What I've Learned in 26 years about Educating the Deaf

October 13, 2011 at 3:57 PM

I am always searching for different perspectives on the education of the deaf and hard-of-hearing. I have been fortunate, over the past twenty-six years at WRSD, to have the opportunity to visit many schools for the deaf. I have always been impressed by their commitment to their students and the depth of their programs.

As part of that experience, I have also seen firsthand how many of the schools have added new programs and expanded their approaches in order to meet the evolving needs of the students they serve. The benefits of new technologies have been integrated into many schools to enhance their existing programs. Superintendents of schools for the deaf across the country encourage best practices by integrating new services while, at the same time, respecting the benefit to students of historical approaches.

I recently came upon a quote from Josh Swiller, the author of “The Unheard: A Memoir of Deafness in Africa”. Mr. Swiller said, in part, “The environment at every school that teaches deaf students, mainstream or stand alone, that focuses on economic independence and then celebrates every form of deafness and every chosen communication modality will help the community move past the emotional and moral debate and move more fully into the exciting possibilities of this age.”

Mr. Swiller has captured a wonderful sentiment and in many ways the perspective of WRSD. A typical day at WRSD may have some students leaving campus for a work-study experience with a local employer. It may have students being mainstreamed into regular education classes with age-appropriate hearing peers or it may have our faculty delivering expert instructional services in our classrooms on both of our campuses.

The phrase, “The celebration of every form of deafness and every chosen communication modality” resonates strongly with me and with the WRSD community. We know firsthand that students come with different skills, different capacities and different possibilities. It is incumbent, therefore, on schools for the deaf to be able to reach all of those students and to provide the variety of opportunities they need. The preparation of students for academic excellence and economic independence must be the focus of the education of the deaf and hard-of-hearing, as it should be the focus of all of education.

The maintaining of two campuses, both the center-based and a campus embedded in a local public school, is a difficult undertaking. The atmosphere and the positive environment that exists in the East Longmeadow Public Schools have greatly enhanced the success of our students. Both the hearing students of East Longmeadow and the students from over nineteen different communities who attend Willie Ross have enjoyed mutual benefits. The opportunity to have two campuses provides us with the capacity to offer both immersion and inclusion at the same time. Not as separate discrete alternatives, where only a private school can offer immersion and only a public school can offer inclusion. Rather, by offering a comprehensive model which allows a specialty school like Willie Ross to provide mainstreaming opportunities and to also provide the necessary supervision and oversight of those services.

As the exciting possibilities of this age continue to unfold, I respectfully encourage my fellow superintendents at other schools for the deaf to consider developing embedded and integrated programs. The opportunity to offer incremental mainstreaming provides a very valuable opportunity for mainstreaming to be provided on an as-needed basis as opposed to an all-or-nothing situation. In addition, the opportunity for work-study and the development of skills to be successful after graduation are equally needed and beneficial.

The renowned actor and honorary Chairperson of the Board of Trustees of Willie Ross, John Ratzenberger, has devoted much of his life to encouraging young men and women to enter into vocational education and to enjoy the benefits of the mastery of a trade. We share John’s enthusiasm for this goal.

This is truly an exciting age with unlimited possibilities. I am confident that schools for the deaf across the country will continue to maximize those opportunities, to continue to integrate them into their programs and to provide a learning and educational environment which is of maximum benefit to all of the students enrolled.