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

[deafdyke]

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.

Oh trust me it's NOT! Unfortunatly they still use the kid who has a mild loss and copes as "proof" that all dhh kids can be successfully mainstreamed.... There are some kids who do very well (all types, oral, ASL, Cued etc) but a lot of the problem is that often when a dhh child needs help, they're sent to the Resource Room/special ed since there is no place else for them. Even the Chaikoff sisters (who are the poster children for AVT, which is a methodology which is supposed to produce very high results) were in REMEDIAL ENGLISH!
I was NOT given all that much in terms of accomondations, and I was expected to "function normally" The IEP team acted like my parents were making up my being HOH. I was told I was smart and I should do better then I was.......

 

[deafdyke]

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.

OMG yeah.... The thing is...... that's an extremely serious thing. Although everyone says that THE ANSWER for a Good Life is good grades and high literacy, that's only a small part of it.... Social skills are VITAL with getting a job and basic interaction with the world.....and unfortunately they're really brushed under the rug for ALL types of kids with special needs. That's why classes, dhh/other special needs programs and dhh and other special needs camps are SO VITAL for us! It allows us to develop more then superficial friendships with people who REALLY know what we're going through.....

 

[shel90]

For me, I was mainstreamed and never learned ASL. Like the others said, I wish I would have gone to the Deaf school and be fluent in ASL growing up. The members who have been here on AD know my story and how I feel.

 

[whatdidyousay!]

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.

Yes this is over with ,I was trying to show what it was like being a HOH student in the 50'-60's . I keep hoping things are better to today , we had no vocational schools around when I was in JR high and high school .

 

[deafdyke]

Yes this is over with ,I was trying to show what it was like being a HOH student in the 50'-60's . I keep hoping things are better to today , we had no vocational schools around when I was in JR high and high school .

It really is mixed. They thought in 1974 that by opening the public schools to dhh and other disabled students, that would automaticly increase achievement (better curriculm, better expectations compared to the specialized schools )
It's worked for SOME kids.... but still hasn't worked for many others.