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Introduction
- Gallaudet University Press
- Chapter
- Additional Information
Introduction This book is the culmination of more than thirty-five years of experience in the field of Deaf education. It explores a variety of hot-button topics, discussions, and dilemmas currently faced by parents of deaf children and the professionals who serve them. These issues are confronted as each comes into play in the life of Kyler, a young deaf woman, who was born to hearing parents Bob and Ginny Daniels. Kyler was born in December of 1988 and was identified as having a profound, bilateral hearing loss at the age of 12 months. Her story unfolds from the time of her initial identification to the present, with Kyler’s current status as a twenty-three-year-old college graduate, professional artist, and veterinary assistant. Educational decisions and medical interventions are explored via numerous interviews, at times with mother and daughter together and at other times with Ginny and Kyler separately. Our discussions occurred over the course of 3 years and included times of laughter, joy, and tears as we reminisced about the good times and those that were not quite so good. Bob’s participation in the discussion was less extensive than that of Ginny and Kyler, due to greater constraints on his work schedule and availability. However, his voice lends a very meaningful perspective : that of his journey to come to grips with his daughter’s deafness. He describes the initial anger and darkness that devoured him and the transformation that occurred as he watched Kyler grow, learn, and flourish. In addition, raw text such as educational records (including individualized educational programs pre-K through 12th grade), results of educational and audiological evaluations, as well as medical evaluations and follow-up reports from Kyler’s cochlear implant surgery from its initiation to the present, are examined. 1 2 Introduction Kyler’s artwork is highlighted, and the notion that sign language has positively affected her visual-spatial imagery and artistic talent is explored. Art is also examined as an integral device through which Kyler views her world and engages in self-expression. The results of sifting through educational, medical, and personal documents and selecting that which most richly depicts the phenomenon embedded within the context of Kyler’s experience have produced the experiential text that is our shared story. We gathered around my kitchen table sometimes with a plate of cookies or pizza within hands reach and always with our bottles of Smart Water hoping that it would be true to its name and help us recall with clarity experiences from our past. The tape recorder was situated in the middle recording the words that flowed forth as we pondered how it was that we had come to this place in our lives . . . Kyler reaching adulthood with a good self-image, Ginny arriving thus far with her sanity intact , Bob having shed his demons, and I having grown in ever so many ways as a result of our shared lives. Drinking our water, we chatted through the changing seasons, Ginny and Kyler interrupting one another as mothers and daughters do, at times interviewing one another with me becoming the listener. Kyler and I signed and spoke simultaneously during the sessions while Ginny spoke unaccompanied by signs. While simultaneous communication is no longer a requirement for Kyler, she and I resorted to communicating the way we always have, a carryover from the past. After our shared discussions, I would retreat to my computer and painstakingly type every word that had been spoken, which would more often than not lead to a new list of questions and topics to be queried. There is, as well, an ongoing discursive text that runs throughout the book and situates this narative within broader discourses such as issues among and concerns of professionals in the field of deaf education, dilemmas and decisions faced by [44.211.35.130] Project MUSE (2024-03-29 14:13 GMT) Introduction 3 hearing parents of deaf children, and the way in which Kyler, a cochlear implant recipient, has responded to a choice that was made in her stead. Finally, circumstances that have led to Kyler’s ability to cross borders or boundaries imposed by philosophies held in the field of Deaf education and those within her home community are identified, as well as factors that have allowed Kyler to define who she is and determine who she will become. Much of the information contained in this text was first presented as a doctoral dissertation. As a result of...