Question

[jillio]

I was doing a presentation this evening on multicultural issues in counseling, and I used this quote:

"When those that have the power to name and socially construct reality choose not to see you or hear you, whether you are dark skinned, old, disabled, female, or speak with a different accent or dialect than theirs, when someone with the authority of say, a teacher, describes the world and you are not in it, there is a moment of psychic disequilibrium, as if you looked into a mirror and saw nothing." A.C. Rich, 1986

I think that quote goes a long way toward explaining the reason that deaf children in the mainstream experience some of the psyco-social problems that so many of you have described. I can just picture a young deaf child sitting in a mainstream classroom, during yet another history lesson, during which the entire lesson is focused on the history of hearing people. That child cannot see his place in the world, because he is shown no one before him that has been deaf and found their place in the world.

Do you agree with this? Is it similar to the feelings you had?

 

[shel90]

Well, I cant remember how I felt during those lectures cuz I had no idea what was being taught in the classroom so I just daydreamed during those lessons.

If I could go back and had a terp in the mainstreamed setting and was getting educated on the history of hearing people but not deaf people, then I probably would feel detached. I even remember thinking that I would grow up not being able to be independent because I didnt know anything about successful deaf adults and what kind of work they can do. I was frightened about my future constantly when I was in high school.

 

[jillio]

Well, I cant remember how I felt during those lectures cuz I had no idea what was being taught in the classroom so I just daydreamed during those lessons.

If I could go back and had a terp in the mainstreamed setting and was getting educated on the history of hearing people but not deaf people, then I probably would feel detached. I even remember thinking that I would grow up not being able to be independent because I didnt know anything about successful deaf adults and what kind of work they can do. I was frightened about my future constantly when I was in high school.

Yeah, that is kind of what I was talking about. The world around you didn't include other people like you. Like you weren't sure where you fit, because no one ever told you that there were many, many people just like you in the world that had found their place.

 

[Bottesini]

I did not understand what was going on either, and usually tried to hide a book and just read throughout the day.

Most of what I learned, I learned at home from my father.

Except for one alert math teacher in middle school who knew what I did, and made me come after school when he taught me individually. And he was all numbers, not picturing the wide world.

 

[jillio]

I did not understand what was going on either, and usually tried to hide a book and just read throughout the day.

Most of what I learned, I learned at home from my father.

Except for one alert math teacher in middle school who knew what I did, and made me come after school when he taught me individually. And he was all numbers, not picturing the wide world.

Being mainstreamed, did you get the feeling that what you observed was the way the world worked for hearing people, but that you weren't included in that? I realize that you had the added support at home, and that no doubt mediated some of the influence. I am just trying to better understand the implicit and unintentional messages that kids get in the mainstream.

 

[Bottesini]

Being mainstreamed, did you get the feeling that what you observed was the way the world worked for hearing people, but that you weren't included in that? I realize that you had the added support at home, and that no doubt mediated some of the influence. I am just trying to better understand the implicit and unintentional messages that kids get in the mainstream.

That I wasn't included. Yes that is true.

And I hated them.

The other deaf kid from my neighborhood absolutely couldn't keep up when middle school came along, as we only got front row seating, not other help, and his parents moved the family to a small town after the first year, and then I was really alone at school and home.

 

[jillio]

That I wasn't included. Yes that is true.

And I hated them.

The other deaf kid from my neighborhood absolutely couldn't keep up when middle school came along, as we only got front row seating, not other help, and his parents moved the family to a small town after the first year, and then I was really alone at school and home.

Thanks for answering. I thought that was one of the implicit messages we send to kids when we put them in that position. That they are alone, and there is no place for them in the wider society. Kind of like, we might let you in every now and then just to remind you that you don't really fit because you aren't like everyone else here.

 

[Buffalo]

Well, I cant remember how I felt during those lectures cuz I had no idea what was being taught in the classroom so I just daydreamed during those lessons.

If I could go back and had a terp in the mainstreamed setting and was getting educated on the history of hearing people but not deaf people, then I probably would feel detached. I even remember thinking that I would grow up not being able to be independent because I didnt know anything about successful deaf adults and what kind of work they can do. I was frightened about my future constantly when I was in high school.

That explains why the African-Americans want Black History Month.

 

[Buffalo]

I was doing a presentation this evening on multicultural issues in counseling, and I used this quote:

"When those that have the power to name and socially construct reality choose not to see you or hear you, whether you are dark skinned, old, disabled, female, or speak with a different accent or dialect than theirs, when someone with the authority of say, a teacher, describes the world and you are not in it, there is a moment of psychic disequilibrium, as if you looked into a mirror and saw nothing." A.C. Rich, 1986

I think that quote goes a long way toward explaining the reason that deaf children in the mainstream experience some of the psyco-social problems that so many of you have described. I can just picture a young deaf child sitting in a mainstream classroom, during yet another history lesson, during which the entire lesson is focused on the history of hearing people. That child cannot see his place in the world, because he is shown no one before him that has been deaf and found their place in the world.

Do you agree with this? Is it similar to the feelings you had?

That quote does remind me of the book I was reading - Mapping Human History: Genes, Race, and Our Common Origins by Steve Olson. In it, it says "Minorities in many countries score lower on IQ tests than do the majorities regardless of their ancestry. An example is the Buraku of Japan, a minority that is severely discriminated against in housing, education, and employment, Their children typically score ten to fifteen points below other Japanese children on their IQ tests. Yet when the Buraku immigrate to other countries, the IQ gap between them and other Japanese gradually vanishes." This book shows that we all have African ancestors as the human race started in Africa. So why some think they are better than others is beyond me. What is it that make so-called superior people look down on others? Fear? Jealousy? Maybe the hearing people are afraid of losing their own hearing so they look down on us???

 

[jillio]

That quote does remind me of the book I was reading - Mapping Human History: Genes, Race, and Our Common Origins by Steve Olson. In it, it says "Minorities in many countries score lower on IQ tests than do the majorities regardless of their ancestry. An example is the Buraku of Japan, a minority that is severely discriminated against in housing, education, and employment, Their children typically score ten to fifteen points below other Japanese children on their IQ tests. Yet when the Buraku immigrate to other countries, the IQ gap between them and other Japanese gradually vanishes." This book shows that we all have African ancestors as the human race started in Africa. So why some think they are better than others is beyond me. What is it that make so-called superior people look down on others? Fear? Jealousy? Maybe the hearing people are afraid of losing their own hearing so they look down on us???

Yes, I like that example, Buffalo. It goes to show that the differences are not so much a matter of ethnicity or disability, but of the way society oppresses based on that difference.

I think fear has a lot to do with it.

 

[deafbajagal]

It goes back to the concept of L.R.E...and how being around "like peers" really do have an impact on the child's social and psychological growth on many levels. (Hence, being in an education environment that promotes open communication and like peers allows the least restrictive environment for the deaf child).

All children need role models to show that even people who are deaf like them are able to have successful, meaningful lives.

 

[deafbajagal]

Remember that powerful moment in the book Deaf Like Me in which the child meets a deaf person for the first time, and there was instant kindred spirit between them. And between them was a world of two people who really understood each other...without having to say a word.

 

[deafskeptic]

Well, I cant remember how I felt during those lectures cuz I had no idea what was being taught in the classroom so I just daydreamed during those lessons.

If I could go back and had a terp in the mainstreamed setting and was getting educated on the history of hearing people but not deaf people, then I probably would feel detached. I even remember thinking that I would grow up not being able to be independent because I didnt know anything about successful deaf adults and what kind of work they can do. I was frightened about my future constantly when I was in high school.

When I was in mainstream, the only deaf successful person I had heard of was Helen Keller. And Juliette "Daisy" Gordon Low, founder of Girl Scouts, who was a late deafened adult. She was deaf in one ear.

 

[jillio]

Remember that powerful moment in the book Deaf Like Me in which the child meets a deaf person for the first time, and there was instant kindred spirit between them. And between them was a world of two people who really understood each other...without having to say a word.

Read that book about 6 months after my son was diagnosed, and it had a huge impact on me. Remembering the moment in the book you described still has the power to bring tears to my eyes.

 

[LuciaDisturbed]

I don't know if it counts but when my dad and his wife gave me up to the state the state dumped me in a orphanage-type kind of place, and they have school there during the day. I was denied an interpreter for school for the most part of my 3-year stay there, in fact I was completely denied an interpreter for everything. I was the only deaf kid there, and for the most part of the stay I did not ever see another single deaf person ever, as the place was very secluded. Towards the end I was able to take the place to court and sue for an interpreter, during which I was finally granted one, but it was a waste of time anyway because it was almost the end of my stay there and I was then moved to a Deaf foster home 4 blocks away from the state school for the Deaf. They really should have just placed me in that Deaf foster home in the beginning and placed me in the state school for the deaf in the beginning but they didn't. I guess the county foster care agency just doesn't care at all and just wanted to save money so they dumped me there - I was told by the staff that worked there that the place is actually a dumping ground for unwanted children. The only reason I was ever moved from the "orphanage" to the Deaf foster home was because my case file was given to a private Catholic foster care agency when the county became overloaded with cases of too many foster children, and they sent a real nice social worker to see me, and she asked me what I wanted to do. I told her, "I want out of this hellhole, I want to be in a foster home with people that signs, and I want to go to the school for the Deaf". Within six months of meeting her, I was eventually moved to the Deaf foster home, and it was so nice. But unfortunately, living at the orphanage had such a big impact on me that it eventually ended up affecting all areas of my life eventually in the form of PTSD, and I am not going to say any more because it is too personal. I'll leave it to your imagination.

 

[ASLGAL]

When I was in mainstream, the only deaf successful person I had heard of was Helen Keller. And Juliette "Daisy" Gordon Low, founder of Girl Scouts, who was a late deafened adult.

The history of successful D/deaf people has long been ignored.

The mainstream does not do well at reporting any history thoroughly or accurately, especially D/deaf history.

 

[shel90]

The history of successful D/deaf people has long been ignored.

The mainstream does not do well at reporting any history thoroughly or accurately, especially D/deaf history.

Mainstreaming sucks big time when it comes to that unless there is a good deaf program or teacher of the Deaf there.

 

[jazzy]

Mainstreaming. there is a good deaf program or teacher of the Deaf there.

I guess I was very lucky compare to many of you guys here.

 

[serena1986]

i am african american i enjoy your article about african american in america,thank you very much for the article.

 

[mshel]

I didn't realize being female was equal to disabled, or old...