- Joined
- Sep 7, 2006
- Messages
- 45,078
- Reaction score
- 335
I wanted to share with you something that I read....
This was written by Deaf teeanger after spending her early years being mainstreamed and then transferring to a Deaf school.
" At my old school, there were about 100 kids in the same grade. 100 people to chose from to be my friend. I had friends or I thought I did. These kids would talk to me at school but it was more of "Hi's or How are you's" Never got invited to birthday parties or sleepovers. I had no idea my "friends" played with each other after school. I thought all of the kids went home and stayed home with their families just like me. Until one day I accidently picked up a card that one of my friends have dropped. It was an invitation to another friend's birthday party. I was about 10 years old. In my child's mind, I was full of questions with one being the most important....."why didn't I get one?"
I entered middle school which constisted more kids in my class. Among the sea of peers day n and day out, I felt lonely. Sitting with my "friends" , watching them laugh, joke, share their gossip, and new events, all I could think of, "why could't I be like them?"
Finally, I was transferred to a deaf school because I was struggling to keep up academically. To my shock and dismay, there were only 11 students in my grade level. To me, being popular meant having at least 50 friends in your circle. "How does this work?", I asked myself. After 6 months there, I was ready to quit because I couldn't communicate fully with everyone due to not knowing ASL even though I was learning. I felt just as lonely. Until one day.....
I was sitting in the caefeteria sulking and wishing I was anywhere but there when one of the 8th graders came up and sat down with me. She was one of the girls who seemed to be very involved with the clubs and sports at the school. She told me in her voice, not with her hands that she was mainstreamed and came to the school not knowing any sign language. Like me, she wanted to leave because she felt just as left out as she did with her hearing classmates. She told me not to give up...it will get better.
Flash forward....I am about to graduate with my diploma, and the last 6 years have beeh the happiest ever. Despite the small number in my class, I had never felt as lonely as I did among 100 classmates. With just only having 9 to 11 classmates, I felt more connected to people and the world because I was able to engage in conversations freely.
My parents felt that by isolating me to just a small number of deaf people would impede my ability to function in the big world and do me more harm. It doesn't matter how many people surround us, the quality of our connection to people even if it is just one or two was really taught me more about the big world.
My message is....don't look at the numbers when making a decision about placement for your deaf child, thinking that having more hearing children has more quality than just a few deaf children. I wanted to share my appreciation for the school and people there who hyave helped me understand how thye bigger world works. Now, I am ready to take that new chapter of my life in that world. I love you all."
That part had a powerful impact on me because I have read how parents or hering people say that Deaf people isolate themselves. Maybe this will help those who believe that being around hearing children is better for deaf children understand that it could be more isolating instead of less.
That was written by my friend's younger sister at her high school graduation speech.
This was written by Deaf teeanger after spending her early years being mainstreamed and then transferring to a Deaf school.
" At my old school, there were about 100 kids in the same grade. 100 people to chose from to be my friend. I had friends or I thought I did. These kids would talk to me at school but it was more of "Hi's or How are you's" Never got invited to birthday parties or sleepovers. I had no idea my "friends" played with each other after school. I thought all of the kids went home and stayed home with their families just like me. Until one day I accidently picked up a card that one of my friends have dropped. It was an invitation to another friend's birthday party. I was about 10 years old. In my child's mind, I was full of questions with one being the most important....."why didn't I get one?"
I entered middle school which constisted more kids in my class. Among the sea of peers day n and day out, I felt lonely. Sitting with my "friends" , watching them laugh, joke, share their gossip, and new events, all I could think of, "why could't I be like them?"
Finally, I was transferred to a deaf school because I was struggling to keep up academically. To my shock and dismay, there were only 11 students in my grade level. To me, being popular meant having at least 50 friends in your circle. "How does this work?", I asked myself. After 6 months there, I was ready to quit because I couldn't communicate fully with everyone due to not knowing ASL even though I was learning. I felt just as lonely. Until one day.....
I was sitting in the caefeteria sulking and wishing I was anywhere but there when one of the 8th graders came up and sat down with me. She was one of the girls who seemed to be very involved with the clubs and sports at the school. She told me in her voice, not with her hands that she was mainstreamed and came to the school not knowing any sign language. Like me, she wanted to leave because she felt just as left out as she did with her hearing classmates. She told me not to give up...it will get better.
Flash forward....I am about to graduate with my diploma, and the last 6 years have beeh the happiest ever. Despite the small number in my class, I had never felt as lonely as I did among 100 classmates. With just only having 9 to 11 classmates, I felt more connected to people and the world because I was able to engage in conversations freely.
My parents felt that by isolating me to just a small number of deaf people would impede my ability to function in the big world and do me more harm. It doesn't matter how many people surround us, the quality of our connection to people even if it is just one or two was really taught me more about the big world.
My message is....don't look at the numbers when making a decision about placement for your deaf child, thinking that having more hearing children has more quality than just a few deaf children. I wanted to share my appreciation for the school and people there who hyave helped me understand how thye bigger world works. Now, I am ready to take that new chapter of my life in that world. I love you all."
That part had a powerful impact on me because I have read how parents or hering people say that Deaf people isolate themselves. Maybe this will help those who believe that being around hearing children is better for deaf children understand that it could be more isolating instead of less.
That was written by my friend's younger sister at her high school graduation speech.
