Deaf Education

Dylan Snow
Sep 1, 2018 · 5 min read

Deaf Education

Segregated Classroom

“Over 75% of deaf or hard of hearing students in the US are mainstreamed in public schools” (“Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing Students in the Mainstream” 1). There are two methods of schooling for deaf students, mainstream or segregated. Mainstream is the where a deaf students attends a public school with very little assistance communicating and learning. Segregating deaf students and specialized teaching methods allow the students to learn and communicate much easier. Mainstreaming a deaf student can cause many problems socially, educationally, and mentally. Unlike the specially designed classes with similar peers offered with the segregated classes.

Mainstream classroom

While in a mainstream setting, deaf students have special communication needs that have to be addressed in order for the student to be successful in learning. Without addressing these needs to the fullest extent the student will have trouble communicating with the instructor as well as their peers. Some programs try and help the student communicate properly but they are not very effective. “DHH (deaf or hard of hearing) college students generally come into and leave the mainstream classroom with less content knowledge than their hearing peers” (John T. E. Richardson, Marc Marschark, Thomastine Sarchet, Patricia Sapere 358–382). In a mainstream classroom, the deaf students and hearing students are tested on the same material, but the deaf students have received less of the material than their hearing peers because of their disability. This limits the success of the deaf students because of the unspecialized teaching methods used in mainstream environments. Deaf and hard of hearing individuals succeed while in specialized classes with similar peers.

Segregated Classroom

Phyllis Frelich, a deaf actress, won the 1980 Best Actress Tony Award. Frelich attended the North Dakota School for the Deaf and Gallaudet University. Both schools are specially designed for deaf students receiving the best education possible while helping them develop the communication skills necessary to live in a hearing world. Frelich is just one example of many successful students that were taught in segregated classrooms where deaf people are not in isolation because of the lack of communication (“Phyllis Frelich” 1–4).

Phyllis Frelich

Not only is education a problem for mainstream deaf students, but socially and mentally they can struggle as well. My own aunt is deaf and has went through both mainstream and segregated schools. While attending the mainstream school she was bullied by her classmates just because of her disability. This took a dramatic toll on her mental health and learning ability. Not only was she not learning because of her peers but she was becoming depressed as she felt like an outcast. When she finally switched to a private school for the deaf she was able to be herself and develop academically and socially while recovering and improving mentally. She was able to graduate, get a job, and raise a family all with the support of the deaf community that she joined when she switched out of mainstream schooling.

Deaf children have to overcome many challenges because of the huge communication barrier between them and the rest of the world. Mainstream education is not as beneficial as specialized education and in some cases can have negative impacts on the lives of the students. The segregation of deaf and hard of hearing students allows the students to be able to develop socially, educationally and mentally within the deaf community.

Bibliography

“Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing Students in the Mainstream” Raising and Educating Deaf Children, www.raisingandeducatingdeafchildren.org/2014/01/01/deaf-and-hard-of-hearing-students-in-the-mainstream/.

“Phyllis Frelich.” Louis L’Amour | North Dakota Office of the Governor, www.governor.nd.gov/media-center/theodore-roosevelt-rough-rider-award/phyllis-frelich.

Narrative

Rhetorical Appeals of Mainstreaming vs Segregating Deaf Students

The purpose of my essay, “Deaf Education” is to raise awareness of the challenges deaf students in mainstream classrooms go through compared to segregated specialized classrooms. As someone who has a personal connection with the deaf community I would like to highlight that changes should be made. Better teaching methods and communication tactics should be implemented into mainstream classrooms and awareness of how to respect and communicate with the deaf community.

In my essay, I used logos, ethos, and pathos, all the rhetorical appeals. I appealed to logos with a quote from a study done on college level deaf students in the mainstream classroom. The college level deaf student learned less than the hearing students in the same class. This shows that the strategies used to help the deaf students are not good enough. I appealed to ethos with the mention of a famous deaf actress, Phyllis Frelich. She won an award that very few people have and has inspired countless deaf people to pursue their dreams just like she did. I appealed to pathos by giving a personal example of my aunt that has experienced both types of schools. She has experience the worst possible mainstream classes and some of the best possible segregated classes. By sharing her experience most people would feel sympathy for her because of what she went through and connect with the topic.

By using all three rhetorical appeals in my essay I am connecting at least once with the reader no matter what type of mindset they have. If the reader is unable to connect with the topic they will not retain any of the message. I started with logos to prove that there is actual evidence that mainstreaming classes do not work as effectively as segregated and I am not just going off of opinions. I then used ethos so it sets a positive mindset of people succeeding from deaf schools and inspiring other people that face challenges that they can become something great. Ending with pathos by sharing a personal situation that tugs on the readers heart strings just enough so they are open to new and better ideas. As the pathos leads into the conclusion where the persuasion that change needs to be done is reinforced.

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