My cousin is Deaf and in his late thirties. His post-16 education seems to have been proscribed by others' ideas as to What Deaf People Can Manage. First a specialist catering college, then an ICT degree. I don't think he was ever especially interested in either, or that anyone ever asked him what he'd like to learn or do.
He's also frequently assumed to have learning difficulties. I imagine it's pretty corrosive to the educational engagement and prospects of Deaf children and adults when they're widely treated as less able if their speech isn't clear, or they don't understand because their needs haven't been taken into account.
It's such a terrible waste. I remember training with someone who was Deaf, and the teaching staff were just awful. They spoke in profile. They summarised slides in a few words and then whisked them away. I used to loan him my notes, but he was only getting half a training, and was frustrated and humiliated at having to rely on a fellow student for that. He didn't finish the course.
For instance, In Wales might be a more effective Chemistry teacher for Deaf students than a hearing teacher with all kinds of technological aids and an interpreter who doesn't know chemistry. When the capital development of a country becomes a by-product of the activities of a casino, the job is likely to be ill-done. — John M. Keynes
Educational translation, at least as far as I've seen it in practice, is a real talent, and very few people are any good at it.
It's one thing to translate an existing concept. It's quite another to transmit a new one.
Were it not for that, I largely heard things like 'oh you won't be able to do this type of job, no point doing this kind of qualification' blah blah. I was forced to stay after school to learn how to touch type because that would be all I was capable of, typing up notes and doing admin. Childcare, that was ok too.
Amazing how many people have had such similar experiences to me and how few are making it through the system in one piece. Ad astra per aspera
I largely heard things like 'oh you won't be able to do this type of job, no point doing this kind of qualification'
My mother was a very severe asthmatic, who was called into her headmistresses study when she was about 14 to be told that they were calling her in to tell her that they weren't going to enter her for any exams, as there was no point as she was not going to ever be able to get a job. to which she answered that she'd meant to come in anyway to say she was leaving as she already had a job.
They were fairly insistant that the only thing that she'd ever be capable of was cooking and cleaning. Any idiot can face a crisis - it's day to day living that wears you out.
An uncle who was a builder should be able to sort him out with a labouring job. An aunt with a shop should employ him to run errands. I once heard it suggested that Tesco ought to be grateful to have him collect trolleys as part of their (quote) "cripple quota", seeing as he (quote) "only looks retarded".
And it doesn't end there, does it? Despite his degree, he's not employed. It's a source of sickening, smug little comments by those who always said spending money on his education was a waste, and who are too stupid to see that they and their kind are his only real disability.
