As the educational placement of mainstreaming is on the rise, many believe it is leading to the decline of the once popular residential school for the deaf. When a student is placed in a mainstreamed setting, they are surrounded by their hearing peers and may be the only deaf or hard of hearing student on that campus. This may result in feelings of isolation, struggles in school, and an unfulfilled childhood.

            Mainstream may have polarized consequences. There may be a small number of deaf students who are benefiting from the opportunities they have with hearing peers, but there will also be a number of students who will continually be at a disadvantage both in their educational and social experiences. As a result, the students who were able to succeed in this placement will more likely achieve higher education and stronger networks.

            This educational placement is not the best option for some deaf students, and the consequences should be reasonably considered not only before the child enters the setting, but throughout their time as a mainstreamed student.

References

Dolnick, E. (1993, September). Deafness as culture. The Atlantic Monthly, 37-53.

     Retrieved from http://psych-s1.psy.vanderbilt.edu/faculty/blaker/214_F2006/

     PDFs/DeafnessCulture.pdf

Nash, J. E. (2000). Shifting stigma from body to self: Paradoxical consequences

     of mainstreaming. In K. P. Meadow-Orlans, P. E. Spencer, C. Erting, & M.

     Marschark, The deaf child in the family and at school: essays in honor of

     Kathryn P. Meadow-Orlans (Revised ed., pp. 211-227). Lawrence Erlbaum

     Associates. Retrieved from http://books.google.com/

     books?id=kZR0MC6pX50C&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_navlinks_s

Educational Issues of Deaf Students