Deaf schools vs mainstream schools

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[13:26:55 17/03/09] @ BattyOldMaid : just got home from a parent group at school

[13:27:06 17/03/09] texasgal : how's your day going?

[13:27:20 17/03/09] @ BattyOldMaid : discussing way on how to improve the school, and plenty of after school clubs were talked about

[13:28:58 17/03/09] texasgal : what kind of improvements are they talking about doing?

[13:29:09 17/03/09] @ BattyOldMaid : sports

[13:29:11 17/03/09] @ BattyOldMaid : more of them

[13:35:42 17/03/09] texasgal : school improvements seem to be a recurring theme around here too

[13:36:16 17/03/09] @ BattyOldMaid : my son is deaf, there are no deaf schools in wales, the nearest he has to go to is in Bristol, Englland

[13:36:29 17/03/09] @ BattyOldMaid : it's an hours drive, he won't and will not do well in mainstream school

[13:36:46 17/03/09] @ BattyOldMaid : anyhow, the council is wanting to move that school and reloacted it within a hearing school

[13:37:06 17/03/09] @ BattyOldMaid : my council have said that if that happens, Tobias will not be going there, as they do have the 'same' arrangements in Wales,

[13:37:12 17/03/09] @ BattyOldMaid : wales is shit for deaf education

[13:37:20 17/03/09] @ BattyOldMaid : that is one reason why we are moving to Riverside

[13:37:33 17/03/09] texasgal : understood. doesn't the school system have programs for disabled children?

[13:37:59 17/03/09] @ BattyOldMaid : anyway, the threat of the school being relocated is serious, the headteacher are trying to find ways to make it more appealing to new deaf children

[13:38:14 17/03/09] @ BattyOldMaid : currently there is only 18 deaf children in that school, they need to boost the figures

[13:38:47 17/03/09] @ wiseguy : sounds awkward to me beth

[13:39:02 17/03/09] texasgal : That's so weird to me. Every school here has a special education program that tries to integrate those children into the mainstream classes.

[13:39:04 17/03/09] @ BattyOldMaid : yes, the schools (hearing schools) has a program for disabled children, but remember, you place a disabled child into that school where everyoone is normal, they feel their disability more, far better to place them into school where there are other children like them and they don't feel at all disabled

[13:39:37 17/03/09] @ wiseguy : shame this converation is not in the forum

[13:39:43 17/03/09] @ BattyOldMaid : not all children are the same, my niece currently goes into a normal school where there are an interpreter to sign everything to her

[13:39:46 17/03/09] texasgal : we call that "mainstreaming" including a disabled child in a "regular" classroom

[13:39:54 17/03/09] @ wiseguy : its a worthwhile debate subject etc

[13:40:00 17/03/09] @ BattyOldMaid : that is fab in the classroom, but come playtime she has no one to interpret so she is left out

[13:40:12 17/03/09] @ BattyOldMaid : I'll repost that and make it a topic, that okay with you?

[13:40:22 17/03/09] texasgal : fine with me

[13:40:44 17/03/09] @ wiseguy : yes as i think other people views would enhance the topic

[13:40:50 17/03/09] @ BattyOldMaid : you must remember that a deaf child is not 'disabled' they just can't hear

[13:41:13 17/03/09] @ BattyOldMaid : people don't seem to understand that, they establish a loop system where children can hear the voice of a teacher but other noises are cut out

[13:41:15 17/03/09] @ wiseguy : sheffield has both schools

[13:41:24 17/03/09] @ BattyOldMaid : the playground doesn't have them so they can't follow what their friends are saying in the playground

[13:41:33 17/03/09] @ BattyOldMaid : sheffield?

[13:41:35 17/03/09] @ wiseguy : and one for the blind

[13:41:40 17/03/09] texasgal : sorry if i offended, batty. that's the term used here

[13:42:09 17/03/09] @ BattyOldMaid : i think, personally, children with a particular disability does better when they are placed alongside other children with similar disabilty

[13:42:19 17/03/09] @ BattyOldMaid : no offence texasgal, none at all

[13:43:13 17/03/09] @ BattyOldMaid : it's hard to explain,

[13:43:20 17/03/09] @ BattyOldMaid : my son refuses to play with hearing children

[13:43:40 17/03/09] texasgal : my son has something called central auditory processing disorder. basically, his hearing is perfect but the connection to process what he is hearing is not what it should be.

[13:43:40 17/03/09] @ BattyOldMaid : he is tired of being the one that understands their gesturings, but they cannot or won't understand him when he tries to gesture to them what he wants

[13:43:50 17/03/09] @ BattyOldMaid : he feels he is being pushed aside

[13:43:55 17/03/09] @ BattyOldMaid : he feels awkward

[13:44:13 17/03/09] @ BattyOldMaid : if I take him to a play group where there are other deaf children, he runs off and plays with them

[13:44:20 17/03/09] @ BattyOldMaid : communication is easy, all use sign language

[13:44:38 17/03/09] texasgal : bless his heart.

[13:44:45 17/03/09] @ BattyOldMaid : it's easy and reasonable to say, all disabled children should be integrated with normal peers, but reality, it doesn't work

My personal view is that a deaf child attending a deaf school where his peers are deaf also, where they all use one language, sign language, where they are taught by teachers who are both qualified for the deaf and qualified teachers who also use sign language is the best way forwards.

To place a deaf child into a mainstream school, where they may not be another deaf child in it, in the class room a communication support worker is there to relay information to the child, it singles them out to others. He knows he is different, and feels different.

Playtimes, the communication support worker is not present, which poses problems as a deaf child cannot follow the fast paced conversation normal children have where they all speak at the same time.

It's in that environment they are 'disabled'. Far better for them to be placed into their own kind of school, where their deafness is not an issue, where they don't feel left out at playtimes.

Most often than not, a communication support worker is not fluent in sign language, they also have not been trained on how to interpret properly, most often, they will hear the information being talked and relay it back to the deaf child in their own opinion of what was said. It's like having a qualifed doctor instructing an operation tatics to someone who has no real training in operating on a patient, who has basic knowledge of the human body. Would you accept that?

I would not.

I can understand mainstreaming those with physical disabilities, they can hold and communicate with other children just as well, because the only defect is on the physical side.

Maybe I'm just being picky on this subject, as it's close to my heart. I have been to 8 different schools in the whole of my 11 schooling years, I have had problems with each of them, until I started a deaf school, taught by qualified teachers, who were fluent in sign language, being amongst my own peers, where communication was never a barrier.

Councils are closing deaf schools everywhere, the government bleats that every parents has a choice, but tell me, what choice are there around if there are no real schools to choose from?

Wales does not have a deaf school at all, they closed them all down. But now I hear the MPs are talking about setting up not one, but two deaf schools in Wales, they want a qualified teachers who are fluent in sign language, the problem is funding. They don't want to spend money on training teachers to learn sign language only for them to move to England to teach at other schools thus wasting their money.

I would have thought that they could have a contract going, they pay for the sign language tuitation, providing the teachers remain teaching in Welsh deaf school for say 10 years.

Anyway, as wel all know, politicians are all mouth and no action, they've said what has been said a milllion times before and since then, nothing has made any progress.

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my son has something called central auditory processing disorder. basically, his hearing is perfect but the connection to process what he is hearing is not what it should be.

That was interesting to note texasgal, as in that parent meeting we had an informal chat with a speech language therapist, she mentioned something about this kind of problem affecting children. She was saying that even deaf children had this, it's linked to the written english, where they cannot process any information the same way as a hearing child with CAPD. It was an interesting chat, and it's strange that this came up again in the conversation on chat box!!

Thanks for sharing.

Batty

Being a trained teacher and a mom, I can see both sides of the story. Having all deaf children in one school is good because it allows the children to interact with and grow with other children who are "just like them". They don't have to figure out what the other kids are trying to say because they are all speaking the same language.

However, once they are done with school, they then have to "relearn" how to deal with those who aren't deaf. It's a hard situation to be in. As a parent, you don't have alot of time to ponder what is the right choice regarding your child. Parenting is truly the hardest job on earth. I can't tell you how many times I've worried over a decision in my son's education. Should I have held him back a year? Is he ready for this next year? On and on and on...Nice to see that I have a person on the other side of the world who's in a similar boat, eh batty?

Your the best, batty girl.

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...once they are done with school, they then have to "relearn" how to deal with those who aren't deaf...

I just have to put this in here..... My sister is not deaf, and does not have a physical disability, and yet she had to be pulled out of a "regular" classroom and home schooled for several years because of a learning difference. Non-verbal Learning Disorder.... in other words, she cannot understand non-verbal communications, such as tone of voice and facial expressions. Because of this she was missing 60% + of the classroom teachings, not to mention what would happen on the playground. My parents were told that home schooling would only harm her development because she needed to learn how to interact with her peers. But the fact remains, that eventually, she returned to the school after 4 years, and is in all ways a normal teenage girl. Putting her in a suitable environment for her to learn, enabled her to develop the skills she needed to interact with society.

Say Tobias does get to go to a deaf school. He learns at the best possible rate for him. That will free up his intellectual resources so that when he does need to blend into society (say university or a job) he has them to draw upon. LOL re-reading that it doesn't make sense, but I hope you understand what I'm trying to say. Mainstreaming kids is NOT always in their best interest.