context

institutional

Students, teacher (me), and administration were trapped within the Institution's requirement for "due process." The time required for change was too long in coming for the students who requested accommodations before the semester they arrived at the University.

I worked with a number of deaf students in conjunction with an Anthropological field methods course I was taking. John was a student in my basic writing class who introduced me to a group of 15 to 17 deaf and hard of hearing undergraduates, including Jenny. I met Sue and other members of the local Deaf culture through Jenny as I coupled this research position with my responsibilities as a teacher of basic writing. I saw many deaf students encountering the hearing population of the University with the promises of the Americans with Disabilities Act and their apparently reasonable requests for accommodations in classes. Although given four months' lead time, the university had no accommodations in place until week four of the fall semester - impairing students' abilities to meet the requirements of their classes. Although I thought at the time this was a clear indication of the institution's failure to provide accommodation, I continue to think about how else the University might have responded.

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john in context | jenny & sue
deaf:audist | hearing pedagogy | enfi | techno-teaching
city on the hill | "othered" outside
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