Alone in the Mainstream: A Deaf Woman Remembers Public School

8. Alone in the Mainstream Again: Constructing Inclusion

146 After I had been immersed within the Deaf community for about ten years, I got the itch to venture back out into the mainstream. I have since engaged myself in several such ventures , and it appears all were attempts to participate in some activity that was not available in the Deaf world. Each venture started with an intention to “check it out,” so that if I liked the activity and the situation, I could invite some Deaf friends to join me. Ultimately, I wanted to enjoy the new experience in the company of people with whom I could communicate easily. Over the years, I have come to realize that what I have been doing through these efforts needs to be done all over the United States and, in fact, the world. I have been deliberately constructing effective inclusion for me and my friends. Situations and environments where deaf and hard of hearing children are truly included will not happen unless adults (both d/Deaf and hearing) design them and then serve as models within them. These children will not be privy to conversations in the locker rooms, the cafeteria, the hallways, or the recreation center unless deaf and hard of hearing adults begin to construct these environments and invite concerned hearing adults (parents, teachers, etc.) to collaborate. Solitary and almost-solitary children will continue to be socially isolated until adults mend the larger milieu. Alone in the Mainstream Again: Constructing Inclusion 8 The stories in this chapter relay my own attempts to make this kind of impact. They demonstrate what truly inclusive situations and environments would look like. I know that other deaf and hard of hearing adults have made similar efforts. We need to continue, expand, and make our efforts known. I realized in analyzing these experiences that my years in the hearing world gave me just enough comfort, awareness, and survival skills that I would be willing and able to venture out again into that desert—the mainstream. This realization made me a bit more grateful for what I did learn during those years. Essential Skills and Confidence I must give credit to my mother for instilling a love of learning in me. She was an avid reader, and as soon as I could read “jump Spot jump” we started walking up the street to the library at least once a week. On summer days, we would sit outside on our respective lounge chairs and read the summer away. My mother has probably read a majority of the significant books of the past seventy years, both fiction and nonfiction. I am certain that my love for reading enabled me to pick up as much information as a child possibly could through the printed word. Dad deserves credit for nurturing my love for athletics, music, nature, and art. He taught me to swim, ride my bike, and play racquet sports at an early age. He taught me to make wooden boats, pull weeds and play the drums. After he died I became interested in art. When he was alive, he and my mother would visit me in Maryland and he would ask “Have you been to any museums lately?” I would say, “Oh Dad, you know I only go there when you are here!” But after he died, I started to appreciate the museums of Washington. The quiet and orderly school environment of my elementary school and the teachers at Cos Cob School all served me well. At the time, there was an apparent practice of keeping the same teacher for both first and second grade. Mrs. White had one-to-one reading time with me on a regular basis. My third-grade teacher, Mrs. Pickering, noticed that three of us—Joe, Eddie, and me—were far ahead of the rest of the class in arithmetic. So, she put us to work in one corner of the classroom on our own. In a nutshell, I Alone in the Mainstream Again 147 must admit that yes, I had a good academic experience at Cos Cob School. I think this is because I had a moderate hearing loss, most of the information came directly from the teacher, and there were few if any distractions. In junior high, high school, and college, my hearing loss progressed. I have a general recollection that in junior high I had a 65-dB loss, and by 148 Alone in...