The Fight for an Education

It might be a little early to worry, but I am concerned about the education my kids will be getting here in Utah. Utah Schools for the Deaf and Blind fully supports an oral educational approach for our deaf kids. In their opinion, oral education is the answer. Deaf kids who are educated orally will be better able to learn and function in society. They will be able to compete on the same level as kids who hear. They will be eventually mainstreamed and be normal happy teenage kids. That is what they want you to believe.
Last night we went to a meeting where we learned that the truth is not just different, but it is scary. A high percentage of kids who "graduate" from the oral and mainstreaming program read on a 4th grade level. A low percentage of them graduate, and an even lower percentage go on to college. Deaf kids who do go through mainstreaming aren't accepted. It's just the opposite. Instead of finding themselves accepted in the normal system, they are isolated as the only deaf child in the school. They are kept from participating in normal activities like sports or spelling bees. They are encouraged to take classes that will help them "graduate", but are not academic enough to help them get into college. An email was shown last night that showed how the administration of USDB in 2005 felt about their deaf students being encouraged to go to college. Basically, that kind of activity was referred to as giving the students "more false hopes". The person who was going to encourage these kids to enroll and apply at the U of U was told to give the deaf students "a good dose of reality, and not sugar coat it." If the statistics and attitudes that were shared last night were happening in a "normal" school district, it would make the news, parents would be up in arms. Yet here it is happening, and no one seems to notice. Why? Because what better can we really expect for the deaf kids? They don't really expect to go on to college, do they?
I expect my kids to go. I am ready to do everything I can to make that happen. My first thought was to move away, someplace like Texas, or Washington, D.C., where there is a strong Deaf community. Where my kids could go to school and get the education they deserve. But if everyone who felt that way moved away from here, who would stay and fight? No one. The USDB would win, and oralism would be the only way here. We decided we will stay and take up the fight. To make our kids' lives better, and make the lives of others better.
So, what is a better way? It's not hard to figure out, I think. The same way that hearing kids are taught, should be the same way that deaf kids are taught. Hearing kids go to school and communicate with their friends and their teachers in their native language. Most of the time, there is no interpreter, because the communication is direct. Deaf kids deserve the same. An all signing atmosphere for school. The communication would be direct. They wouldn't have to struggle to try to listen and read lips. They wouldn't miss vital parts of lessons because the interpretation was unclear. It would be direct. They would be surrounded by positive role models who are like them, who can set good examples for them. They would be surrounded by friends who are like them, and they would all be signing. It would be like any other school. They wouldn't feel ashamed or discouraged because of how they are different. They would be accepted. This would be good for building support for the future, building a community, based on common, positive experiences. I believe their test scores would go up, they would be better able to read and better prepared to go into college. They would be surrounded by adults, who believed and expected them to succeed, instead of knowing they would fail. Imagine the power we would be giving our kids, as they learned to love who they are, and have pride in who they are, instead of always focusing on what they are not.
If we don't speak out, then who will? The USDB will continue on like it has been doing for years. But if we come together and say that what they have been doing is not good enough, and our kids deserve better, if we demand that, how will they be able to deny it? We have that opportunity next week. On Thursday, November 12, at 6:30 at the Sanderson center, there is a Town Hall meeting with the new Superintendent of USDB. We need to be there to make our voices heard, to demand that they do what is right for our kids, which is educate them and prepare them for college.

No We Didn't Forget the Time Change

I imagine if anyone in our court saw us leaving before ten on Sunday, they probably thought, "How embarassing, the Dietz family forgot to set their clocks back." Truth is, we didn't forget at all. We were leaving just when we intended to. This last week we went to the LDS Deaf ward near our house. We were hoping it would be a good experience for Johnny to be around a lot of other people who sign, so he wouldn't feel like he was so different from everyone else.

It was amazing to see the difference it made for Johnny. He just sat and watched all the signing around him. He was just glued to the front. I mean, he didn't pay attention the whole time, but he didn't try to escape, he didn't scream, he didn't hit Eliza, it was amazing. He was still a two year old, but he was as reverent as any two year old I had ever seen.

After sacrament meeting the Bishop came over and said hi. I had met him a couple of days before at work, and told him we would be coming to the ward. He wanted to meet my two kids. The whole ward was so kind and welcoming. Even though my wife and I are still learning ASL, everyone mad an effort to make us feel welcome. It was great. Johnny seemed to do well in Nursery, and Erica and I were able to sit through all three meetings in church. It was pretty cool. We are not sure where to go from here. Going to the ward would be a good opportunity for us to be immersed more in the culture, which will help us as Johnny and Eliza grow. Plus they will have the opportunity to grow up in a ward setting where they are normal, which would be a huge deal for any kid. However, it would be a big change for us. However, well, I guess we'll see what the Lord wants for us.