Alone in the mainstream : a deaf woman remembers public school / Gina A. Oliva.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Oliva, Gina A.

Series:

Deaf lives.

Deaf lives

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Oliva, Gina A.

Deaf women--United States--Biography.

Deaf women.

Deaf people--Education--United States.

Deaf people.

Mainstreaming in education--United States.

Mainstreaming in education.

Deaf people--Government policy--United States.

Deaf people--United States--Interviews.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (230 pages)

Edition:

First edition.

Place of Publication:

Washington, D.C. : Gallaudet University Press, 2004.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

When Gina Oliva first went to school in 1955, she didn't know that she was "different." If the kindergarten teacher played a tune on the piano to signal the next exercise, Oliva didn't react because she couldn't hear the music. So began her journey as a "solitary," her term for being the only deaf child in the entire school. Gina felt alone because she couldn't communicate easily with her classmates, but also because none of them had a hearing loss like hers. It wasn't until years later at Gallaudet University that she discovered that she wasn't alone and that her experience was common among mainstreamed deaf students. Alone in the Mainstream recounts Oliva's story, as well as those of many other solitaries. In writing this important book, Oliva combined her personal experiences with responses from the Solitary Mainstream Project, a survey that she conducted of deaf and hard of hearing adults who attended public school. Oliva matched her findings with current research on deaf students in public schools and confirmed that hearing teachers are ill-prepared to teach deaf pupils, they don't know much about hearing loss, and they frequently underestimate deaf children. The collected memories in Alone in the Mainstream add emotional weight to the conviction that students need to be able to communicate freely, and they also need peers to know they are not alone.

Contents:

Cover

Title page

Copyright page

Contents

Editor's Foreword: Alone and Together

Introduction

Author's Note

1. Beginnings

2. Lessons from the Neighborhood

3. A Glimpse at Everyday Life

4. But Mom, I Hate Telling People!

5. Academically It Was Better Than a Deaf School, But Socially, Well . . .

6. Social Life in Adulthood: The Oasis

7. The Best of Both Worlds

8. Alone in the Mainstream Again: Constructing Inclusion

9. Children of Our Hearts: A Change in the Neighborhood

Appendix: Research Methodology

Notes

Selected Readings and Resources.

Notes:

Bibliographic Level Mode of Issuance: Monograph

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

1-56368-325-3

OCLC:

70774234