Educational Placements
Residential Schools
Residential schools in this country have a lot of history behind them. They’re well known for their basic concepts of the Deaf Culture and usually students who attend them learn ASL.
Pros:
o Designed with the needs of deaf students in mind o Excellent programs and offers a lot of extracurricular activities of all ages o Meet other Deaf peers o Offers a lot of peer interaction to where all the students are able to relate to each other based on their deafness o All have adult Deaf role models—educators are fluent in ASL and can point all almost all aspect of the Deaf culture o Friendships are made that last a lifetime o Exposed to the cultural values of the Deaf community and the language—ASL |
Cons:
o Families are not comfortable sending their child off to school o May feel that the home and family is the best environment for any child o May feel that their child needs to be with their family for love, discipline and nurturing o Families may feel that sending off their child will cause some isolation within the family o Education quality varies from school to school |
Day Schools
This placement is one of the best compromises between the residential school and mainstreaming
Pros:
o Child can remain at home and still be able to take advantage of a school that is staffed with people who have the training that meets requirements to educate a deaf child o They offer the same kind of programs and accommodate found in residential schools |
Cons:
o Day schools are only found as part of the residential school programs o Mostly in metropolitan areas—may not be a possible option in remote areas - May cause some issues with the parent’s jobs |
Early Intervention and Preschool Programs
This program is set up to that provide the needs of children ranging in age from birth to four years. Public schools, local health and human services, residential schools and private organization often time run early intervention programs. Some schools have programs that use services of itinerant teachers.
This program focuses on preparation. Preschools are important because it helps children learn how to function socially with their peers and within their family. Most preschools highlight a lot of skills to help children develop before entering elementary schools, such as:
o Language development
o Parent-child communication
o Social skills
o Child development
o Signing skills
o Speech training
This program focuses on preparation. Preschools are important because it helps children learn how to function socially with their peers and within their family. Most preschools highlight a lot of skills to help children develop before entering elementary schools, such as:
o Language development
o Parent-child communication
o Social skills
o Child development
o Signing skills
o Speech training
Mainstreaming and Inclusion
- Mainstream is a placement in which children go to regular class and possible received some special education classes as well. These types of classes are called resource classes and are taught by specially trained teachers.
Pros:
o Allow deaf children access to a regular education with hearing peers o Have a smaller teacher-student ratio in resource classrooms o This dual-learning environment has social integration |
Cons:
o Children are only in the regular classrooms for non-core subjects such as physical education and art o Get pulled away from their regular classrooms, hearing peers for core subject education o Being placed in a resource room can generate challenges |
- Inclusion is a placement in which the children are totally involved in ALL aspect of public education.
- Partial mainstreaming is another placement option in which children spend a portion of the day at the residential or day school, and part of the day in a public school.
Pros:
o Get the best of both worlds: partial time with the Deaf world, partial time with the hearing world |
Cons:
o Requires time to commute between the schools which causes the child to lose valuable learning time |
Self-Contained Classrooms
These classrooms only contain children who are deaf and hard of hearing. Teachers are supposed to be specially trained in Deaf education.
Pros:
o All children use the same language—ASL o No isolation amongst the children o Children can go to school relatively close to home |
Cons:
o Not located in regular public schools o Special visual needs of the students are usually not taken into consideration o After school activities are not as accessible compared to those in residential schools |
Source of Image:
Group of children signing. [Digital Image]. (2009). Retrieved December 3, 2010 from
http://www.hfmboces.org/news/2007-08/Neet013008.htm