Interpreting for Deaf Students: Facts and Fantasies

Students who benefit from the services of an interpreter also have to be developmentally, cognitively, and socially accustomed to navigating the educational experience. BY J. FREEMAN KING, ED.D. Parents, school districts, teachers, audiologists, and speech-language pathologists involved in education of deaf children are often ill advised regarding the effectiveness of interpreters in public school mainstreamed classes. Even though interpreting services are often recommended in the deaf student’s Individualized Education Plan (IEP), what is overlooked is […]

Incidental Learning & The Deaf Child

To fully comprehend the crucial need for access to incidental learning,one must investigate the learning environment of the hearing child apart from the time spent in formal schooling. BY J. FREEMAN KING, ED.D. Incidental learning might be defined as what a person learns through informal communicative interactions with others in public and educational settings. For children who can hear, incidental learning constitutes a major portion of their social development and world knowledge. However, for the […]

Considerations For A Bilingual Approach In The Education Of The Deaf Child

BY J. FREEMAN KING, ED.D. American Sign Language and spoken English should not be considered as mutually exclusive alternatives, but as potentially complementary strategies for encouraging language development in deaf children. It is phenomenal the way that young deaf children can acquire two languages (American Sign Language and English) simultaneously, if exposed to them in early life. However, there is the assumption, and resultantly the folk myth, that exposing a young deaf child to two […]

Girl Scout Wins Disability Discrimination Suit Against Troop

LIVING WITH A DISABILITY BY JERRY LEVINSON Megan, then age 12, sued the Girl Scouts, claiming the organization violated the federal Rehabilitation Act of 1973 by refusing to provide her with sign language services and then by disbanding her troop because her mother complained. Megan Runnion was active in a Girl Scout troop run by the Girl Scouts of Greater Chicago and Northwest Indiana, the largest regional Girl Scout organization in the United States. Megan […]

The Effects Of Legislative Enactments On The Education Of The Deaf

As future legislation is enacted, the success of deaf children should not be measured by how closely they emulate their hearing peers, but that they are given an education that will enable them to become successful human beings, not imitations of hearing people. When examining federal laws that have had significant impact on the education of the deaf child, one can begin with the sweeping educational acts of the 60s, then move to P.L. 94-142 […]