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Introduction
- Gallaudet University Press
- Chapter
- Additional Information
Introduction It has been almost four decades since the original passage of P.L. 94-142, known as the Individuals With Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). Two huge differences between then and now concerning the education of deaf and hard of hearing students in general education are the greater presence of sign language interpreters and the increasing presence of itinerant teachers of the deaf in K–12 schools. We also note, that over those four decades, student enrollment in residential schools for the deaf decreased dramatically, whereas enrollment in general education settings increased. The Government Accountability Office (U.S. Government Accountability Office, 2011) reported that there were 78,000 deaf or hard of hearing children in the United States in the 2008 count (the last count available). This is considered by numerous researchers to be an undercount. Still, we concede that deafness is considered a low-incidence disability compared to, for example, the generic category of “learning disability .” Because deafness is a low-incidence disability, while the numbers of deaf and hard of hearing students enrolled in general education programs increased, the students themselves were dispersed throughout their school systems and it became increasingly common for these students to never meet another deaf or hard of hearing student. From the mid-1970s through the 1980s, many deaf and hard of hearing children were educated in what were called at the time “self-contained classrooms.” These were classes of 1 2 Introduction deaf and hard of hearing children, often of varying ages, in a single classroom in a regular public school, taught by a specially trained teacher of the deaf, along with aide(s). Over the next 40 years, as slowly but surely more and more of those children were placed in regular classrooms, those teaching jobs evolved into itinerant positions. The teacher of the deaf is now responsible, not for a classroom, but for some number of children who are often the only deaf child in the classroom, in different schools. Hand in hand with that trend, today greater numbers of deaf and hard of hearing children are in regular education classrooms with support services . The presence of interpreters in K–12 settings is sometimes referred to as a “mediated education.” That is, students are getting their instructional messages not directly from teachers but from an interpreter, through sign language, cued speech, oral interpreting, or transliteration services. In a mediated education, communication between teachers and peers and the deaf or hard of hearing child is indirect. Since that long-ago time when P.L. 94-142 was being formulated, deaf and hard of hearing adults involved in the education of deaf and hard of hearing children have been concerned about the differential impact of this law on the children, and the adults we interviewed spoke adamantly about this. Deaf and hard of hearing children, blind children, and children with developmental disabilities have totally different needs. Any adult who knows a child with a disability knows that that child’s needs are unique to that disability, and within each disability group there is variation. But it seems many people either do not know this, choose to ignore it, or feel powerless to act with the knowledge they have. Over the years our informants as well as many other individuals have individually, collectively, consistently, and frequently spoken up to say that the evolving push for all children with disabilities to be educated in their neighborhood public schools presents a major pitfall for deaf and hard of hearing children. Being in an environment of ongoing, ever-present spoken conversation as well as ambient noise (from air conditioners, computers, paper shuffling, etc.) places deaf and hard of hearing children and youth in a seriously limited environment. [3.16.83.150] Project MUSE (2024-04-17 21:20 GMT) Introduction 3 Those who push for “inclusion” for deaf and hard of hearing children seem to either be unaware of or choose to ignore the fact that the constant informal transmissions of information that take place daily in the school are just as important as formal classroom discourse. Although it is possible for a deaf or hard of hearing child well trained in using a cochlear implant or hearing aid to sit in the front of the classroom and be able to discern all or most of what his or her teacher is saying and what classmates are saying, such children are the exception rather than the rule. In addition, deaf and hard of hearing children are...