The Secret Deafie is a regular column about deaf experiences submitted anonymously by different contributors. If you have a story you’d like to tell, just email thelimpingchicken@gmail.com
When I was 5, back before I wore hearing aids, I got moved into another class for reasons I don’t know.
Anyway when I got to the new class the teacher was in the front of the class far from where I was seated she said something.
“GHgddgd DSFdsgsdsdg DFsfdsfds.”
All I saw is her lips moving and heard her voice.
Suddenly everyone started writing something down.
At this stage I am puzzled wondering what people writing about. So what I did was copy what the kid next to me wrote.
That kid said something. The teacher then came to me picked up my paper.
With an annoyed tone she read out to the class what I wrote. The class laughed.
Turns out I wrote the name of the guy next to me! (A name I hadnt heard of before!).
The teacher put me back into my original class. Both of these teachers didnt want to teach me. Eventually I moved school.
I am not sure if the teachers knew that I was profoundly deaf. Even if they did not that not the right way to treat a kid.
The Secret Deafie is a regular column about deaf experiences submitted anonymously by different contributors. If you have a story you’d like to tell, just email thelimpingchicken@gmail.com
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Jill
October 6, 2014
I hate to say this, but many deaf children went through the exact same experience in deaf schools because of the oralist approach. I can remember having to copy from my friend who had good hearing with her hearing aids because I couldn’t understand the teacher. Still makes my blood boil 35 years on!
Tim
October 6, 2014
Jill’s right.
One of the worst things about it is that we were made to feel that we had done something wrong and that it was all our own fault.
Jonathan Wells
October 11, 2014
Once at mainstream primary school, I failed to understand instructions so I copied down what was on the board, another boy told on me and the teacher made me sit in a corner simply for copying the board!!