Came across this post and this one. How so very true. I was in gymnastics in high school. I loved it, was pretty good at it, but the way I dealt with bus rides? I was the champion french-braider, and would do most people’s hair during the ride so I could be busy and “participating” though I had no idea what people were saying.

Like one of the interviewees in the book, I speak quite fluently and deal well one on one (and did just fine academically) so no one thought I was having any sort of issues at school. I haven’t even really questioned it until now. Until now, I’ve just sort of accepted my overall isolation, which is in some ways truly maddening. But better late than never, I suppose.

This is why I keep coming back to how it’s just so wrong to keep a deaf child alone in the school she’s in. There’s got to be more effort to bring deaf children together in school, to make at least one signing teacher (not a tag along interpreter) available, to encourage the hearing kids at the school to also learn sign and so on. I’ve heard of a couple of schools of this sort, and I think they should be encouraged where possible.