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to share this space with someone who is making a huge difference for Deaf and Hard of Hearing children caught in the outdated politics of today's education system.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
