Week 1 Blog Prompt: What
problems do you want to work to solve? Be as descriptive and complete as
possible, and perhaps relay the mission statements of the organizations you are
thinking about writing on behalf of here.
As mentioned in my bio on www.richrice.com/5383,
my professional interests lie in the areas of technical/professional
communication, accessible rhetoric, disability studies, and document design. I
think that for many of the ideas I’m thinking, I am likely thinking a bit too
broadly for this course; however, to narrow this down, I may be wise to focus
on something beneficial to the hearing loss community. I am the outgoing president
of a statewide organization that promotes spoken language and listening for
deaf/hard-of-hearing children and adults whose motto has been to advocate
independence through listening and talking. So, it makes sense to find a new way
for me to serve the organization actively without being a fixture on the board. Some
ideas that I’m bouncing through include finding funding to help further support and expand the current
leadership camps/retreats/workshops for deaf and hard of hearing high school
students – provide opportunities and resources for attaining independence after
high school.
At present, only two retreats a year are provided (one for 9th-10th
graders; second for 11th-12th graders – inclusive of all
communication methods) and given the current economic situation, it has become
more and more difficult to find corporate and individual funding. The reason
the school tends to lean toward those two types of sources is that in most
cases, they do not require extensive processes of application and can be
quicker to attain. High school deaf and hard of hearing students tend to be of
vulnerable ages – at ages where they are more aware of their limitations, aware
they will be going off to college and/or simply moving out of the security and comfort
of family homes into the real world. Most I’ve encountered had never heard of
alert systems that help one live independently, never knew there were options
in terms of classroom accessibility, and it becomes quiet scary for these
students. Retreats, camps, and workshops that serve this population with great
mentor speakers, role-playing scenarios, leadership and team building
activities have proven to be quite beneficial for these students in preparing for
life after high school.
Interesting topic. My younger sister had brain surgery at a few weeks old, and had a resultant moderate/severe hearing loss. She didn't voice until she was three, and we went to a number of professionals, all whom recommended full sign, no verbalization, etc. That was unacceptable to my parents, and, long story short, many years and a few wonderful specialists later, she is a junior high science teacher here in town, and aside from saying "What?" a bit more than is usual, most people don't notice she has any hearing issues at all.
ReplyDeleteI'm no expert in grant matters [thus the enrollment in this course], but it seems like you have said one reason groups stick with these current funding sources is that they are 'quicker to attain'. The goal then becomes to expand to other funding sources [if those are drying up], and that means that 'slower to attain' becomes the problem to address. That is a problem that can be solved with planning, and I think it reasonable to draw up a plan and then look for some educational grants to support that going forward. For example, you could look for a retreat site for next June, calculate the price to book it for 15ish students, get letters of cooperation from the people you want as guest speakers or lecturers, and create an agenda of plans. That then becomes the foundation for your grant proposal... simply explain to a funding source how this camp/retreat you have proposed will fulfill the function of the group's mission statement. I think there is a lot of interest, and thus at least some funding, for transitional phases for D/HH education, so if you were to specifically try and mark out "graduating college bound seniors or track-to-college high school juniors" and bill the experience as a "skills for succeeding at the university", that would be a strong way to look for funding.
In a shameless plug for my own event, the Sowell Center is holding a lecture on October 5th. The topic is "Stress in Children with Deafblindness", but the researcher presenting, Catherine Nelson, will be speaking about how stress topics have an impact on children with a wide variety of disabilities. You mention the difficulty of the high school student population and their awareness of the larger world, and I think stress may be an interesting topic. Information web available at bit.ly/VMSlecture2013 if you are interested, or let me know and I can email you a brochure.
How very interesting! yes, please email me a brochure (julie.grisham@ttu.edu). As for the group -- I think some of their limitations are linked to the fact it's an office that is part of the Texas School for the Deaf and this retreat resulted from a project and wound up being so successful. Am sure there is more to the story, but I would not mind partnering with them to get grant funding to support these retreats and even a camp, if this is even feasible. Of course, I need to research further and get more info.
ReplyDeleteKudos to your sister! My parents were told the same thing -- basically to drop me off at the Texas School for the Deaf and forget about me -- that I would never learn to speak, communicate with hearing peers or even read above 3rd grade level. This was the general consensus when kids were found to be deaf back in the early 70s and some people still think that sign is the only way to go which is why I've tried to communicate that there are options -- many of them to choose from and parents should be told about all of them so they make an informed choice. Of course, it depends on who they are getting information from. I still have people telling me I was a victim of child abuse being forced to talk...37 years later (diagnosed at age 2 1/2). :-)
Are you thinking about a proposal to support faculty development in accessibility? Or, tools to support the work people are doing? What about money to support going to conferences about deaf culture or disabilities for teachers? Could even be to augment the school's library over materials relevant for improvement, or time to dedicate to developing a plan for teachers...
ReplyDeleteWhat do you think?
Very interesting, Julie. It sounds like there could be funding needs for multiple parties interested in preparing students that are deaf and hard of hearing for independence after high school. Students, parents, and teachers/school administrators all need training and constant updates on available technologies/strategies. Which are you most interested in addressing first?
ReplyDeleteAfter some thought to everyone's comments, I am now thinking something along the lines of faculty development simply because looking back to my undergrad years, it was required for certain Education majors to take a disability course for awareness and Julie, you are right on the mark with the training and constant updates so it makes sense to have some sort of faculty professional development that provides an overview of disabilities, what's up for these disabilities, accessibility strategies, etc.
ReplyDeleteI think your ideas are crystalizing at this point, Julie. At first I thought you wanted to focus on providing leadership camps or retreats for students before they graduate. However, by focusing on faculty professional development or training, then it becomes like an investment into the students' future. To illustrate, if you provide leadership camps for students, then you are able to help those specific students for that year, let's say. If you provide training for the faculty who will be having students with disabilities (e.g. hearing impairment, visual impairment), then the knowledge gained by the faculty will (ideally) impact more students, year in year out. I think that this is another line of reasoning (logos) that can be used in the rationale and solution to the problem section of the proposal.
ReplyDeleteGood point Elizabeth! You are right - I initially thought leadership camps...in some ways there is a long term impact on those students; however, as you say, for faculty awareness, the impact is much greater - year in, year out so I think that appeals to me more -- being able to provide some sort of awareness that would have a much longer term impact. Disability awareness is something that is not usually provided by districts (usually because it's not seen as an important necessity OR districts are financially constrained on what they can/cannot do so they almost have to rely on outside sources to offer the service. So I think that I will focus on faculty awareness/enrichment.
ReplyDelete