What would you change about your past experience as a deaf student?

Jezie said:
It does and it doesn't...:) I am already aware of the problem...just curious of what the schools are actually like is all... No worries through some of these post I have my answer. :)
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It depends on the time and the school. Not All Deaf schools were are the same.some were dungeons full of rape and sexual exploitation, some where large, some were small and secluded. Others large and integrated. Some were old others new. So On.
Mine was a new school buit in the early 60s. and was designed to handle a large Deaf population with multiple story doRms. I think 700 students or so was max by dorms...By the time i rolled in. Only one dorm was used the rest weres derelicts boarded up.. And we were a small school. Beside a hearie school, which helped in high school getting laid buy the hearie chicks with the deaf itch..youll always have at least 30 hearie chicks with the Deaf itch out of a hundred in my experience. If you sign......."-)...anyway...even my school,most teachers at that time were hearie, and we used ASLbut most hearie teachers were audist to the bone.... and believed in english supremecy. they just couldnt legaly enforce it like they used to...there was allot of plms with the admin all were hearie. Besides one.token Deaf. We had Deaf token teschers. but the admin with power all were.hearie....anyone with power was hearie....also its different country then ameeica. But school for Deaf in ontario teachers are not in teachers union. they are in same union with prison guards ,which wasnt a plm. Just meant when prison guards went on strike so did our teachers...yep... we wanted all deaf teachers, all deaf admin.
Yeah righT.
We had deaf counsilors in Dorm, but thats it.low jobs all were deaf, any jobs else were kept for hearie. and even admin most had despised sign. thats one part of deaf school. The other part is we signed anyway...they couldnt stop It....sign is ours..we are signs...hearie just move their beaks like parots babababab,,,,
We woud sign and laugh at em....haha...
the question needs to be focused. FoR a better awnser
 
hoichi said:
It depends on the time and the school. Not All Deaf schools were are the same.some were dungeons full of rape and sexual exploitation, some where large, some were small and secluded. Others large and integrated. Some were old others new. So On.
Mine was a new school buit in the early 60s. and was designed to handle a large Deaf population with multiple story doRms. I think 700 students or so was max by dorms...By the time i rolled in. Only one dorm was used the rest weres derelicts boarded up.. And we were a small school. Beside a hearie school, which helped in high school getting laid buy the hearie chicks with the deaf itch..youll always have at least 30 hearie chicks with the Deaf itch out of a hundred in my experience. If you sign......."-)...anyway...even my school,most teachers at that time were hearie, and we used ASLbut most hearie teachers were audist to the bone.... and believed in english supremecy. they just couldnt legaly enforce it like they used to...there was allot of plms with the admin all were hearie. Besides one.token Deaf. We had Deaf token teschers. but the admin with power all were.hearie....anyone with power was hearie....also its different country then ameeica. But school for Deaf in ontario teachers are not in teachers union. they are in same union with prison guards ,which wasnt a plm. Just meant when prison guards went on strike so did our teachers...yep... we wanted all deaf teachers, all deaf admin.
Yeah righT.
We had deaf counsilors in Dorm, but thats it.low jobs all were deaf, any jobs else were kept for hearie. and even admin most had despised sign. thats one part of deaf school. The other part is we signed anyway...they couldnt stop It....sign is ours..we are signs...hearie just move their beaks like parots babababab,,,,
We woud sign and laugh at em....haha...
the question needs to be focused. FoR a better awnser
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Actually that worked just fine :) thanks. How did teachers and prison guards end up in the same union?
 
Jezie said:
Actually that worked just fine :) thanks. How did teachers and prison guards end up in the same union?
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Prob had something to do with restraining people against their wiill, tying kkds up, forcing them.to speak....
So on
 
Ok. :) I can summarize a little of the current debate in Sweden. There is only one school for the deaf at upper secondary level. It is not really a boarding school, instead the students often live with a host family during the week and go home for the weekends. There are other options as well, where several students share a house and there always are some adults "supervising" them. The intention is to create a home-like experience. Seems to work pretty ok. Smaller children go to schools closer to home. Education is supposed to be bilingual. The teachers are supposed to know and use sign language, if they are not skilled enough, then there is an interpreter present.

There is an ongoing debate about that many teachers are not fluent enough in sign language, and that more of the teachers should be deaf themselves. Management claims they are really trying to hire fluent teachers, but that they need to prioritize teaching skills before signing skills. Some teachers are excellent signers while others might be reluctant to sign much outside class, during breaks, because they are still learning.

In general the schools for the deaf are similar in opportunities and quality to any other school. It is possible to get good grades, even though the avarege is lover compared to the national numbers.
 
Swedeafa said:
... Education is supposed to be bilingual. The teachers are supposed to know and use sign language, if they are not skilled enough, then there is an interpreter present.

There is an ongoing debate about that many teachers are not fluent enough in sign language, and that more of the teachers should be deaf themselves. Management claims they are really trying to hire fluent teachers, but that they need to prioritize teaching skills before signing skills. Some teachers are excellent signers while others might be reluctant to sign much outside class, during breaks, because they are still learning.

In general the schools for the deaf are similar in opportunities and quality to any other school. It is possible to get good grades, even though the avarege is lover compared to the national numbers.
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I would have to argue over the similar opportunities if the teachers are not fluent in sign....
 
I think Deaf and HoH are encouraged to be in mainstream classes to know how to interact with hearing world. It would be great to involve the whole class to learn asl when there's a Deaf/HoH student so they can communicate effectively.
 
deafdyke said:
Massachusetts is HORRIBLE with informing parents of dhh kids of what is available specialized education wise. It still pisses me off that nobody suggested to my parents that maybe READS or Clarke could have been SO much better then the local school where the IEP team told my parents I wasn't really deaf?!?!?!
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What year did you go to school , I started grade school in the 50's and no one
even talked about ASL or deaf culture in my town . There was none. My teacher gave me a hearing test when I failed first grade for the second time. She told my parents I was HOH. She notice this when she was showing me the correct way to tie my shoes. She kept trying to get me look at my shoes while she tied them but I kept looking at her face trying to hear her. That was when she decided to test my hearing . Thank goodness someone finally got it that I was HOH !
 
I went to two different high schools. The first deaf program in hearing high school that I went to supported total communication philosophy and the second one supported bilingual-bicultural philosophy. I didn't socialize with hearing students because my speech was not intelligible. I was mainstreamed in all classes with 8 different interpreters (8 classes a day no interpreter for lunch). ASL is quicker than Signed English. I wish my high schools offered ASL classes and ASL club for hearing students.
 
whatdidyousay! said:
What year did you go to school , I started grade school in the 50's and no one
even talked about ASL or deaf culture in my town . There was none. My teacher gave me a hearing test when I failed first grade for the second time. She told my parents I was HOH. She notice this when she was showing me the correct way to tie my shoes. She kept trying to get me look at my shoes while she tied them but I kept looking at her face trying to hear her. That was when she decided to test my hearing . Thank goodness someone finally got it that I was HOH !
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Wow.... sounds like not much has changed.... I was in school in the 80's and 90's. It's so weird... One would think that MA would have had decent outreach, and ENCOURAGE parents to look into specialized schools/programs instead of automatic inclusion. ... I think it was hit or miss depending on what school district you were in. I have a friend who went to CASE (North Shore oral program) and he automaticly got sent there without a fight ...Also know a guy who got sent to Perkins School for the Blind automaticly for high school...which is really rare, as most students there are now Blind-Plus (but I think there may have been some additional mental illness or behavorial issues with him)
 
JillyBean.MI said:
I think Deaf and HoH are encouraged to be in mainstream classes to know how to interact with hearing world. It would be great to involve the whole class to learn asl when there's a Deaf/HoH student so they can communicate effectively.
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Trouble is, the hearing kids generally don't interact with us on more then a superficial level. I think it's more due to lack of funding and the thinking that the lack of a safety net will somehow lead to higher achievement.
And that's a good idea, but most will never become fluent...Also what about the oral and cued speech kids?
 
Jezie said:
I would have to argue over the similar opportunities if the teachers are not fluent in sign....
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True! Note that some are fluent, and that there are always interpreters in classes if the teacher is not fluent enough to do good teaching in sign. However, the whole debate is exactly about that there needs to be improvements in order for the opportunities to fully equal. It is possible to be a high achieving student and continue to university, that is why I wrote "similar", but the opportunities are not equal enough.
 
Swedeafa said:
True! Note that some are fluent, and that there are always interpreters in classes if the teacher is not fluent enough to do good teaching in sign. However, the whole debate is exactly about that there needs to be improvements in order for the opportunities to fully equal. It is possible to be a high achieving student and continue to university, that is why I wrote "similar", but the opportunities are not equal enough.
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OK.... So, how are they similar? A public school would never allow a teacher to come in and teach a subject if they could not fluently speak, read, and write English. To me, having teachers that can not fluently read or sign limits the students. Information cannot be successfully passed between student and teacher. Standards are kept low for what the students are able to achieve. The children are held back through no fault of their own, society's view that the deaf are slow is validated, thus the deaf are afforded less opportunities. The only similarities I see in any of this is schools in the ghettos, and yet more effort is placed in attempts to rectifying the issues found there then the ones for the deaf. Again I am not meaning to come off argumentive, just trying to understand better. :)
 
I agree that parents tend to think that because one speaks and functions in school, the social aspect is something we can just get by. I was made to feel that I was the problem. If I mentioned how the kids reacted, they just look at you or say that it is their problem. None of this solved anything to improve social skills. Sometimes I'd be told of a student who had a very mild hearing problem and got along just fine despite it as if they were a role model for me.

I still feel this way to this day by people and my family. I am not a very social person, but I am made to feel that I am the one with the problem. They think I can just 'fix it' and be normal socially. They don't understand that it's not easy to be in a group of people talking and laughing back and forth. You can't stop everyone and tell them to make sure you understand what the joke was about, etc. Most people don't want to do one on one. Some people still see your hearing problem written across your forehead despite you doing normal things.

Many people say they want or wanted to learn sign language, but they do not. I don't have anything against deaf learning to talk or hear because it can be very useful, but the lack of social skill is real. It is not addressed. Learning to talk or being mainstreamed doesn't always solve the problem.
 
Jezie said:
OK.... So, how are they similar? A public school would never allow a teacher to come in and teach a subject if they could not fluently speak, read, and write English. To me, having teachers that can not fluently read or sign limits the students. Information cannot be successfully passed between student and teacher. Standards are kept low for what the students are able to achieve. The children are held back through no fault of their own, society's view that the deaf are slow is validated, thus the deaf are afforded less opportunities. The only similarities I see in any of this is schools in the ghettos, and yet more effort is placed in attempts to rectifying the issues found there then the ones for the deaf. Again I am not meaning to come off argumentive, just trying to understand better. :)
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All your points are both valid and important. Though, keep in mind how much things have improved in recent years. There is an awareness about the issues and schools are trying to mitigate the problems. I think there is much less awareness in mainstream education. You are right in that there still are obstacles.
 
Swedeafa said:
All your points are both valid and important. Though, keep in mind how much things have improved in recent years. There is an awareness about the issues and schools are trying to mitigate the problems. I think there is much less awareness in mainstream education. You are right in that there still are obstacles.
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It seems to me that there has always been an awareness of the issues, just a lack of motivation to actually do anything... From what I am finding their "newest" answer is mainstreaming which is not dissimilar from their original idea. Guess you could say my next question is, what changes have been made recently to correct these issues?
 
Jezie said:
It seems to me that there has always been an awareness of the issues, just a lack of motivation to actually do anything... From what I am finding their "newest" answer is mainstreaming which is not dissimilar from their original idea. Guess you could say my next question is, what changes have been made recently to correct these issues?
Click to expand...

I know to little about deaf education to say for sure what's going on. I know sign language skills are prioritized more. There is a change in mind set when hiring teachers. There are more fluent or deaf teachers. There was a well produced tv series including documentary and debate by the sign language department at national TV focusing on education. It was really interesting and encouraged deaf people to go for higher education and have ambitions and dreams. They also put the current debate into a historical perspective in order to show the origin of the problems we see today. There is an excellent TV programme once a week in sign language for school children. I don't know enough to be sure my impression of improvement is correct. I have heard young deaf people say they considered the support in school and university be somewhat ok, and that the major obstacles arises when trying to get a job. But even if I am right in that things are improving, there still are many things that are unfair and not equal. I am most concerned with the support mainstreamed children get. There seems to be too large differences depending on where you live and how active parents are. There is a tendency to provide more support only when grades are below average. Good students don't get the push to excel. And the social aspect is not considered enough.
 
Swedeafa said:
I know to little about deaf education to say for sure what's going on. I know sign language skills are prioritized more. There is a change in mind set when hiring teachers. There are more fluent or deaf teachers. There was a well produced tv series including documentary and debate by the sign language department at national TV focusing on education. It was really interesting and encouraged deaf people to go for higher education and have ambitions and dreams. They also put the current debate into a historical perspective in order to show the origin of the problems we see today. There is an excellent TV programme once a week in sign language for school children. I don't know enough to be sure my impression of improvement is correct. I have heard young deaf people say they considered the support in school and university be somewhat ok, and that the major obstacles arises when trying to get a job. But even if I am right in that things are improving, there still are many things that are unfair and not equal. I am most concerned with the support mainstreamed children get. There seems to be too large differences depending on where you live and how active parents are. There is a tendency to provide more support only when grades are below average. Good students don't get the push to excel. And the social aspect is not considered enough.
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Interesting...
I agree about things depending o. Parents activity and the fact that good students do not get a push...
 
deafdyke said:
Wow.... sounds like not much has changed.... I was in school in the 80's and 90's. It's so weird... One would think that MA would have had decent outreach, and ENCOURAGE parents to look into specialized schools/programs instead of automatic inclusion. ... I think it was hit or miss depending on what school district you were in. I have a friend who went to CASE (North Shore oral program) and he automaticly got sent there without a fight ...Also know a guy who got sent to Perkins School for the Blind automaticly for high school...which is really rare, as most students there are now Blind-Plus (but I think there may have been some additional mental illness or behavorial issues with him)
Click to expand...

A lot deaf and hoh people thought to be mentally ill in the for a long time and locked up in wards for no reason. I was send to a small school that was only for 'reject students. ' Students were lumped together no matter what their learning disability was and we had a burnt out teacher for the whole day. You were given work below your grade so you would 'pass' so the school could get you out of their way and not 'waste money and time on you. I was told in my second year of high school by the principal that I was wasting taxpayer money ,his time and my teacher times my parents where there too. My dad agreed with the SOB . I was told by the principal to drop out of school and " go clean toilet bowls. " I wish had told the SOB to go 'F' himself! I had nothing to lose b/c I was being kick out of school for being HOH ! The school failed to give me the help I needed and blame me for failing school.
My parents send me a school in Maine for the last 2 years of high school.
I hated school after this and had no interest in even trying to go to college .
When I finally did go to college I had a 'B'' average , I would loved to had been able to stick that in that SOB principal face.
 
whatdidyousay! said:
A lot deaf and hoh people thought to be mentally ill in the for a long time and locked up in wards for no reason. I was send to a small school that was only for 'reject students. ' Students were lumped together no matter what their learning disability was and we had a burnt out teacher for the whole day. You were given work below your grade so you would 'pass' so the school could get you out of their way and not 'waste money and time on you. I was told in my second year of high school by the principal that I was wasting taxpayer money ,his time and my teacher times my parents where there too. My dad agreed with the SOB . I was told by the principal to drop out of school and " go clean toilet bowls. " I wish had told the SOB to go 'F' himself! I had nothing to lose b/c I was being kick out of school for being HOH ! The school failed to give me the help I needed and blame me for failing school.
My parents send me a school in Maine for the last 2 years of high school.
I hated school after this and had no interest in even trying to go to college .
When I finally did go to college I had a 'B'' average , I would loved to had been able to stick that in that SOB principal face.
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That's pretty awful. I am glad this is over (I hope it is). I had a hard time dealing with everything in my last year of high school, and that was reason enough for the hearing principal (where I was mainstreamed) to go for vocational school instead of college. He was a snob.

There are principals running schools that should not even be in that position. Some principals, you look at them and wonder how the heck they work around students. They have no heart and are real mean to students. That's not being an uplifting role model to be around. I have had principals that are very sweet and can understand/relate to students no matter what even if you're having a bad attitude.

I find nothing wrong with vocational schools. They are a great option if you want to do a career that they offer and are not drawn to college. Unfortunately, there is still that mindset that college is for the bright and vocational for the struggling and lazy.
 
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