In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:

We wish to thank the Gallaudet University Research Institute for three Priority Grants and two Small Grants awarded to us between 2000 and 2012, without which neither Alone in the Mainstream nor Turning the Tide would have come to fruition. Thank you Mike, Len, Chip, Senda, and others. We thank Claire Ramsey and Donna Mertens for their pioneering work in qualitative methods with deaf and hard of hearing individuals, which inspired both Alone in the Mainstream and Turning the Tide. We thank the individuals who gave their time and energy to our focus groups and online survey. You were the best, and we hope we have done justice to all you so generously shared with us. We thank all the camp and weekend program directors who allowed Dr. Oliva and her graduate assistants to visit and observe between 2005 and 2010. We’d like to particularly spotlight Camp SummerSign (starsnashville.org) in Nashville, Tennessee, whose program in filmmaking produced two outstanding films. The first, Alone in a Hearing World (2011), focused on a deaf boy’s daily struggles in his general education environment and ended with him feeling frustrated, angry, and sad. In 2012 the campers decided they wanted a more positive ending to their film, which resulted in My New Life in the Mainstream (http://youtu.be /dvilmMRwmC0). In this film, the actors convey a powerful message about how it is possible for a single person to make xix Acknowledgments xx Acknowledgments a difference in the school life of a deaf student. This movie represents what students wish would happen in general education settings, which perfectly mirrors our hopes as well. We are proud to have a clip from My New Life in the Mainstream as our cover photograph, a clip from a film written by real deaf students, portraying real hopes about change in general education settings, all put together during a summer camp experience with deaf and hard of hearing peers. We think this is a perfect cover. We also thank the many individuals—too numerous to mention—who helped us with technology, shared on-the-job experiences, read drafts, or simply encouraged us along the way. We thank Ivey Wallace at Gallaudet University Press for her support, encouragement, and editing. Finally a special thanks to the many heroes who continue to advocate for equitable educational opportunities for deaf and hard of hearing children today and tomorrow. You inspire us, and we hope our work will return the favor. We welcome input—if you would like to contact the authors, please email gina.oliva09@gmail.com and/or lrlytle@gmail.com. ...

Share