Does inclusion/mainstreaming for deaf and hard of hearing students work?
It depends.
From what I have seen so far, it takes an enormous amount of patience and cooperation from teachers, administrators and families to make it work for some students, especially those with additional special needs. For other students, they seem to fit right in, requiring little assistance or accommodations.
It really takes time and getting to know the student and their families to see if whether inclusion or being mainstreamed in a public school is the right choice.
I disagree with those who seem to think that mainstreaming is not right for ALL deaf and hard of hearing students. I also disagree with those who think ALL deaf and hard of hearing students need to be mainstreamed. I don't believe in mandating full inclusion for all deaf and hard of hearing students. Deaf and hard of hearing students have special needs that require specialists who can provide support and make sure their needs are being met in their classes. Ideally, they should all have the option of attending schools for the deaf, public schools, private schools, or to be home schooled. Whether families have access to good schools or education programs depend on a number of different factors such as the area they live in.
You have to take into account the situations and families the students are coming from, their personalities and abilities, their degree of hearing loss and how they prefer to communicate with others. For example, the shy student who suddenly loses 80% more of her hearing while attending school may have more trouble than the student who has been profoundly deaf all his life, is not shy about advocating for himself, and knows how to effectively utilize a sign language interpreter in school.
It seems to me that the friendly and fully informed mainstreamed deaf and hard of hearing students who work hard on speaking up and advocating for themselves will usually get better results. But, how many people know many young students who are so confident? Being a kid can be hard. I feel for the painfully shy students who have been thrown into difficult situations while receiving little to no support from family members and teachers.
Here is a link to interesting articles about inclusion written by deaf and hard of hearing individuals and experts: http://www.zak.co.il/d/deaf-info/old/inclusion
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It depends.
From what I have seen so far, it takes an enormous amount of patience and cooperation from teachers, administrators and families to make it work for some students, especially those with additional special needs. For other students, they seem to fit right in, requiring little assistance or accommodations.
It really takes time and getting to know the student and their families to see if whether inclusion or being mainstreamed in a public school is the right choice.
I disagree with those who seem to think that mainstreaming is not right for ALL deaf and hard of hearing students. I also disagree with those who think ALL deaf and hard of hearing students need to be mainstreamed. I don't believe in mandating full inclusion for all deaf and hard of hearing students. Deaf and hard of hearing students have special needs that require specialists who can provide support and make sure their needs are being met in their classes. Ideally, they should all have the option of attending schools for the deaf, public schools, private schools, or to be home schooled. Whether families have access to good schools or education programs depend on a number of different factors such as the area they live in.
You have to take into account the situations and families the students are coming from, their personalities and abilities, their degree of hearing loss and how they prefer to communicate with others. For example, the shy student who suddenly loses 80% more of her hearing while attending school may have more trouble than the student who has been profoundly deaf all his life, is not shy about advocating for himself, and knows how to effectively utilize a sign language interpreter in school.
It seems to me that the friendly and fully informed mainstreamed deaf and hard of hearing students who work hard on speaking up and advocating for themselves will usually get better results. But, how many people know many young students who are so confident? Being a kid can be hard. I feel for the painfully shy students who have been thrown into difficult situations while receiving little to no support from family members and teachers.
Here is a link to interesting articles about inclusion written by deaf and hard of hearing individuals and experts: http://www.zak.co.il/d/deaf-info/old/inclusion
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Few disagree that for SOME deaf children mainstreaming is not the option to pursue, most agree with that, what we DISAGREE with is the hard core cultural deaf who want ALL deaf children returned to special deaf schooling and taught ONLY via sign language, we will never agree with those views. For too long a part of deaf culture has pursued the 'specialist' option for ONE reason only, to preserve what they feel is the culture base. This IGNORES the views of parents and the needs of 'most' deaf children. They are going to try to integrate as many deaf children as it is possible regardless what these people want. There is no equality in isolation.
ReplyDelete(e
ReplyDeleteYou should know that for several decades after IDEA made 'mainstreaming', school districts cheated the system and 'mainstreamed' students. The districts took the money that was supposed to go for support for their 'mainstreamed' students and used that money as general revenue. All too often the 'mainstreamed' students were left to 'sink or swim'... and many sank. This has led to a profound distrust of public school districts among many Deaf advocates.
However, the problems are deeper than just Special Education. More people in 'mainstream' America are coming to distrust public school districts. Districts have been dishonest about test scores and any other means of accountability. (The boom in homeschooling reflects this distrust, in part.) In fact, while many states are talking about closing Deaf schools, other voices are asking if our public school system is an idea whose time has passed. They are asking if it is time to close all our public schools and re-think education and training of our children.
BTW, MM misses the point made by several posters in the link you provide. That point is that *mainstreaming* is isolation, while for many deaf children deaf schools are *inclusion*.
David
Apologies for posting as anonymous - when I sign into my Google account, the link does not work.
It works 100% of the time, no matter the child's language level or additional disabilities--just ask the decision makers in my school district.
ReplyDelete(Catch the sarcasm? Little bit?)
SurfinSLP - Yes, I caught the sarcasm. Made me laugh hysterically.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the laugh! :)
David, sorry that you were having trouble signing in to comment! Your comment somehow ended up in Spam, so that's why it took so long for it to appear here. Maybe you can try the Face Book comment box, next time.
ReplyDeleteThanks for your comment. It's sad that there is a lot of distrust with schools. Maybe things will get better--I am hoping.
It works. It doesn't mean it works for ALL. Just that it works. I'm sure in different parts of the country mainstreaming environment is different than others. Bigger cities, less solitaires. Different school districts with different philosophies, etc. Just as much as there are many factors in the outcome of a deaf/hh child with choices, the same can be said for education. Based on my experience (I was a solitaire for three years in a regular public school and mainstreamed with other deaf/hh kids but solitaire in classroom for five), I will say that the quality of education is the best in mainstream. IL ISD used to be one of the best schools for the deaf (this was before bilingual education showed up)and they were already 2 years behind. Not good at all. Many of us who entered ISD in high school from mainstream were not happy about the quality of education. We actually helped pulled the state scores up for ISD - IL. I wanted to experience the social aspect of high school in a deaf environment where I would feel at ease.
ReplyDeleteOf course mainstreaming works, but it is definitely not for everyone. Kids with additional learning disabilities might find mainstreaming tougher.
Candy~