Deaf-Blind Fiasco at Gallaudet University

I'm calling this a fiasco because the DB students have had to put up with Gallaudet University's shortcomings (and some of the deaf people in the Deaf community) on not helping them succeed and graduate in the subject they want to major in, and be a part of the dynamic campus community, inside and out. The DB at Gallaudet University have always been at the bottom of the totem pole when it comes to services on addressing their needs on the same equitable level as their sighted counterparts.  The deaf community in general, especially at Gallaudet University, failed in their Community Accountability toward the DB community. Ryan Odland (see below) explains why.

Ryan Odland brought up the issue of how Gallaudet isn't helping the Deafblind to the MSCHE board a few days ago. The Middle States Commission on Higher Education [MSCHE] is a voluntary, non-governmental, membership association that is dedicated to quality assurance and improvement through accreditation via peer evaluation. Middle States accreditation instills public confidence in institutional mission, goals, performance, and resources through its rigorous accreditation standards and their enforcement. That is their mission statement.

Below is a video of Ryan Odland addressing the problem the DB face everyday at Gallaudet University. Included is a transcript of Ryan addressing to the MSCHE board





Transcript:

Many students feel frustrated and will withdraw from Gallaudet. From my personal experience having been a Graduate student for five years, I can really understand based upon their approach to students with disabilities. We have a disability service here which is understaffed and unable to catch up with today's technology. Students have varying needs not only here but in the United States of America as well as on a global scale. They all have been frustrated with inappropriate accommodations such as transportation for internships when the student is Deafblind and unable to drive. Another example is students who have ADHD and do not have success reading without accommodations. It's been frustrating, stressful, and procreates the climate for a student to drop out. The inaccessibility also has an impact on the Deafblind student's major and are oftentimes told to change their majors. I don't mean to give Gallaudet a bad time or be looked down at, but I do want to recognize Gallaudet's potential within its disability services. The DB and other students with special needs who do not have the proper accessibility via services, it stifles our growth rate. I am also an adjunct professor who has seen this from a first hand experience with my students. I often times find myself having to directly accommodate the students because I know OSWD lacks the ability to do so. The direct accommodations are provided because I want to see a success rate in my classroom. Why is it my responsibility to provide as such when OSWD should be doing this instead? Gallaudet needs to be providing the support, not the professors. I think it is a big issue on campus. I have a paper file with the past two years where I have been presenting on how the Gallaudet Mission and Vision statement has failed the Deafblind and students with special needs. The lecture is how we can increase the retention rate and self esteem of the students. This is not achievable when OSWD is understaffed and it causes a problem for the students who need the accommodations and accessibility. Thank you.

Another failure on Community Accountability front by capable culturally deaf people with strong English skills and signing ability are those who refuse to include transcripts or subtitles to their own signing vlogs leaving much of the DB out.  One DB said it best on the failure of the sighted culturally deaf community on making them feel they're a part of the deaf community:

I think it’s time that the Deaf community learned about accountability – towards its very members – grassroots, women, men, the educated, around the world, the blind, the DeafPlus, et cetera – and truly learned how to INTEGRATE that into their livelihoods.

Because you might as well get used to me butting into your lives with my lovely hands tactiling yours in FORM OF COMMUNICATION using the very COMMON method: SIGN LANGUAGE. Any sign language around thw world. That can be said for others, however, this opinion article is based on my experiences and views being an international lecturer meeting hundreds if not thousands of Deafblind people around the world who say that they grew up Deaf, but now that they’re Deafblind, they don’t feel part of the Deaf community anymore.

My answer to that?

It takes two sides to come HALF WAY to communicate. The Deafblind people have to come halfway and educate the others how to communicate with them; The Deaf people have to come halfway to learn how to support them, how to integrate them within the Deaf community, to ensure that rejection is not a verb in anyone’s language.

Gallaudet University and the some of the people in the culturally deaf community, please get your act together and support the D-B community's needs. Stop with the lame excuses and move forward. Walk the walk for once.


Hat Tip - Candy.