Continue to explore and identify American Deaf Educational systems, including Deaf Schools/Residential Schools for the Deaf vs. Public Schools/Mainstream settings;
Compare and contrast pros/cons for each educational setting, in relation to the d/Deaf child's needs, the parents'/guardians' needs, and recommendations from the American Deaf Community.
As mentioned last week, nowadays parents usually have the option of sending their deaf child to the local public school (with a variety of programs and educational approaches that may or may not be in the child's best interest and sensory ability) or to a "School for the Deaf"—typically residential/boarding where the child lives there during the week and comes home on the weekends. If the family lives close by, they may choose to drop off and pick up the child every day.
But in the days prior to the 1960s, some families just chose to keep their deaf child at home, not allowing them access to education, language, peers, or socialization. Communication at home might have been limited to just gestures and made-up/created "home signs" that only the immediate family knew. In many of these households, stereotypically it was the mother who learned to sign/gesture and had the best (albeit tenuous) relationship and communicative bond to the deaf child. Even so, the superficial and lack of complex and abstract communication meant that the deaf child was effectively illiterate, unskilled, and completely at a loss for how to support himself/herself once they reached 18 years old.
Historically, institutionalization is a part of "American deaf Education" too. It's not discussed often, but there are situations with misdiagnoses, miscommunications, and explosive/out-of-control behavior by deaf children (rightly so, due to lack of language and ability to express feelings/ideas and be understood by anyone!). This is where the inappropriate and ignorant term "deaf and dumb" and "deaf mute" came about.
Thanks to the work of Thomas H. Gallaudet bringing French Deaf Educator Laurent Clerc from France to Hartford, Connecticut, in 1817 to establish the first K-8 (then later including 9-12) School for the Deaf. Its graduates then spread out through the U.S.A., establishing more schools for the Deaf until many states had at least 1 state-supported "School for the Deaf". These Deaf Schools (Residential Schools for the Deaf) were usually in a centralized location, but outside of main urban sites. Larger-populated states may have needed more than one—California had three (Berkeley, Fremont, and Riverside), though Berkeley closed in the late '70s. Whereas states like Utah, Montana, and New Mexico had just one School for the Deaf, with students traveling from all corners of their respective states and living there throughout the week, if not week/weekend and returning home during major holidays and longer breaks.
K-12 education by Deaf Teachers, Deaf Staff, and usually hearing Principals, was provided in ASL as the primary language. Other school staff and custodians usually knew sign language too, learning over time or having Deaf family members growing up (CODAs).
Present-day Deaf Schools must now follow the state curricula expectations, state testing passing percentages, and ensure that Deaf students who want to are college-ready. Other Deaf students may be counseled into trades, careers, and other lines of work that suit their wants and dreams. Teachers are Deaf and hearing, but knowledge and fluency in ASL are still requirements.
As mentioned above, the 1960s was a turning point, since civil rights activists and disability rights activists joined together to fight for common equality and accommodations under the law. The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act
In public school systems, a wide variety of special education programs are now available to d/Deaf students. Typically, programs are divided up into Mild-to-Moderate and Severe-to-Profound for deaf and hard-of-hearing students. Within these two "levels", Mild-to-Moderate students are usually offered more access to Speech Therapy/Speech-Language Pathologists, oral-based approaches, technology/assistive hearing device approaches, and speech/listening therapy pull-outs and focus. These students are busily trying to learn to use their technology, "listen better", predict content from contexts (even if no one's lips are readily visible to "read"), as well as master the class content and vocabulary.
Some deaf students may have parents who have somewhat learned and prefer their deaf child learns/is taught via an English-based signing system (S.E.E.1 [Seeing Essential English], S.E.E.2 [Signing Exact English], PSE [Pidgin Signed English], CASE [Conceptually Accurate Signed English], or SE [Signed English, a catch-all term).
Severe-to-Profound hearing loss typically means that the student doesn't have much useful residual hearing (and may even be labeled an "oral failure", though never to their faces!). These educational approaches tend to be sign-based: Total Communication classrooms (potentially a mix of Signed English, ASL signs, and spoken English), Deaf/ASL classrooms, or Bilingual/Bicultural classrooms.
Deaf Schools (usually signed as INSTITUTION) were bastions for ASL (language/fluency), Culture (upper class students and Deaf adults), and socialization with peers (24/7!). A sense of belonging was created for the 90%-95% of students who had all hearing family members. Deaf students with Deaf parents/family members were seen as the top of the hierarchy, being in charge of explaining the ins and outs of American Deaf Culture, sharing Deaf folklore and stories/jokes, teaching new students ASL and appropriate grammar and communicative turn-taking, and ways to handle the daily challenges of interfacing with the hearing world.
Many Deaf graduates would return to the Deaf Schools as teachers and staff themselves. Life-long friendships and romances all occurred amongst the students at these schools. Some found BFFs here or even spouses!
The students grew up together in gender-separated dormitories/cottages/residences, also divided by Elementary School, Middle School, and High School, requiring at least 6 separate wings/areas and a rotating Deaf staff of "Resident Advisors" or "Cottage Parents" who worked Sunday-Friday and Friday-Sunday shifts. (In former days, some RAs/Cottage Parents worked 24/7, being available after school, overnight, and ensuring the kids went off to school the next morning. They had time from 8am to 3pm for themselves (side jobs, higher education, or working other positions at the Deaf School!). Some doubled as substitute teachers, worked maintenance/groundskeepers, or drove the school bus for field trips.)
As a close-knit family, the socialization positives and language immersion access for budding/thriving Deaf children cannot be equaled elsewhere—especially considering most of the Deaf students (90%-95%) came from families who didn't sign, wouldn't/couldn't learn sign, and barely communicated effectively with them when they did go home. Home became synonymous with language and cultural barriers, lack of connection, and a "loneliness amongst the crowd". Whereas Deaf Schools were revered and valued for the passing down of Deaf social norms, language, and the bond of "family" that transcended blood and biology.
One historic negative was that educational standards and English Literacy were less than that of hearing counterparts in K-12 settings. A longstanding statistic (2012!) has been that Deaf School graduates of HS barely had 2nd-5th Grade English Reading Levels! While this might have been true up until the 1990s (and in more rural School systems), with the passage of the ADA and advancements in technology/Educational Laws for students with special needs and accommodations, Deaf students have been steadily improving in their literacy abilities on the whole. It is difficult to collect and compare data from all state-run Schools for the Deaf, even now. More and more Deaf HS graduates are considering college, university, and additional post-secondary training programs and careers though!
Public Schools must hold IEPs (Individualized Education Program) Meetings for children with special needs and accommodations requested by parents. If the Public School District agrees to the parents' requests—ASL Interpreters, Signed English Interpreters, Cued Speech Transliterators, Real-Time Captioners, prioritized seating, extended testing time, notetakers, Interpreter support during testing, Speech Therapy, Occupational Therapy, Counseling, Itinerant Teachers of the Deaf, other technology/device needs, etc.—then they are provided immediately. If the School District balks or refuses, they don't have to immediately provide accommodations. It is up to the parents' to fight for their child's educational needs!
The law states that "due process" must occur, with parents' putting their requests in writing, the School District having a set amount of time to reply in writing, and then further mediation/discussion occurring. If no agreement comes to fruition, the parents have the right to sue the School District in order to force them to provide the services requested. It would come down to an actual judge to rule in favor of the School District or the parents. Logical and common-sensical requests are usually honored by courts: a severely deaf child whose parents request their child be in a signing classroom with notetakers, recorded classes, interpreters, and other ASL/signing needs make sense! But a somewhat hard-of-hearing student who seems to communicate well in English and effectively uses his/her hearing aids may be harder to convince a judge that an all ASL-setting or full-time interpreters is required.
But at any time, a parent can request a school district provide the educational choice and approach that they choose. (Similarly, the School District can respond that they already provide a wide buffet of options, and the single request cannot be honored.)
While School Districts receive state and/or federal funding for Deaf students at 1.5x more than non-disabled student educational costs, the requests by parents may equal 2-5x more, depending on their child's specific needs! Many d/Deaf students don't just need a signing classroom. They may also have more complex and intricate medical, intellectual, behavioral, and educational needs that require 1-on-1 aides, mobility support, caretakers, ramps, technology, and other devices!
It all comes down to money and money and more money.
But still, if d/Deaf students can excel in obtaining English fluency, they are more able to stay equivalent to hearing classmates/peers in educational content mastery and literacy testing. D/deaf students may achieve academically, but may suffer behaviorally/emotionally, culturally, and socially without a robust network of other students similar to them (as is natural in Deaf School settings).
*IEPs are also established for Deaf students at Schools for the Deaf.
Class Videorecording