to fight to get me into a mainstreamed classroom. The "diagnosis" proved incorrect. I have some learning disabilities, but I was able to learn and keep up with other children. This should also be afforded to deaf children as well. Now, if the child has difficulty adjusting, or just can't handle the experience, than ok. Send the child to a deaf school.

As to socialization, I admit that's tough. I won't say I had a rosey experience socially. I didn't. Kids were cruel, but you can make social adjustments for the child, so they don't feel left out. But, I really think you are holding some deaf children back by automatically opting for a deaf school when mainstreaming would be better for them.

Just my two cents.

I absolutely agree.

 

[R2D2]

I'm gonna jump in here. The mainstreaming debate irritates me, so I'm going to give my two cents.

As most of you know, I'm hearing. However, I have physical disabilities. I was mainstreamed in a regular education class in the third grade, so I feel somewhat qualified to speak about this.

I honestly believe that mainstreaming should be the first choice for children. I believe that kids deserve the opportunity to prove to themselves. In my situation, I was judged mentally retarded, and my Mom had to fight to get me into a mainstreamed classroom. The "diagnosis" proved incorrect. I have some learning disabilities, but I was able to learn and keep up with other children. This should also be afforded to deaf children as well. Now, if the child has difficulty adjusting, or just can't handle the experience, than ok. Send the child to a deaf school.

As to socialization, I admit that's tough. I won't say I had a rosey experience socially. I didn't. Kids were cruel, but you can make social adjustments for the child, so they don't feel left out. But, I really think you are holding some deaf children back by automatically opting for a deaf school when mainstreaming would be better for them.

Just my two cents.

I agree, good thoughts. I was mainstreamed but in a school with other deaf kids and it wasn't like I became automatically close to the other deaf students because of our shared experience. I became friendly with some of the deaf girls who weren't in my grade but the boys were a waste of time.
Even at the deaf youth group I attended outside of school I couldn't quite click with everyone.

School was a lonely time but I came away with a full education and a college degree. I think that not quite socially fitting in with the hearing world just goes with the territory of being deaf and even though it wasn't nice at the time I now see it as a useful training ground for dealing with those feelings later on at work. I have always had friends though. The further I go into adulthood I'm finding that my hearing peers of the same age are vastly more accepting of me and the friendships have deepened. I am now at the stage in my life where I have lots of good friends both deaf and hearing.

I think on some level we deaf people have to be trained on how to accept the feeling of being different because there will always be situations where we will be alone with hearing people e.g. at work. I was never part of the crowd at work. As a result I became the type who put my head down and got glowing reports from my employers

 

[deafdyke]

OB, I'm not one of those "mainstream school sucks" so every dhh kid needs to go to deaf school." types I think there are good points to mainstreaming.....but I also think that most dhh kids should also get the benifit of dhh specific schooling. They don't nessarily have to go to a Deaf School.....instead they could attend their home school for most of the time, and THEN, once or twice a week, go to a program that is specificly for dhh kids, whether it was a self contained classroom, day school, residental school fill in the blank here. I just think that the gross majority of mainstream teachers really do not know how to teach dhh (or other classicly disabled kids) Even most special ed teachers have no clue how to teach us. So we fall through the cracks. I just think that by automaticly mainstreaming kids, that too many of them fall through the cracks or get lumped in with the "Who's President Bush" type doofuses who seem to make up the majority of sped cases.

 

[R2D2]

Yeah I see your point DD. I remember at school once there was a scheduling mix up and I ended up in the lowest stream class for English for one day and we just didn't do anything at all. The teacher spent most of the time disciplining the class because a lot of the kids were playing up. I'd hate to think of a deaf kid stuck in a class like that because they fell through the cracks from lack of attention.

A deaf child who is mainstreamed definitely has to be well looked after. Luckily for me I was well supervised both by special education teachers who visited once a week. They were really great and listened to me. I asked not to do music any more and they fixed it up for me. And yes while most of my teachers were great and didn't expect anything less of me there were a minority of teachers I can think of who definitely treated me like I was a doofus.

 

[deafdyke]

Oh and R2D2, I think that mainstreaming can work if the teachers are familiar with how to teach dhh kids. Like I totally totally support "magnet school" mainstreaming, which is when dhh kids in a district all go to a specific school. I just don't think that traditonal regular classes, regular school mainstreaming can work all that well, especially seeing as most teachers, including sped teachers really don't know how to teach kids like us.
I think if you'd experianced that kind of mainstreaming, you'd see what I'm saying.

 

[MilitaryGirl83]

I agree with you and I was mainstreamed most of my life. I only went to deaf school from 5th to 7th grade.

I was mainstreamed on and off K-12 but was mainstreamed more than I was in the school for the deaf. I have to say that I always did so much better being completely mainstreamed than I ever did at the school for the deaf. I was more happier, too.

 

[cdmeggers]

I actually think that total mainstreaming should be very very limited. I mean sheesh, even oral superstars have severe social difficulties in the hearing world. Early on I think the majority of dhh kids should be put in a split placement (part time deaf school and part time hearing school) sort of dealie, so that they can figure out what the best placement for them is.

I was one of those that went to the deaf school part time, and mainstreamed into a public school part time. I thought it was a great way to get an education. Here, our deaf school is connected to the elementary school building, and all deaf students were to take a few classes at the elementary school, just so we'd get the experience of being mainstreamed. Our deaf school was only for k-6, so for junior high and high school, we either had to be mainstreamed full time, or go to an out of state school for the deaf to continue getting an education. After 6th grade, we were mainstreamed into a public school full time, with interpreters and services for the deaf. This system worked very well for me.

 

[dkf747]

I'm gonna jump in here. The mainstreaming debate irritates me, so I'm going to give my two cents.

As most of you know, I'm hearing. However, I have physical disabilities. I was mainstreamed in a regular education class in the third grade, so I feel somewhat qualified to speak about this.

Stop right there! Like it or not, mainstreaming a person with physical disabilities and deaf or HoH, is not the same. Some things are, but if you are hearing you do not have the language / sound barrier to deal with.

Before someone flames me, I'm Deaf AND physically disabled.

 

[jillio]

Stop right there! Like it or not, mainstreaming a person with physical disabilities and deaf or HoH, is not the same. Some things are, but if you are hearing you do not have the language / sound barrier to deal with.

Before someone flames me, I'm Deaf AND physically disabled.

The whole issue surrounding mainstreaming of d/hh kids is the communication barrier. Inclusion and access to programs is not achieved without effective communication. This is not an issue with other types of disabilities.

 

[Oceanbreeze]

Stop right there! Like it or not, mainstreaming a person with physical disabilities and deaf or HoH, is not the same. Some things are, but if you are hearing you do not have the language / sound barrier to deal with.

Before someone flames me, I'm Deaf AND physically disabled.

Tell me why then some kids do very well, when others do not?

You seem to want to lump all deaf kids together, and that's unfair. You shouldn't assume that a child is going to have a hard time, and automatically send them to deaf school. Like it or not, that child is going to have to adapt to the world around them, and I honestly believe you aren't doing them any good by holding them back. You're sending a strong message of dependance to the kid, and that is wrong. I honestly believing adapting is better for the child later in life. Mommy and Daddy isn't always going to be there, so the kid is going to have to learn to get along on their own. They might as well start early.

 

[LuciaDisturbed]

Tell me why then some kids do very well, when others do not?

You seem to want to lump all deaf kids together, and that's unfair. You shouldn't assume that a child is going to have a hard time, and automatically send them to deaf school. Like it or not, that child is going to have to adapt to the world around them, and I honestly believe you aren't doing them any good by holding them back. You're sending a strong message of dependance to the kid, and that is wrong. I honestly believing adapting is better for the child later in life. Mommy and Daddy isn't always going to be there, so the kid is going to have to learn to get along on their own. They might as well start early.

I agree.

 

[jillio]

Tell me why then some kids do very well, when others do not?

You seem to want to lump all deaf kids together, and that's unfair. You shouldn't assume that a child is going to have a hard time, and automatically send them to deaf school. Like it or not, that child is going to have to adapt to the world around them, and I honestly believe you aren't doing them any good by holding them back. You're sending a strong message of dependance to the kid, and that is wrong. I honestly believing adapting is better for the child later in life. Mommy and Daddy isn't always going to be there, so the kid is going to have to learn to get along on their own. They might as well start early.

You seem to want to lump all students from schools for the deaf together. They are undereducated, can't cope with the hearing world, are dependant, haven't adpated to their world, etc, etc. Nothing could be more incorrect.
My son attended a school for the deaf, and is a sophomore this fall at a hearign university. He maintained an A- average his freshman year. He also workds part time, and lives off campus with another deaf student. He is coping better with his independance than a heck of a lot of hearing students I know! Deaf school is not equal to lack of education.