TTMW Issue #64
Re: Beth Steenwyk, MSD Executive Director I Who is just a person? Who represents who in this battle to have QUALITY education for Deaf children? If Beth Steenwyk, who is hearing and has 'compassion' for Deaf children labels herself "a person," is she better than Ryan Commerson, who is perceived as just an angry individual? The point is not about one man against the system or rather one man's anger and frustration from seeing the educational system failing to provide quality education to Deaf children. This is about the community finally saying "ENOUGH". It is about the paternalistic attitude from 'people' who share compassion for the Deaf - the very attitude that lowers educational standards for Deaf students. It's the 'understanding' that comes from people who will never understand the unique challenges Deaf students face and ultimately forget the passion they once had - to change the educational system that will allow Deaf students to learn, once again, at the level they should be taught. And finally, its about a select group of 'people' who determined what the greater good should be without consulting the very people who have gone through the system themselves. The community is not just one angry individual. It is composed of parents who have had to fight for their child's educational rights at every IEP meeting. It is composed of students who were pitied and allowed to stay behind because they were always the 'deafkid' first. It is composed of individuals who have been through the system and know how they learn, how they acquire language and how they empower themselves with knowledge. Communication, passion, understanding and accountability is a two-way street. Beth Steenwyk's attitude in her response made me feel like the little kid in a hearing school again, with the big administrator deciding what I should learn and how I should learn it. I have a mind of my own, and I choose to learn the way I want to learn. I choose to fill my mind with as much knowledge as I possibly can, regardless of how someone driving the wrong way on a one-way street tells me how I 'should' learn. We need to preserve the integrity of education for the Deaf, but we need to do this by defining what the greater good means together. Cassie Schellfeffer * Re: Beth Steenwyk, MSD Executive Director II RYAN COMMERSON WROTE THAT YOU SAID YOU'D NEVER LET BI-BI HAPPEN AT MSD EVER. WHY? BI-BI IS THE RIGHT WAY FOR DEAF CHILDREN SAKE. PERIOD! BILL FENTON * Re: Beth Steenwyk, MSD Executive Director III As a deaf educator and as a hard of hearing individual, I am appalled that MSD is not even considering the BiBi philosophy for it's students when it has been proven to be successful at many state and charter schools around the nation. The main focus of the school MUST be on the children's needs and their learning styles... Deaf children need to be taught both languages and cultures in America to survive the hearing and Deaf worlds. I believe many individuals would feel the same not only Ryan Commerson. Also, as a person with a hearing loss, I felt the comment about speaking as a hearing person made me feel that because I have a hearing loss, I am not entiled or qualified to help decide what is the "greater good" should be. Thank you for listening to my concerns. A. Hawell * Re: Beth Steenwyk, MSD Executive Director IV What I would like to know is how can someone claim to be humbled by "people who experience life differently" and in the same breath claim to know what's best for them? I might remind you that everyone experiences life differently, anyway, and such a statement is rather condescending. Furthermore I argue that stating that BiBi as an educational strategy is something that "will never take place at MSD" is not a statement that can be taken out of context. It stands alone (just like regardless of what meeting it is said in, for whatever reason, "Women will never be allowed to work here" cannot be taken out of context). Ms. Steenwyk can try to fog the issue as much as she wants... but in my view, by even making such a statement, she is saying that the door to a school that supports the use of both ASL and English in the classroom will remain locked indefinitely. Michelle Donnely * Re: Beth Steenwyk, MSD Executive Director V Yes I am speaking to you as a Deaf individual... 1. When was the last time you saw a law upon the Michigan State laws and or Federal laws that Bi-Bi philosphy was against any educational goals? 2. If you are not to attempt and or use Bi-Bi a proven and effective method in Eurpoean systems as well as select American Systems. How does that become a less viable option when you have no will to try it? 3. For one person to be concerned for the "Greater Good" in which we serve as per my occupation as a Social Worker, we are to be open to all options available and to utilize any options put forth. No harm has come from testing an option toward the "Greater Good" when many of those that fall into the category of the "Greater Good" are calling for a change toward something that is proven to be extremely effective. You can see where I could go with this but I say one thing. You say when we as adults put our needs ahead of those of the children we marginalize our futures. But yet by your denying that Bi-Bi could not be a viable method within the Michigan School for the Deaf system you have already chosen their future for them. You put your vision for these children ahead of the opportunity that can be afforded them. You see there is not "one" man tearing down a forum. There is only one woman that doesnt want to hear the reality of the people who live these lives and hold their futures under the decisions of few. J.P. * Re: Beth Steenwyk, MSD Executive Director VI In response to Beth Steenwyk's comments: this whole thing is reminescent of Mom yelling "don't you kids make me come up there!" Am I supposed to be intimidated by the fact that Steenwyk is "speaking to me as a hearing person?" Am I supposed to not think for myself or decide for myself what "the greater good" is? Are Deaf people not capable of doing that? And for your information, Ms. Steenwyk, I am ALSO speaking to you as a hearing person. But I am not the type of hearing person who holds Deaf people in such low regard. For those of you who think paternalism and audism died out with the success of Deaf President Now, think again. Jeff Meyers, An Angry Reader * Re: Beth Steenwyk, MSD Executive Director VII To me the issue is simple. If Beth Steenwyk says her comments on how Bi-Bi will never happen at MSD were taken out of context, let her put her money where her mouth is. Will she be willing to call a meeting and put the Bi Bi issue on the table for discussion and voting? Let the parents and the community get all the facts, and that means bringing in a presenter who actually KNOWS something about BiBi, and then let them decide if that's what they want! It's about time the school systems actually start answering to the public they profess to "serve." Mark H. * Re: Beth Steenwyk, MSD Executive Director VIII In response to Beth Steenwyk's comment, "I don't live the context of your life and I may never experience life the way Deaf people do, however that should not in any way diminish the way I experience life as a hearing person." So what? In recognizing that you don't experience life the way Deaf people do, will you also be able to recognize that you aren't listening to Deaf people such as Ryan Commerson when they tell you what works? And how does this, the telling of what works, diminish your way of experiencing life? It is selfish to tell a child he or she must learn English the way hearing children do: through speech and phoenics, because it is the way YOU experience life. So how is allowing a child the opportunity to utilize his visual and tactile strengths through bi-bi communication and use them for learning 'not' what's best for the child? S.G., South Dakota * Re: Beth Steenwyk, MSD Executive Director IX Take it from a friendly colleague. I've been involved in Deaf education for 20 years, and the only methodology that works is the one in which all Deaf culture values, including ASL, rule in the classrooms. The Deaf culture values are Deaf culture values for a reason: they work. Your values as a hearing person, the values of the state, the values of non-Deaf teachers, and any other set of values will not work. Simple. Best of all, for you, Deaf values are good and easy to learn. They may even help you out greatly in your personal life as a hearing person. A Teacher of the Deaf
Next...
Home...
