1. My Deaf Education By: Allysa Allen

2. Backstory:  This is my story as if I were a deaf child, and I was moving to a new area in which I could choose my own type of education.  Fair warning! I’m currently not hard of hearing so my opinion can be biased.

3. Options:  There are three major schooling options I could choose from:  “Mainstreaming”: Attending a hearing based public school.  Homeschooling/Virtual School: Classes in the comfort of my own home with the possible help of tutors.  Residential School: Deaf oriented schooling.

4. Options: “Mainstreaming”  The quality of deaf education varies when mainstreaming a student. It depends on the disability resources the school can provide.

5. Options: “Mainstreaming”  Available resources:  Regular Classroom  Little to no additional support  Regular Classroom with Additional Support Services  Such as an additional teacher, teacher of the deaf, speech/language specialist or interpreter  Resource Room  This is an option where you attend a regular classroom but also leave for certain times to be educated in another room with other students that have special education needs.  Self-Contained Classroom  Classroom with a teacher just for the deaf.

6. Options: “Mainstreaming” ProsCons Students reside at homeIsolation from peers Experience in hearing-deaf communication Quality of education Easy attending if you have a cochlear implant Not every type of support could be available in your area Feeling out of place Miscommunication

7. Options: Homeschooling/ Virtual School  Homeschooling is when your parents or tutors teach you outside of school.  Virtual school is enlisting yourself in all online classes and (from what I’ve seen) very little teacher-student interaction.  I personally don’t like online classes because you don’t have an individual in front of you available to answer questions or ask for explanations or reasons why.

8. Options: Homeschooling ProsCons Strong parent-child relationship Could be biased Tailored specifically to students needs Extreme peer isolation School work is guaranteed to be done and understood Lack of learning communication skills

9. Options: Virtual School ProsCons Work at your own paceQuestions are not answered efficiently No communication barriers for most classes Deaf teacher may not be available for live lessons Closed captioning for videos and films No face to face interactions Extreme peer isolation

10. Options: Residential Schooling  This is an option for deaf students where they can attend a deaf oriented school with:  Deaf teachers  Sign Language  Deaf peers  Sports  Extracurricular  Everything a public school could have, but tweaked to fit deaf needs

11. Options: Residential School ProsCons Deaf teachersLack of hearing-deaf communication skills Community and culture is the same and embraced If you don’t live close you may live on campus: lack of parent-child relationship Tailored to special needs Deaf peers ASL!

12. Decision Time…  Without having personal experience or tons of deaf background knowledge, I would choose to go to a residential school. There are several advantages that would make me feel more comfortable a† a deaf-oriented school. Everyone is just like you; they are deaf and their natural language is presumably ASL. The teachers are deaf or are fluent in sign. I think it would be a very welcoming atmosphere unlike an intimidating public school or isolated life at home.