Well, JClarke, I can't really answer your questions but this is what I want to say.
I know, for definitely, I wouldn't have fare well in mainstream setting with little or no accommodations. I went to deaf schools all my life, save for a couple of years attending hearing school next door with terps from my school. But I never felt I fitted in either schools, eh.
I wasn't a follower and I chose to do what I felt was right for myself, not just because it's a cool thing to do. Deaf students, particularly the older kids didn't treat me well. I can only guess they were intimidated by my sterling intelligence, lol.
However, when I became school captain and no one dared teased me. 
I find treatment, from my experience, from both hearing and deaf pretty much the same.
Like many, I gravitate toward the deaf world than the hearing.....
