Ben Kenobi vs Michael the Great

[regexcellent]

No, I'm not hard of hearing. I go to a school with loads of hard of hearing people. RIT, my university, shares a campus with NTID (National Technical Institute for the Deaf).

[Kidlicious]

You're not completely right about this. At RIT we have some classes with both hearing and deaf students. But the deaf students require interpreters, captionists, and note-takers. So they don't have to be separate but in a relatively small city in northern British Columbia it's unlikely that they'd have the resources for mainstreamed deaf students. BK is being retarded as usual.

Well yeah. That's what I meant by special education.

[Kidlicious]

The numbers back me up. Separate is inherently unequal. So sayeth Brown v Board of Education.

For blacks you ******!

[Ben Kenobi]

No, I'm not hard of hearing. I go to a school with loads of hard of hearing people. RIT, my university, shares a campus with NTID (National Technical Institute for the Deaf).

Ah, I didn't think you were. Anyways, these stats apply just as much to the folks that you are working with, if not moreso. This is why they are with the NTID, which provides the two year education which is about the only thing that does work for deaf students. The number with actual 4 year degrees is pathetic. 25 percent of the normal folks, and maybe, maybe, 5 percent of deaf folks.

I had no idea about just how bad things were, until I got requested to participate in studies. Had I known what I know now, I would have done things quite a bit more differently...

[Ben Kenobi]

For blacks you ******!

For deaf people too. If only 8 percent of college bound deaf students read at an 8th grade level, separate IS unequal. And ****ty.

[Kidlicious]

Nonsense. Even there, 30 years ago, it was possible to do and do quite successfully. The problem isn't the students, the problem is the system. Captioning is helpful, sure, but there are cheaper workarounds. Speech Therapy was far more helpful to me than anything else that was provided.

Most of the intervention was negative. They tried different stuff with me and I did fine if I sat up at the front and off to the side so that I could follow what the teacher taught. Make it so that notes are available for anything that's going to be tested. The biggest problem for me was French. And, of course, the inevitable movies, etc, which I used to sleep through.

The best advice I received was stuff on lighting and placement when entering the room. If I made sure I sad in the right spot, I did just fine.

They tried an FM system on me when they thought they knew more - it was a disaster. It never worked. Downtime was greater than uptime, and I had one of the older (and crappier systems). I learned later on that I did better without it and eventually ditched it.

I had one French teacher who was phenomenal, but he never used anything more than chalk and a chalkboard. He had me read French books over and over again, exempted me from tapes and stuff, and had me do written work that he felt would be useful for me to understand how the French language worked. I ended up loving his lessons because I came to understand how the language worked and he would correct my pronounciation after class and make sure I understood how all the sounds worked. French is easier to learn than English in that respect - each letter had one sound what you see is exactly what is on the page. He would have me practice recitation until the French just 'sounded right', and I would recognize when something was written incorrectly because it would seem 'off'. He was the best teacher I ever had and I learned so much from him.

But, everything he used with me didn't cost a thing, in fact he probably spent less on me than with the other students.

Why the hell did you take French?

[Kidlicious]

For deaf people too. If only 8 percent of college bound deaf students read at an 8th grade level, separate IS unequal. And ****ty.

You're too stupid to understand your error or hold up your end of an argument.

[Ben Kenobi]

Why the hell did you take French?

Did you not get it when I said I was 100 percent mainstreamed? I did everything, exactly the same as every other student.

[Kidlicious]

Did you not get it when I said I was 100 percent mainstreamed? I did everything, exactly the same as every other student.

Then what are you complaining about?

[Ben Kenobi]

You're too stupid to understand your error or hold up your end of an argument.

After seeing these statistics you're satisfied that deaf students are getting an excellent education?

[Ben Kenobi]

Then what are you complaining about?

The 99 percent of deaf students who did not get that opportunity.

[Kidlicious]

After seeing these statistics you're satisfied that deaf students are getting an excellent education?

It has nothing to do with the quality of the education. The problem with segregation wasn't quality of education. Of course you won't understand that.

[Kidlicious]

The 99 percent of deaf students who did not get that opportunity.

So you don't claim yourself to be treated unfairly, but you insist that other deaf people were because they are like you, but you are opposed to any kind of government funding to help people unlike you. And you wonder why people see through you.

[Ben Kenobi]

It has nothing to do with the quality of the education. The problem with segregation wasn't quality of education. Of course you won't understand that.

Really? Kidicious, you need to go talk to the folks like Dr. King. Yes, the problem with segregation was quality of education. Insofar as black students were kept apart from white ones, they could dump them in the ****ty schools without affecting white kids. Which is what they did. Which is what special ed does now...

[Ben Kenobi]

So you don't claim yourself to be treated unfairly

I was lucky. I had parents who cared enough to ensure that I got an education. Was I treated unfairly? Yes, absolutely I was. But I got a better deal than the folks who never got the opportunity.

you are opposed to any kind of government funding to help people

I don't regard the 'help' as 'helpful'. Given these statistics here - surely you can see why? Deaf students aren't getting an education despite tons of money being thrown at the problem.