Tag: Total Communication

There is a story that needs to be seen. At this hour, Alexander Graham Bell Association for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing in Washington, D.C; is offering a position for Chapter Relations Manager that pays $60,000 a year. The picture you shall see above:

“There is a terrific opportunity for a real ‘people person’ who is great with details! AG Bell helps families who have a deaf child who is learning to speak and the professionals who support them with a focus on helping children catch up to their peers with typical hearing by the time they start school….”

But, it is not what it caught my attention though. “…people who have worked with association chapters or fraternities….” the key word is fraternities.

Many stories which became mine to share with you. Kenneth Lane was an embittered guy who lost his hearing late in life and went to Gallaudet University. He became a fraternity brother there. He talked down to many of Deaf people and their own parents and they boycotted and had him kicked out.

Kenneth simply hated being Deaf. He was conservative; He would supplement hearing people. When Lloyd Ambrosen, a CODA superintendent at Maryland School for the Deaf (MSD) announced that he had accepted to become Vice President of NTID, about 75% of teachers at MSD left, too. They refused to deal with Kenneth. As for Lloyd Ambrosen whom had a heart attack and died just a month before starting at NTID. It was a great loss.

One day, Kenneth visited Carl Schroeder in the English Department and told him that he was very proud to know that one of his star students was teaching English. Carl was like, “Oh, shit.” Kenneth hated himself. He was simply in wrong agenda. Even Kenneth advised Carl to use simultaneous method (SIM-COM) in the English Department for which Carl was well known to refuse it.

Not only that but Kenneth became a bigot against Deaf people and many of Deaf parents even hearing parents of Deaf children at MSD and they all boycotted and got out of MSD. Ken became a mean-spirited guy at MSD. Many parents were his classmates at Gallaudet and they did not like him passionately.

David Denton arrived at MSD with a different philosophy called Total Communication. It was a disaster. Denton, on the other hand, hated Deaf parents and the school alumni. He even forbad the alumni from coming to the school, even for sport games. It was just awful.

David Denton and Kenneth Lane were good friends. They shared the same goal: AGBell’s philosophy and look down Deaf people in a mean-spirited way.

Kenneth Lane was a Director of Publications for Volta Review under Alexander Graham Bell Association. He was a high school principal for MSD. He had a military personality. Anyone who is in fraternity at Gallaudet who supports Alexander Graham Bell’s philosophy is a traitor. That kind of educational leadership is very evolving, ranging from strict discipline to sound discipline to informed citizenry.

After all, “There is a terrific opportunity for a real ‘people person’”.

-JT

Copyright @ 2017 Jason Tozier

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