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-Memo- October 9, 2003 Subject: Tension Among the Deaf and Hearing at Michigan School for the Deaf To: Cece Winkler, Principal This memo is addressed to you, Cece Winkler, because you are the leader of this institution. First, I would like to congratulate you on your efforts in recruiting professional Deaf staff to the MSD family. This is a unique school set aside for the education of the Deaf for the same reason Smith College is for women and Howard University is for Black people. By bringing in more professional Deaf people, you give the Deaf students role models, someone they could actually relate to and look up to. Someone who was once in their position and was still able to rise to the top. The simple virtue of thinking �If they can, it means I can too� does wonders to a child�s self esteem. This, in turn, is one of the building blocks in foundations of a child�s resiliency. With the advent of new Deaf professionals at MSD, it seems that tension between hearing and Deaf staff is rising. Level of sensitivity heightened, thus, people notice more or read between the lines more carefully. Things that people say, intentionally or unintentionally in unconscious sense, are noticed and become very offensive. It is not the words alone that offend the Deaf staff, but actions as well. Often, when words are combined with actions, Deaf people are left to wonder the true beliefs underlying the words uttered. Especially when statements are contradicted by resulting action. �I believe in bilingual methods of teaching� should not be claimed by a teacher who does not use ASL in the classroom at all. My concern is: with the mounting tension, one has to wonder how a Deaf student at MSD can develop resiliency when it seems as though Hearing staff are modeling (both through words and action) their innate beliefs that there are limits to what a Deaf person can do? �Yes, you can be anything you want to be, but�� The �BUT� has an enormous weight on Deaf people, about equivalent to a cow sitting atop a person lying on the ground. How can a Deaf Culture teacher tell students that they can become a President of the United States when s/he just came from another class where a teacher holds the belief that American Sign Language is �Broken English�? How are these two related, you might ask, just think- a teacher does not simply teach from the textbook, a teacher teaches from the heart and within the heart lies a plethora of specific beliefs and attitudes. Beliefs and attitude are ultimately filtered into a teacher�s technique. Deafness is not a disability, but a disabling condition imposed upon them a person by society. Society is not a vast and unreachable concept; it can be found anywhere including this school. MSD has its own society. There are people within MSD society that believe that Deafness is a disability. And it only becomes a disability when you make it so. Is it ok for teachers at a public school to speak in broken English? Can they walk around talking to each other and students along the lines of �I is the teach math good wonder day wow there beautiful out?� No, probably not. Why is it ok for people at MSD to have poor ASL skills when teaching students whose primary language is ASL? Teachers are supposed to have higher level of language skills so students could learn and rise up to the standard. That is not what is happening at MSD. Why is it okay for a staff member to stand up in front of all her fellow colleagues and say �This teacher has difficulty with reading English, so someone will help him with his students during morning messages,� But not okay for Deaf staff to say, �This teacher cannot communicate with his or her students (poor ASL skills), so I will co-teach to ensure that the students understand the information.� Do you realize what kind of message this sends? If there are people who strongly believe that ASL is a language and that all Deaf students must be bilingual then why has not School Improvement Team already implemented ASL as part of the activities/curriculum? Why was the ASL Fest met with outcry and criticism? Why did some of the teachers feel threatened? Why is it that wherever I go at MSD, I see staff talking and not signing? When I approach, they�d start signing along with speaking- how can you have a bilingual conversation? It�s like speaking Spanish and writing in English the same words at the same time. How does this affect a Deaf student? Is this a Deaf School or School for the Deaf as the name indicates? They unconsciously see hearing people as superiors and this belief becomes deep seated. How is a Deaf child to develop resiliency if their own teachers do not believe in them? Encourage them? Empower them? Guide them? The job of empowering and instilling self-actualization does not lie in one teacher alone; it lies in all people involved with a child�s educational and personal growth. So many comments are made throughout the day. �In the hearing world. . .� (in whose world??) �You will someday become part of the deaf professional community� as opposed to �you will someday become a professional,� �Your English is almost as good as a hearing person�s,� and many more comments. So many subtle ways of saying, �you can only rise so high. You can only go so far.� As a Deaf person who has been through the system I can tell you that you cannot protect the students from the realities of the world. People WILL doubt their abilities. People WILL criticize. People WILL infringe on their civil rights time and again. And regardless of how polished their English skills are, people WILL doubt their equality as a professional. If the student doesn�t have a strong sense of self-confidence inside of him or her: the fight is over. He or she will give up. And then all that work, all that speech therapy, all those English classes, Science classes�will be for nothing. Without the ability to stand up for his or her own rights, the student will immediately bow to whatever limits the first ignorant person places in front of him or her. I am not telling anybody how to run this school. But I feel that when leadership is clear and on track, people will (whether they like it or not) follow. I think there needs to be a stand taken on the issue. And this stance needs to be adhered to, not bent to fit different individual�s needs. �Yes, ASL is important� said to a Deaf person. �Oh, I agree with you, the Deaf people here are a little bit sensitive about the whole ASL thing. Let me see what I can do.� Said to a hearing staff. Those are two completely different statements. The lines are not clear. Now, I ask you, as the leader of this school, where does your belief lie? What is your firm stance on the issues prevalent at MSD? I want to support you and need you to guide us but I cannot until I understand exactly where you stand. Sincerely, Ryan K. Commerson CC: Beth Steenwyk, Deputy Director Darla Jackson, Assistant Principal Alison Aubrecht, Mental Health Counselor Kara Deschler, School Psychologist Gail Faulkner, Transition Counselor Becky Calaman, Supervising M.H. Counselor Dragan Jaksic, CAC Supervisor
