Sexual Abuse of Deaf Students in Schools...

[deafdyke]

This is why I advocate against students staying at the school as residential students. There are just far too many similar cases to be ignored, but it is being ignored anyway.
A residential student is at a much higher risk of being abused in comparison to a day student, period. It also makes the situation more difficult because they are without their parents and at a long distance from their homes. They are being watched by non-relatives and low-paid staff. I strongly believe that most of the house-parents are not capable of doing the job properly due to most being non-certificated. It's a very scary thought, I don't approve of residential schools at all. A child should always live at home, never the school because their parents are the most important figures in their lives. Spending 5 days a week away from home isn't right, and worse, there are some schools where students can only go home for the holidays.

I don't know Banjo...I think residental schools could work if there was a checks and balances system to make sure that nothing like sexual abuse would happen. I think that a residental school system should still be an option. Not everyone has the advantage of living in stable middle class homes. Hey, there are families where the parents don't have proper parenting skills and the kids would be better off at a res school. Also there are foster dhh kids who are notoriously hard to place, since nobody ever wants special needs kids. I think before totally getting rid of res schools, or res programs we have to try to make them better.

Ultimately, I had to leave LA and am now in Missouri where my son attends MSD, which is so much of a better place that LSD can not even compare. I live with the regret of ever moving back to LA which I did just so my son would have a deaf school to attend. The financial cost associated with having had to relocate my whole family is one that I am just getting over now as we speak. It pains me so much to know that the last time I checked the LSD web site, the same Supt was still working there. LSD has been so unmerciful to us and traumatized my family in ways that worda can not describe. I just had a recent letter from my lawyers stating that we will soon be having a meeting with the lawyers for LSD. I am anxious to get this over with. I feel the owe my son Millions.

Wow....*shakes head* I cannot articulate how your post affected me. I really do think that there needs to be a specialized program seperate program for deaf and hoh kids who've been sexually abused. B/c of the "last resort" mentality, a lot of extreme last resort students end up at schools for the dhh. Most if not all student on student sex abuse is b/c the perpetrator was sexually abused. (the rest may be b/c the student has extreme ADD or is bipolar) I hope things turn out OK for you and your family.

 

[The*Empress]

I don't know why people would sexually abuse other people. It is so sad.

 

[t4nier]

Governor Baxter School for the Deaf 1996

Does anyone know the name of the defense attorney for the Baxter School in Portland, Maine when the former RA was arrested for abuse of students?

 

[deafdyke]

I don't know why people would sexually abuse other people. It is so sad.

Control issues.

 

[80Seattle]

What is the most sadder is this video posted by shebaby, https://www.deafvideo.tv/645351 with the link she provided on DeafVideo.TV.
https://www.seattlepi.com/national/...d-denial-of-rape-hang-over-Oregon-1072821.php alongside with 10 commenters under her post and I was absolutely horrified and shocked to see how horribly the victim was mocked by these seven commenters! Check out bellamia20's comment for shebaby I copied and pasted here:
ReplyTo: shebaby
Title: yup! pretty hard leave!!
And the rest of the 3 commenters Southside50, foundonroaddead, and DeafHawk62 were very sympathetic toward the victim. foundonroaddead told shebaby he did not appreciate the way she talked about the victim.

 

[80Seattle]

Who is foundonroaddead ? I agree with Thumbup. I am survior .. Shebaby is wrong information about me. Knew nothing. the Newspaper media were misinformation 99.99 are wrong. One pieces are right about Burger Hut. Shebaby knew nothing about 2matSeattle

 

[80Seattle]

Oh....almost forgot. Washington School for the Deaf did have a lot of sexual abuse issues, but it's not prone to sexual abuse. Most of the incidents were the work of one troublemaker, from what I understand he may even have been mentally ill and he just ended up at Washington School for the Deaf b/c there was no place else to go.
I think cutting down on hazing and the drinking and drug culture would help a lot with student on student sexual abuse. Also identifying abused kids (the recipants of abuse turn into abusers themselves...so it's very likely that abusers were abusees in the past.

 

[80Seattle]

Very thoughtful to discuss more health issues over about Washington School for the Deaf. Few staff raped boy at boy dorm that I aware few people I would not names whom.. I want to their name private.. It is very common for standard in TSCP, Teacher School Commission Practice that they found out Oregon School for the Deaf were problem for long time 50 + ... I mean more than 50 years. they keep covered up for long time. Now OSD, Oregon School for the Deaf have a strict to staff training and not touch any body at all.. I am survior Simple, discuss about who responsible.. Who is fault. student keep love one staff for many years. unitl he busted by Oregon School for the Deaf by state caught. OSD also was break the law.they cover up for him. Now had to fired him to not teacher anymore as sub teacher. it was complicatons.

 

[80Seattle]

Thank you for bring me back ..

 

[80Seattle]

Abuse remains a silent threat at schools for the deaf....

And

yet the federal government has not stepped in, and many states have refused to deal with the problem or even acknowledge it exists.....

Here is a link for Abuse and Silence: Examining America's schools for the deaf

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/48233_deaf27.shtml


Communication barriers are the HIGHEST risk of abuse for deaf children... It's simply harder for them to report assaults when most adults do not know how to communicate with them....

 

[80Seattle]

Angel, That's not true.. I did reported Police Deptember they ignored me for requested ASL interpreter back in 1980 and repeated reported 7 times in each years, I heard he contuine used student were under 19 yr. They never ordering ASL interpreter .. but expirated was too late statute of limitaion.
He is responsible for 35 female student fo relationship was illeaged. Problem that the office main aware about his lust. use their body.. Police Department were discplinend by lawyer office and Fail to report to TSCP, Teacher Standard Commission Policy were not aware for 35 years. they never report.. but several parents did reported to Police Department .. They never alert to TSPC.

Don't listen Shebaby.. she knew NOTHING! She is from Canada and I was filed against Lorenzen

 

[80Seattle]

Have you ever noticed how often they tend to hire people with no degrees or experiences to teach gym classes?

I've noticed it quite often. That may be why we tend to hear horror stories about gym teachers rather than the math teachers.

For long time that WSSD deal after settlement due teenager student have history. WSSD and OSSD dealing same guy .. I just found out that he was temporary worked for WSD before he transfered to OSSD for over 25 year he finally fired after he became retired Supt. few years later He return to work sub teacher because Previous teacher that he was teacher for 6th grade. I never been taught by him. and ... Somewhat, until 1999 Sub teacher got fired beause of newspaper of Seattle PI and Oregonian. I do not know which one. I believe Seattle PI contact D.L.

 

[80Seattle]

That's true as real fact. I was student there during school year Fall 1978-Spring 1979. Stayed with my second couin's house during fall semester. My grandmother decided to send me to live in the dorm for get idea during spring semester. Cannot believe what I witnessed the mean houseparent treated us very cruel. Yes, I saw that mean lady abused several girls front of my own eyes. Made me more fear and suffered cuz of bullying, hazing, abusive.
Till summer 1979, my grandma told me that we have to move back to Texas. I was so happy and hyperactive. Set me free from GBSD. After we moved to Texas, grandma asked me if i want enroll Texas School for the Deaf when I was in first grade. I screamed at her loudly and nervous. Fear myself that TSD might be another GBSD. I was too paranoid, ofc. Till I become more older during middle school. Interviewed with my friends about TSD. They explained to me. Thanks to them for break my fear. Enrolled TSD and loved it.
Yes, I sometime wonder about GBSD students I remmy during my school year there. Feel bad for them. All I do remmy their first name. I am very grateful that GBSD already expose lot of truths from former students about time! Heard that GBSD plan to honor of former superintendent. But most former students were big protest and demand remove that former superintendent for neglect many abuse case for years.

Should seeking to Family Service they will contact your family about the standard as Teacher Standard Protection Commission agree with me when I said TSPC would know but no one reported to OSD or Police Deptartment with I brought 8 business card that I went .. my record were gone by someone destoryed. over 20 years later. I bring back and repair and helped victims together.

I grateful Everyone to changed the law getting straight out. OSD finally solutions with me and other victims but not forgiven to me by same guy. who are addicted with young female student

 

[deafdyke]

Check it out here.
Shut down all deaf institutions and send deaf children to mainstream schools, I say.

I get what you're saying, but the answer is REFORM and rules so that stuff like that doesn't happen in the first place. With rules and screening, you can crack down a TON on issues like this. The same thing happens in hearing schools....have you missed the stuff coming out about the sexual abuse at prep schools, or the Spur Posse (granted that's dated but still) It does gross me out that stuff like that happened, but you need to look at the CAUSES, not just where the abuse took place.

 

[deafdyke]

YES! That!
residential student is at a much higher risk of being abused

We all know that there's been an extensive history of abuse at schools for the deaf. That's a fact, and shouldn't be ignored. It scares me and grosses me out that stuff like that happened. But a lot of that happened b/c of the insistutionizalaion mentality. It was basicly kids being warehoused without a lot of safety nets, like screening for hiring houseparents, kids with additional severe behavorial disorders not being in a proper treatment setting etc.......When you put the safety measures in, a lot of the risk goes DOWN!

 

[deafdyke]

Perfect choice of word: Warehoused!

Yes. Back before mainstreaming was popular, kids were warehoused. Again, there was no surprise that really horrible stuff happened back then...but it was due to the lack of safety measures.

 

[deafdyke]

ANd you know students can be warehoused in hearing schools too right? I know people think that a kid will get an excellent education by attending a hearing school...Like they will be in grade level classes with a 'terp, and doing very well. Sometimes that happens, but often they get placed in Resource Room,or even classes for ID kids. They also do not get good social emotional development, so it's very easy for them to be taken advantage of if there's a predator on staff. Heck there was a child molester gym teacher at my mainstream jr high. I'm AMAZED that I didn't get taken advantage of, b/c I had really bad social skills and crappy self esteem. But he gave me the creeps. But just b/c there was that case, that doesn't mean that my jr high should be shut down. Actually, I remember jillo (RIP) saying that almost all sexual abuse cases at deaf schools, nowadays and in the past 20-30 years usually are a one on one thing, and usually involve a perpetrator who has been improperly placed. (ie they should have been in a program specificly for severe behavorial issues) NOT saying that sort of thing isn't horrific....b/c it IS....but it's also a far cry from say Jericho Hill School (a Canadian School that was notorious for sexual abuse) or the issues at Govenor Baxter in Maine or the countless stories of really bad issues before insistutional reform took over.

 

[x1heavy]

I graduated MSD about 1987. I was also in Columbia from 73-74 to '78 in Maryland. In between I was mainstreamed into public schools elementry junior high and then one year of freshman highschool based on my Hoh situation. There were too many differences in Public School for me to continue and I finished my high schooling at MSD Frederick. Was Mainstreaming successful? Sorta. It should not have been done the way they did it with me in my time as a child at Columbia. By 1978, I had formed a place among everyone there and we were looking forward to transferring to Frederick for Middle School and High School Years. When I was sent to public school it became a new problem to solve. And the public students had to learn how to deal with me and vice versa. When we got to High School having changed schools on top of that no less, the situation was not able to continue for a variety of reasons too much to talk about. You had essentially 2000+ students who do not understand one hard of hearing or deaf misfit. So it was necessary to fix that problem.

One Poster wondered how it was possible to inflict sex abuse on students in a dorm situation with others around. Well I will share how it happened first hand but specifically leaving out names for privacy. In my time there I had no trouble for the most part and what I would consider a girlfriend as well so we got along well enough there. But in the dorm? One counselor had a office on the third floor that was very private and quite the dungeon if you ask me for that sort of thing. All concrete so the sounds would not carry out. Especially at night. That counselor tried to establish a situation with me which I rejected straight up and told him that he would be very bad for even suggesting it. And that was the end of that. HOWEVER. Several Dorm Students with me were abused and eventually some were removed from the School. Two counselors I can think of were prosecuted for sex abuse and that was the end of that as far as I was concerned. I would even go as far as to say that among some students those two or three counselors were known predators to use a modern term we use today among us. And the State would not do anything until someone got abused badly.

In the final story all affected counslers were brought to Justice. And quite a few students probably were damaged enough that they were removed from the school and did not get to graduate with us at all. We never saw them again. It was all done very quietly. And how deep was the abuses? Well, we had a Doctor in town who was usually seeing any student when they got hurt or sick bad enough to need to be seen. And that doctor I think was also caught and prosecuted in his time for abuses as well. It would be very dangerous for me to talk any further about this Doctor because he was well known among many students.

I do not consider myself a victim in a sense, There was in those days late 60's through the 80's a possibility of abuse from people, however I knew about some of them. One Priest of a Catholic Church nearby comes to mind. As well as one counselor in Columbia who was always "Off" with us boys. Until years later he did get caught abusing boys and he was disposed of to put it mildly. By then the damage was done. I spent my lifetime as a trucker over the road in North America for hauling high value pharmacy until the end of my medical situation demanded me to stop driving. There was always the possibility of various crimes on the road and wife and I actually fought off a sex predator who invaded the truck after her with me in it. I don't think they caught him. But hopefully sooner or later they will. People who do those kinds of crimes cannot stop doing it and eventually get caught. By and large we had no issues thankfully.

The biggest difference between Public and Deaf that struck me was the Deaf Teacher will spend say 6 months talking about the use of the word Go in English. In Public school we are way past that. The other big difference was in my time at MSD there was NO health education given. IF a student required knowledge about being abused or had a problem with a relationship etc then someone will quietly work with that student. Otherwise there was no effective education on the Deaf Side by the State which I consider very much a oversight and a tragic waste. I would even mention that one day for a hour we were in the auditorium while several staffers tried to give us education about health and sex things because there was so many with problems that year. Not to mention various cultural movements that were pointing towards certain liberations I would say among different Students who felt that they were comfortable with alternative views about love and matters of the heart in life.

One last thought. If the State did not teach me anything, I took alot of trouble to learn it on my own. And there were times what I was trying to learn about whatever subject it is, sometimes is considered... not for Deaf. Or Not for Hearing. A form of segregation within. Certain knowledge were taboo or forbidden. And if you dared to ask about it and learn more you were taken aside by a Staff and questioned very badly as if you did something wrong. Which is not the way to go about it. Not in those days. And that helped me understand that if anything was to be done, I'll have to do it myself. Not the Staff or the School or the State. And so it was.

I better stop here. The culture we were in prior to say 9-11 and the culture I see after 9-11 are two completely different situations and I have been away from the Deaf World a very long time. (We have a deaf church here in Arkansas but have not gone for many years for a variety of reasons.) However I consider myself equally in both the deaf world and the hearing world and its all the same. With the exception that there are things that has happened in the deaf world that I consider to be very damaging to many of us who might not have a way of coping with it. That would fall to the State and whatever failures within the education system at the time.

 

[Alyssa553]

*forgive me if I post this in the wrong place*

' Sexual Abuse of Deaf Students in Schools....'

frequent and frustrating......

When it comes to sexual abuse, deaf students are especially vulnerable to being abused by either older deaf children or school staff. These children may not be able to talk, their parents may not be able to communicate with them in sign language, and they may not have the language to be able to communicate about incidents, or even to be able to understand what has happened. More from your Guide below Advertisement

Many students have been abused at schools for the deaf around the globe, resulting in several lawsuits.


Some Schools......

Sexual abuse has taken place at schools/programs for the deaf for many years. To date, these schools are known to have had sexual abuse incidents:

**Amherst School for the Deaf/Halifax School for the Deaf, in Canada
**Arkansas School for the Deaf
**Governor Baxter School for the Deaf in Maine
**Jericho Hill School for the Deaf in Canada
**Eastern North Carolina School for the Deaf/Central North Carolina School for the Deaf (closed)
**Margaret Sterck School for the Deaf, Delaware
**South Africa - Limpopo school for the deaf
**Washington School for the Deaf - This school has been the subject of an entire newspaper series by the Seattle Post-Intelligencer.
**Oregon School for the Deaf
**St. Rita School for the Deaf in Ohio (alleged)

It is not just residential schools for the deaf that have problems with sexual abuse. Deaf students in day programs are just as vulnerable. I know because I'm aware of at least one incident involving a day student.

As the problem became more widespread, special treatment programs for both victims and perpetrators were made available at places such as the National Deaf Academy in Florida.


Protection for Deaf Students

How can parents, teachers, and schools protect deaf students from sexual abuse, and prevent deaf students from abusing other deaf students? Of course there is the usual advice--tell children about good touch/bad touch, the importance of reporting an incident immediately, and saying no, but how do you address the special needs of a deaf child with limited language? Schools for the deaf are trying to tighten up security and monitor students more closely, but as any parent knows, it is impossible to be there every minute (and funding problems for schools for the deaf may make it difficult to provide adequate supervision).

http://deafness.about.com/cs/educationgeneral/a/sexabuse.htm

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It's makes me sad when I read this......Knowing what is happening to our children while they're in school...

Yeah I heard about an investigation happening for the American School of the Deaf and was heartbroken for all those kids. I want to work there someday so the kids have at least one good teacher. I was so conflicted with wanting to work there for this reason but decided that if I didn't take up space there then someone who's going to hurt those kids might. That's why I decided to try to work there one day. I want to know that at least one person there is good. Am I stupid for that?

 

[x1heavy]

Yeah I heard about an investigation happening for the American School of the Deaf and was heartbroken for all those kids. I want to work there someday so the kids have at least one good teacher. I was so conflicted with wanting to work there for this reason but decided that if I didn't take up space there then someone who's going to hurt those kids might. That's why I decided to try to work there one day. I want to know that at least one person there is good. Am I stupid for that?

I would want you to think that if you are good, as in not harboring any evil then the Kids will love to have you in that School or wherever. If working there fulfills you then go for it. Children have a way of bonding with people who are good for them and know right away that someone is NOT good or worse evil intent. They will behave properly given encouragement to think for themselves and if necessary stand up to it.

There is a possibility that if you were a Staff Person or a formal Position within a State Government Insitution somewhere and one co-worker is caught by you or known with evidence to commit serious felony crimes, then you will be faced with the situation of reporting that problem to higher ups properly and document everything. If they investigate and find that yes there is a BIG problem with so and so it will be taken care of per policy and laws. Now if your bosses were also evil and could care less that offenses were being done and crimes committed... well that will be your tip to consider getting OUT of there before you are ensnared in some way. And still remains the problem of exposing that problem to the State or to the Federal Government (Atty General or the OIG)

Good luck to you. I like to think that when you are working with children and see them learn, evolve and enjoy what you have to offer them you will be very satisfied with your work. When I was very young as a student I remember clearly certain staffers who were really good with us and were beloved. There were many that way. That would be a blessing.