The Tide Could Be Turning for Deaf Education - Guest Post by Mark Drolsbaugh

Mark Drolsbaugh kindly accepted my offer to guest post on the blog today. I am honored to share this space with someone who is making a huge difference for Deaf and Hard of Hearing children caught in the outdated politics of today's education system.

The Tide Could Be Turning for Deaf Education

By Mark Drolsbaugh

During  a powerful stage performance of Tribes in Philadelphia, I was completely caught off guard. There were plenty of deaf issues in the play and I was prepared for most of them.  I was curious to see if the cast could convey the struggles deaf people and their families have to deal with, and they did—they absolutely nailed it.

But what I hadn’t expected was a family dynamic that would tug at my heartstrings: Deaf brother and hearing brother. I don’t want to spoil the play for those who haven’t seen it yet so I’m not going to divulge any details. At the same time, I’m going to man up: The deaf brother/hearing brother storyline hit me hard, and for obvious reasons.

My oldest son Darren, age 15, is deaf. His younger hearing brother, Brandon, is 12. The two of them are tight. I mean, really, really, tight. They play basketball in the driveway and baseball in the backyard. They’re especially talented at baseball—both of them are on travel teams—and share a strong passion for the game. They also share a sick sense of humor and thoroughly enjoy watching Impractical Jokers every Thursday night. They do all of that stuff together and more.

 At least they used to.

The sad reality is that deaf education is a mess. The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) and its warped interpretation of Least Restrictive Environment (LRE) has totally decimated the education system for deaf and hard of hearing children. Darren was initially mainstreamed and did well academically, but he couldn’t bear the isolation and many frustrations that come with being The Only One.

Long story short: I got Darren out of the mainstream and into a deaf school. He reports that he’s very happy now. He says he finally enjoys education in a stress-free environment where he can talk to anyone, anytime. Good for him, but that school—the one that best matches his needs—is three hours away. I had to break up my deaf son and his hearing brother. No more basketball in the driveway or baseball in the backyard.

And this is why Tribes had me wiping my eyes after they featured a deaf brother/hearing brother storyline of their own. I had come to terms with sending my kid away—which was hard enough for me—but Tribes had touched a nerve that reminded me how hard it was for Brandon, too. I couldn’t sleep all night.

LRE has affected two generations of my family—first me, and then Darren. Then you add the impact on Brandon, and while we’re at it, add my hearing daughter Lacey (age 9). She absolutely adores Darren. Then there’s my wife Melanie who wants to visit her first-born kid every weekend. This isn’t easy.  And… we’re just one family. How many others are going through this? It shouldn’t be this way. 

Over the years I’d seen a lot of crazy things going on in the mainstream and it motivated me to write a book titled Madness in the Mainstream. For a short while before it was published, I wondered if I was the only guy bringing up concerns about LRE. Fortunately, I’m not. It turns out that I have some very inspiring company and there’s hope after all.

*Link to purchase this book is at the bottom of this post

Soon after Madness in the Mainstream was released, my family took a vacation in Los Angeles. We were thrilled to find out that our trip coincided with the premiere of No Ordinary Hero: The SuperDeafy Movie. We didn’t know it at first, but we were in for a pleasant surprise: No Ordinary Hero addresses important issues related to mainstreaming and deaf education.

No Ordinary Hero benefitted my hearing kids as much (if not more) than my deaf kid. Lacey actually pulled aside the star of the film, John Maucere, and told him “I’m sad that my brother has to move to a deaf school. But after seeing your movie, I understand.” Maucere smiled and responded by giving her his SuperDeafy pin.

A few weeks later, I was invited to do a presentation hosted by Swarthmore College and the Deaf-Hearing Communication Centre. While preparing for this presentation, I came across new research that validated everything I’ve said all along. This research proves without a doubt that it’s time to do away with the antiquated practice of isolating deaf kids in the mainstream. In fact, deaf kids with cochlear implants—who are often separated from signing deaf kids out of fear that sign language will ruin their speech—can actually benefit significantly from exposure to sign language.  This includes improvement in their ability to acquire language and speech. So there’s no logic at all to the practice of separating them and the other deaf kids. None whatsoever.

I bring this up because Darren was a victim of this warped mentality when he was mainstreamed. We learned after the fact that there was another deaf student in the school he attended, and they were intentionally kept apart because apparently the other kid’s IEP stipulated that there should be no exposure to sign language. Darren’s ASL interpreter was even told not to make eye contact with other deaf student. By the way, this student didn’t even have cochlear implants so they couldn’t use the ASL-affects-progress-with-CIs excuse—they just didn’t want him in close proximity to anyone who signs.

Can you believe this stuff still goes on today?

Speaking of the aforementioned research, you can find more of it in an exciting new book titled Turning the Tide: Making Life Better for Deaf and Hard of Hearing Schoolchildren by Dr. Gina Oliva and Dr. Linda Lytle. There are excellent case studies and research findings presented in there that clearly show it’s time to overhaul the interpretation of LRE.

I felt bummed out when I started writing this article. See how the mood is shifting now? We’re not alone in this anymore. Love the title of that new book because the tide is definitely turning.

As for LRE, there is something you can do about it now. The Conference for Educational Administrators of Schools and Programs for the Deaf (CEASD) has an inspiring Child First Campaign which is proposing a new bill, the Alice Cogswell Act. If passed, this bill will go a long way towards changing how the educational needs of deaf and hard of hearing children are met. At long last, LRE would be interpreted in a more deaf-friendly way. This is huge. To support the Alice Cogswell Act go to the CEASD website and sign their petition at:  http://www.ceasd.org/child-first/alice-cogswell

  

The battle has just begun and we still have a long way to go. But there’s no doubt that the tide is finally turning in our favor. Let’s make the most of it. 

*To purchase your copy of Madness in the Mainstream visit this link: http://handwavepublications.com/bookstore/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=4