Mainstreaming in education of deaf and hard of hearing (D/HH) students has become a way for everyone to benefit. The improvements of the Individual with Disability Education Act (IDEA) have led to a better understanding of D/HH inclusion. The 1970s IDEA’s main focus for D/HH students was to integrate them into classrooms with their hearing peers so that they could “learn” to hear (Rosen). The problem with this notion is obvious though; a person with a hearing loss cannot “learn” to hear. Since the 1970s inclusion has been slow to change. It wasn’t until the late 1990s that Congress realized that schools were not facilitating communication well with D/HH students. This led to IDEA mandating that all Individualized Education Plans (IEP) for D/HH students need to address communication difficulties between the student and his or her hearing peers and teachers (Rosen). Even though communication supports are now mandated, D/HH students who have been placed in mainstream schooling still face many problems, including being ostracized by peers and unaccommodated by teachers. However, when the students, teachers and school system are open to creating a D/HH inclusive classroom, everyone is presented with a new environment from which they can learn. While being mainstreamed in school students that are D/HH often face some kind of stigmatization by their hearing peers. Stigmatization has always been a strategy that people in the majority group have used to make themselves feel more powerful and in turn, demean the minority group (Brown 149). A study, done by Gina Oliva of D/HH adults looking back on their time in a mainstream school, revealed that a quarter of participants felt that they were targeted and discriminated against by their peers.... ... middle of paper ... ...hearing perspective: All individuals would be enriched by becoming a bit more Deaf. By that we mean society would do well to become more acutely aware of the nuances of communication, more engaged in eye contact and tactile relations, more fluent in a language rich in embodied metaphor, more aware of the role of being a member of close-knit communities, and if nothing else more appreciative of human diversity, so that we [are] constantly reminded that the bedrock of reality may be just as diaphanous as any other social construction. (Bauman and Murray 255) If more people looked at the world from a deaf point of view there would be much to gain. That is why it is so important to have D/HH inclusive classrooms. If students are taught from a young age to view the world as a deaf person would, then these benefits would come more naturally to them throughout their lives.
I learned a lot about Deaf people, ASL, and/or Deaf Culture after reading this book. Deaf people are normal just like anybody else and they should not be treated any differently. Some people treat Deafness as a disease that needs to be cured, but it's not. If a parent comes to learn that their child is deaf they react very crazily and act like their child is dying and that deafness is some fatal disease. Deaf people should be treated just like anyone else and no differently. They are not disabled and can do great things in this world.
There are many important issues mentioned in the the book Deaf Again. The book talked about things beyond disabilities. People tend to judge others who are not similar to them or their ideal image of normal. The overall need for communication is the major topic that is stressed in the text. The foundation of a relationship is built off of the strength of communication, so being able to communicate with all is a very important aspect of life.
My response to this question is two-fold. Firstly, I believe that (for the most part), Deaf people actually like being deaf. While observing my neighbor (who happens to be deaf), I realize, he is never unpleasant, he keeps an unceasing smile on his face, is eager to help us hearing neighbors whenever applicable, and in general, he always looks for the silver lining in the clouds. I don’t think that I could ever work up the nerve to ask him if he’d desired the ability to hear. I’ve never seen him preoccupied with his inability to hear, so why should I. His deafness is a part of who he is. In our book, it mentions that being Deaf is a part of the individuals’ personality, an attribute just as important to a person that is right or left-handed. Why would Deaf people want to be hearing? If a person is born deaf, such as my neighbor, they don’t find themselves missing what they never experienced. Our book lends to us the illustration of someone who is
English is an interesting language. English is comprised of many different words from different languages all mashed up and mixed together. English is a very hard language to learn, especially if you can’t hear it. How easy would it be to confuse a “B” with a “P”, they sound similar and when trying to lip read how can you tell the difference? I feel that young Deaf /hard of hearing students being taught by a Deaf teacher or a child of a Deaf adult (C.O.D.A) teacher is very important because ASL is the first step to learning English and becoming bilingual. According to the article Why Schools for Deaf Children Should Hire Deaf Teachers: A Preschool Issue By Courtney Shantie and Robert Hoffmeister, the authors state “This paper will focus on
Deaf Culture is often misunderstood because the hearing world thinks of deafness as a handicap. The Deaf are not given enough credit for their disabilities even though they are unable to hear. Being misunderstood is the biggest reason why they are not accepted in the world of hearing. The learning process for them may be slower and more difficult to learn, but they are still very bright individuals. The problem at hand is the controversy of trying to “fix” the Deaf when they may or may not want to be “fixed”. The hearing world should give Deaf people a chance to show their true talents and abilities of intelligence before rushing to assumptions, such as hearing aids will fix all Deaf people, because Deaf are dumb, have social problems, and
The documentary of “Through Deaf Eyes” has open my eyes to the deaf culture. The movie has made it “click” that deaf people are just that people and individuals like me. Deaf community has its struggles just like everyone else. They struggle with growing into who they are as a person, harmful situations, and feeling a sense of belonging. They just speak a different language like Italians and Hispanics. Communicating with a different language does not make them lesser than a hearing person. When able to learn to communicate, the deaf are able to learn and gain knowledge just like a hearing person. The only difference is they have to learn more and work harder to achieve their goals and gain knowledge, which a hearing person learns just by hearing their surroundings.
Many people of society perceive deafness to be a disability a person has at which causes them to lack the power of hearing. Many of the people whom choose to believe that those who are deaf are disabled rather than possess a simple difference amongst them have most likely never had the chance to learn about deaf culture. Only about two or three out of every thousand children are born with detectable levels of hearing loss in the United States and an entire ninety percent of deaf kids are born to two fully hearing parents. (NIDCD) Therefore, it may be possible that a large portion of society views deafness as a disability due to the lack of background knowledge on Deaf culture.
Though some of the hearing community might take on an unknowingly negative approach on deafness due to a lack of knowledge, for those in the deaf community, their hearing loss is not a burden or a disability, but instead an important component of their identity and culture (Sanger-Katz). Many see being deaf as a positive attribute (Sanger-Katz). The motto belonging to the deaf community is “the deaf can do anything but hear” (“Deaf, not I...
...t is also nice to see that people are no longer ashamed to be deaf, but instead they are proud of who they are and are willing to stand up to any one who attempts to make them feel lesser. The Deaf Culture has become a lot stronger, but we still have a long wase to go.
Deaf and hearing impaired individuals are know longer an out cast group. They now have there own deaf community. Deaf individuals do not consider themselves having an impairment, handicap, or any type of disability. They believe that through the use of sign language, other communication skills, and technology that there deafness is the way they are supposed to be. Many people who have perfect hearing can not understand deaf people and why they embrace there deafness instead of trying to receive hearing and get rid of there handicap. However not all deaf people have th...
In mainstream American society, we tend to approach deafness as a defect. Helen Keller is alleged to have said, "Blindness cuts people off from things; deafness cuts people off from people." (rnib.org) This seems a very accurate description of what Keller's world must have been. We as hearing people tend to pity deaf people, or, if they succeed in the hearing world, admire them for overcoming a severe handicap. We tend to look at signing as an inferior substitute for "real" communication. We assume that all deaf people will try to lip-read and we applaud deaf people who use their voices to show us how far they have come from the grips of their disability. Given this climate, many hearing people are surprised, as I was at first, to learn of the existence of Deaf culture. To me deafness is not a defect but a source of connection. Imagine yourself deaf, growing up with a beautiful language, visual literature, humor, and theater. Imagine taking pride in your identity without any desire to become a member of the majority culture. For many deaf people, their community is a comforting relief from the isolation and condescension of the hearing world. However the Deaf community is far more than a support group for people who share a physical characteristic. Members of the Deaf community may have hearing levels that range from profoundly deaf to slightly hard-of-hearing. But no members of the Deaf community are "hearing impaired." Inside this community, deaf people become Deaf, proudly capitalizing their culture. Hearing people suddenly find that they are handicapped: "Deaf-impaired."
History unfolds the advantages of residential schools for students who are deaf and hard of hearing (DHH). While some DHH students are placed in other educational settings depending on their circumstances, majority of those who have experienced residential schools cannot help but express how glad they are of the experience.
The deaf community does not see their hearing impairment as a disability but as a culture which includes a history of discrimination, racial prejudice, and segregation. According to an online transcript,“Through Deaf Eyes” (Weta and Florentine films/Hott productions Inc., 2007) there are thirty-five million Americans that are hard of hearing. Out of the thirty-five million an estimated 300,000 people are completely deaf. There are ninety percent of deaf people who have hearing parents (Halpern, C., 1996). Also, most deaf parents have hearing children. With this being the exemplification, deaf people communicate on a more intimate and significant level with hearing people all their lives. “Deaf people can be found in every ethnic group, every region, and every economic class” (Weta and Florentine films/Hott productions Inc., 2007). The deaf culture and hard of hearing have plenty of arguments and divisions with living in a hearing world without sound however, that absence will be a starting point of an identity within their culture as well as the hearing culture (Weta and Florentine films/Hott productions Inc., 2007).
The United States Department of Education has published the Deaf Students Education Services Policy Guidance to provide state and local education agencies with guidance in providing appropriate educational services to students who are deaf as mandated by the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) 2004 and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. Discussed below are the major areas of the policy guidance.
In the article “Deafness, culture, and choice” Neil Levy says, “The deaf will always be cut off from the buzz of conversation . . . [and] always slightly alienated from the mainstream of political, social, and cultural life.” Being deaf can have a negative impact on Gauvin’s social life. A scenario can occur when Gauvin is in the playground by himself playing. While a group of kids approach him and start a conversation. The kids are trying to ask Gauvin if he is interested in playing with them. As they are talking, he is staring at the kids not knowing what is going on. As a couple of minutes pass, the kids start to walk away from Gauvin. The kids got furious because he wasn’t communicating with them. This shows how Gauvin might face difficulties like this in his childhood where he will be different from others and can’t fully understand the situation. Another issue might occur at a birthday party where there are a bunch of people and music everywhere. As everyone is enjoying the event, Gauvin sees a little girl fall into the swimming pool. Since everyone is eating food and dancing, no one can see or hear the little girl’s voice. Gauvin tries to go and get help but as he’s trying to communicate with people they aren’t understanding him. By the time he makes people realize what has happened, it is too late and the little girl is taken to the hospital. A lot of complications can