Case+Study

Case Study of Disability [|Growing Up Deaf]

The author is deaf and was bullied as a child. She moved to become part of the mainstream and was ostresized when in fourth and fifth grade and had to be seculded to the other deaf and hard of hearing kids that were picked on. She tried to get involved with the other kids, but they wanted nothing to do with her. As a kid, she was invited to a girl's house, but when she arrived, no one was there. At her 6th grade graduation they paired up with boys to walk and he refused to hold her hand. She felt as if it was because the fact that she was deaf. The teasing got worse when in junior high and a little boy only visited her in the evenings because he didn't want people to know he was friends with the "deaf girl".

The girl's name is Jamie and as a child she would go home and cry from her teasing. Her little sister would come home and see her crying. As she grew older, the kids that teased her, became friendly and she even got a boyfriend. She would go up to lunch tables and ask to join them for lunch and most of the time she was laughed at to leave. Jamie is strong because she had the courage to go up to them and ask. Jamie is strong because she had the courge to keep going and live her life through the teasing. She wasn't very athletic and usually picked last in gym. Teachers turned their backs on her teasing and she picked up her shoulders and took it. She even marched into it and took control of the situation during gym class when no one wanted her to join and ended up winning the game.

What drew me to this case study was her similiarities to a girl I was friends with when I was younger. This girl I grew up with was named Nicole and she had similiar experiences. I was one of her only friends, but she was the sweetest of people and could communicate rather efficiently to hearing people. She helped me learn some sign language and she was the one that inspired me to join the sign language club in my high school. Jamie's story was very appealing to me because it was very heart touching. Whenever some I knew was being bullied, I always stood up for them and it is sad for me that no one would do that for her.

Three new pieces of information that I have learned from this case study is the problems that people with disabilities face in mainstream society. The fact that kids were teasing this poor child and that the teachers turned their backs on the teasing is something that I found was amazing and sad. I learned what teasing can do to a person. Jamie went home and cried to her sister and the fact that teasing doesn't just affect the child, but their family also. I also learned that not every crumbles under such put downs. She was one that shook herself off and overcame it all is amazing.

Jamie used an interpreter in school and things such as a computer in everyday life. This things allow her to communicate with her family and friends easier. She has learned sign language to communicate with others and can read lips when hearing people that do not know sign language to communicate. Since she grew up in the seventies there were not a lot of tools to aid the deaf, like there are now, so she was limited in her abilitiy to get aid. Now she expresses herself through writing and helping other deaf children get adjusted to mainstream society.