Angelica and educational equality

One of the little girls I see at Banneker every day is not completely Deaf. She wears a hearing aid, reads lips very well, and if you say her name loudly she may turn her head. Her speech has the structure of English, but many of her words don't sound like words. Her grandfather says she went to a pre-school for the Deaf where she learned to sign and that her mother signs, but he and most of her family know only a limited number of signs. As far as I know, she is in a classroom with hearing children for most of the day. The other children in the after-school program cannot sign. I asked my supervisor if Angelica's teacher could offer any suggestions as to how to communicate with her. The response: "do the best you can."

I face two challenges with Angelica.

First: The group dynamic among these girls, one Deaf and three to four hearing, is incredibly frustrating to me. I can tell that Jonkel, Kayla, Rodrika, and Mya are old enough to understand that Angelica is different. They know the word "deaf" and when it comes to her other anti-social behaviors (like growling, for instance) they roll their eyes and tell me Angelica is weird. They are not matured enough to understand what that difference means. Today Angelica tried to ask Jonkel for help. She pointed at Jonkel and tried to say, "help." It came out more like, "hee...l" which I guess sounded like "hoe." Immediately all the girls at the table said "oooooh" the way that 2nd graders do and, even though I was sitting right there when it happened, all three girls tattled at the same time. "She cursin' Jonkel out, she evil." Angelica then signed "help." I recognized the sign because I've been using this site, http://www.signingsavvy.com/, to build a basic vocabulary to communicate with Angelica. After I explained to the girls what she was trying to say Kayla's response was, "Why she couldn't just say it instead of the other word?" So you can see how simple peer-to-peer communication would be frustrating for Angelica. She is most likely very confused as to why her friends react to her with laughter or anger.

The second challenge (and I say second because if our table can't jump that first hurdle for the day, we'll never settle down and finish the homework) is actually explaining the assignment. I can get her through spelling and math. Reading comprehension is just a task her mother will have to help her with. Judging from the contents of her school folder, it seems that her teacher holds her accountable for the same level of work her peers are doing. She should be performing at the same level, I'm not asserting she shouldn't. What I am curious about, is how this teacher is teaching Angelica. Angelica, even when she reads instructions out loud, doesn't seem to understand what she is being asked. I have seen understanding on her face, it usually follows my pathetic attempts at ASL and many questions back and forth. That expression, which I love to see, just costs me too much time. I can't neglect the other girls for one student. Angelica needs a different approach, she does not learn the same way her classmates do.

So when it comes to education, is it really reasonable to imagine compete equality within one school, let alone among all schools? Back to Angelica, I can easily see that she would benefit from a classroom where signing is common practice, where her classmates are sensitive to her impairment, where her teacher can adequately convey concepts. However, a separate education is "inherently unequal" (Brown v. Board of Education). We can easily apply this concept to racial segregation because race is no factor in intellectual or academic capabilities. It is not so easy when it comes to other differences among humans. The Deaf obviously must acquire academic skills differently than do those that hear. Should Angelica and other hearing-impaired students be segregated? Or what about more minute differences, 'gifted' children? An even more compelling idea that Professor Bankston brought up, what about differences in learning/teaching styles among socio-economic status??

I am struggling with a conclusion to this funnel of thoughts because I'm not quite sure how to say what I want to say sensitively. Allow me to think a little more about educational segregation, the forms in which it still exists today, the functions different types of segregation could possibly serve, and the problems it can create.

Perhaps my next entry will be that giant paper I have to write....