I was mainstreamed in a general public school from kindergarten to seventh grade. I loved it. There could not have been a better choce for me at the time, in my opinion.
The school I went to had excellent academics. Classes were very small at the time and socializing with everyone was not much of a problem for me. I had really good friends there.
Even though we lived out of district, the school provided a bus to pick me up and take me everyday.
They had a deaf and hard of hearing program with several self-contained classes and resource rooms. I had a resource room teacher who I saw every now and then. Because I was doing so well in academics, I hardly attended the classes for deaf and hard of hearing students for academic instruction. But, I regularly visited for social reasons. Various deaf and hard of hearing visitors frequently visited the classroom. One of them was Marlee Matlin, which was interesting. The visitors that stick out in my mind were the deaf tennis players who came and played a few games for us. I really liked how they communicated to each other across the court in sign language. The teachers talked to us about Gallaudet University and RIT. They showed movies and television shows that included deaf and hard of hearing people. They taught us some sign language songs. It was fun.
However, I would have liked to have learned more about how to advocate for myself in terms of my hearing needs, learned what my hearing loss is, learned more about how we hear, learned how to take care of my hearing aids, and such.
Because of the deaf and hard of hearing program at this school, I was surrounded by others like me. I knew many students of all ages, who were like me, in that they wore hearing aids or FM systems.We understood each other. I knew that I was not alone. So, having a hearing loss while being mainstreamed was no big deal for me.
I was very lucky, in that I attended a great mainstreamed program.
Of course, I think it would have been a different story if I had an interpreter or if I used sign language predominately. But, at the time there was another public school nearby where they also had a program for mainstreamed deaf and hard of hearing students, but they all signed and so did their deaf and hard of hearing teachers, so I probably would have attended that school.
I am glad that I was mainstreamed, because it was a great experience for me. I benefited greatly from it.
One of the schools for the deaf in this area was a fully residential school at the time, located far from where my family lived. The school is located in this dismal area in the middle of nowhere. I would have hated to be far away from my family. The other school for the deaf, a day school, was closer. Both of these schools predominately used sign language, which was not my preferred choice of communication. The oral/aural schools for the deaf had a good reputation for academics, but they were too expensive.
So mainstreaming it was! I am glad I had the opportunity to be mainstreamed at this school.
I do realize that not everyone had the same experience with mainstream as I did. I am not saying that every deaf and hard of hearing student needs to be mainstreamed or that mainstream is for everyone. I am only talking about what my experience was like.
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The school I went to had excellent academics. Classes were very small at the time and socializing with everyone was not much of a problem for me. I had really good friends there.
Even though we lived out of district, the school provided a bus to pick me up and take me everyday.
They had a deaf and hard of hearing program with several self-contained classes and resource rooms. I had a resource room teacher who I saw every now and then. Because I was doing so well in academics, I hardly attended the classes for deaf and hard of hearing students for academic instruction. But, I regularly visited for social reasons. Various deaf and hard of hearing visitors frequently visited the classroom. One of them was Marlee Matlin, which was interesting. The visitors that stick out in my mind were the deaf tennis players who came and played a few games for us. I really liked how they communicated to each other across the court in sign language. The teachers talked to us about Gallaudet University and RIT. They showed movies and television shows that included deaf and hard of hearing people. They taught us some sign language songs. It was fun.
However, I would have liked to have learned more about how to advocate for myself in terms of my hearing needs, learned what my hearing loss is, learned more about how we hear, learned how to take care of my hearing aids, and such.
Because of the deaf and hard of hearing program at this school, I was surrounded by others like me. I knew many students of all ages, who were like me, in that they wore hearing aids or FM systems.We understood each other. I knew that I was not alone. So, having a hearing loss while being mainstreamed was no big deal for me.
I was very lucky, in that I attended a great mainstreamed program.
Of course, I think it would have been a different story if I had an interpreter or if I used sign language predominately. But, at the time there was another public school nearby where they also had a program for mainstreamed deaf and hard of hearing students, but they all signed and so did their deaf and hard of hearing teachers, so I probably would have attended that school.
I am glad that I was mainstreamed, because it was a great experience for me. I benefited greatly from it.
One of the schools for the deaf in this area was a fully residential school at the time, located far from where my family lived. The school is located in this dismal area in the middle of nowhere. I would have hated to be far away from my family. The other school for the deaf, a day school, was closer. Both of these schools predominately used sign language, which was not my preferred choice of communication. The oral/aural schools for the deaf had a good reputation for academics, but they were too expensive.
So mainstreaming it was! I am glad I had the opportunity to be mainstreamed at this school.
I do realize that not everyone had the same experience with mainstream as I did. I am not saying that every deaf and hard of hearing student needs to be mainstreamed or that mainstream is for everyone. I am only talking about what my experience was like.
(e
Your experience is almost the same as mine..
ReplyDeleteI went to a residential school for high school. For K and 6-8th, a public school with no deaf/hh program and 1-5th, a public school with hh program where signing isn't allowed. It was a new program where they attempted to group all hh kids together in a regular public school setting with hh resource classes. I spend most of my time in a regular class. I know of several deaf of deaf (culturally deaf families) that send their kids deaf or hh to mainstream as well. The whole idea was to get quality education and for deaf families the social aspect wasn't a problem. Reason for that, in a big city we had many programs/events on weekends and during the summer that put many kids from different schools together (and get this!! oral and signing kids hung out! Thus the oral kids learned to sign and it wasn't a problem for most). That is how I met many kids whom I met again and again during the course of my earlier years. They were great experiences. I had an easier time in a public school because I interacted with kids in the neighborhood and when I went to a public school four blocks away, I knew many kids at the school. Sure there were maybe a couple of kids from different neighborhood that wasn't friendly but..it happens to any kid - deaf or not.
I felt that because of my experiences attending different schools, I have a better grasp of things, but it does not mean that there is one approach better than others. Absolutely not.
I also acknowledge that every child is different and every experiences are different. Thus, the need to have an open mind and respect choices parents or even the students make for their child/themselves.
Candy~
Certainly there is no one answer for everybody. As a profoundly Deaf person, mainstreaming for me was.....well, when I transferred to a school for the deaf at age 11 it was like COMING HOME.
ReplyDeleteComing in from the cold. A whole new world opened up for me, an entry to the world of humanity. Interacting with people as an equal, not as a loner or someone permanently out of step and OUT OF IT. I never regretted going to a school for the deaf and wished that I had started earlier to benefit from a longer cultural experience.
The mainstream school was excellent, despite being a typically Boomer school with hundreds of kids in classrooms containing 28 to 32 kids each. My classroom contained at least 15 from my neighborhood.
There was a pullout teacher for speech and academic reinforcement who became a close friend of my family as well. I was a member of a girls' clique, too. There was an extracurricular activity: a Scout troop that met once a week after school. No, I didn't lack for friendships or stimulation, despite having no interpreters.
However, what I gained from my Deaf school was far more abstract and larger than anything that mainstream school gave me: a sense of self, a sense of being part of a family, a feeling of community and belonging that continues today. I am eternally grateful for this turn in my life.
Perhaps all d/Deaf and HOH children should be afforded this experience for at least two years of their school careers.