This is a subject I’ll doubtless return to again. I’ve commented here about mainstreaming deaf students, Moi had very good observations why it’s vital to have ASL-speaking teachers (and students) and not just interpreters floating about to “give access.” Both Banjo and I pointed out some of the predation problems with both residential/boarding schools and with “itinerant tutor” programs. In the meantime, reports have been coming out about Gallaudet’s failures to provide quality education, although others have noted that it’s similar to other schools rates and may not be a fair comparison. But in any case, any troubles here point back to lack of adequate preparation of deaf students, which brings me right back to basic preparatory education in this country, K-12.

Here are the basic problems as I see them:

1. Convincing the education profession that all deaf children should be started in ASL only classes

2. Minimize or eliminate the need for residential/boarding schools
3. Minimize or eliminate the need for itinerant tutoring (by eliminating mainstreaming, primarily)
4. Evaluate on a case by case basis whether oral skills are appropriate to introduce, but with a very strong eye toward a) not interfering with the child’s particular education and b) not continuing such drill when there’s little to no gain
5. Strong emphasis on written English skills

What I wonder is, why is it necessary to segregate deaf and hearing students completely? I’m not talking about mainstreaming deaf students per se, but something more like this:

Designate a school in each district as one for the deaf, and have all the deaf children in the district go to that school, plus the hearing children in its area. Classes are taught either verbally (for the hearing students only, and possibly any deaf children who are interested in and capable of attending) or in ASL (any student can attend). All children out together in playground at recess, i.e., encourage interaction. There can be programs at this school also aimed at helping especially hearing family members — understanding about deafness, why ASL is a good thing, encourage them to learn ASL or a little, that kind of thing. There would also essentially be support groups for the parents here, by virtue of aggregating the deaf children at this school.

There are obviously more issues, such as rural areas in which you may not have enough children to form a very large deaf section, or such long distances as to make it infeasible. But I think it may be a model worth examining.

There’s also the question of implementation. I think it’s clear that nothing can really be expected on a federal level, this would have to be at a more grassroots level. Maybe get a couple of districts to work this way (maybe some already do? If so, I would love pointers, thanks), perhaps working up to a state wide policy?

Also, the ADA that inadvertently or deliberately supports the oralistic type of mainstreaming has to be dealt with, plus perceptions by those working in education about how to apply mainstreaming to deaf children.