Deaf educator Rachel Zemach is sounding the alarm on educational injustice.
chronicles Zemach’s experiences as a teacher and is filled with fury and compassion for her students and for other Deaf faculty. What’s more, the book is a bold indictment of school administrators who sideline Deaf students, and her insights — and the humor she used to navigate frequent misunderstandings and foibles — make this a must-read for everyone concerned with disability justice and educational equity.
Still, she makes clear that despite flourishing communication in her classroom, schoolwide communication deficits remained significant in her public school. To wit: An intercom system left both her and her students unaware of fire drills, announcements and assemblies, while staff meetings consistently lacked an interpreter. Small wonder that she eventually left the job to write a book.
Things are a little better now, as it is more common for interpreters to be used by Deaf/hard of hearing students, but a huge number are still in similar situations today. When we make a request, the normal response by hearing counselors and administrators is still, “No, we don’t provide that.” Sometimes a fight for accommodations ensues. But a teenager or child usually doesn’t know how to fight the system and insist on their legal rights. Many just go without education.
Due to social media, many hearing parents are connecting with the Deaf community and are asking questions. They are getting compassionate, strong, practical advice from Deaf adults on Facebook rather than just getting medical professionals’ biased and often harmful advice. It’s incredible, but it’s an uphill battle and gets demoralizing.
Your account of a former student’s suicide is gut-wrenching. That Deaf kids experience so much isolation deserves more attention. How can we better highlight the impact of exclusion?
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