Alone in the Mainstream: A Deaf Woman Remembers Public School (Deaf Lives) Paperback – Illustrated, April 30, 2004

This book arrived a few days early . It was in better condition than expected and came with a nice protective covering. A great read! Definitely recommended .

I am reading this book for an ASL class, and I love it! It is well written and very insightful about Deaf culture. There are compelling stories that help me to understand what it's like to be deaf in a hearing world.

Parents of deaf/hh children, educational staff, medical professionals should read this....

I have just started reading this book. So far it is quite interesting and educational in how we misinterprete others that are Deaf or have some other disability.

I'm sorry, but this book was really boring. There was some good info for people wanting to learn about deaf culture, but it's just a slog to get through.

not happy

I'm a hearing person doing research on technology for deaf education and this book was really helpful for me to get a glimpse into the Deaf experience. That being said, I feel the book's title is misleading, in particular the subtitle. This book isn't really about the author "remembering" her life in public school. Oliva took a sabbatical from her work at Gallaudet University and spent the time collecting the insights and stories of several deaf individuals that had been mainstreamed in public schools. This book represents Oliva's attempt to present what she found, but there's not really a narrative structure to the book which is what I was hoping for. Instead you get view points of several individuals remembering their best teacher, their worst teacher, thoughts on "disclosure" (a concept I wasn't familiar with before reading the book), the social aspects of being the only deaf student in school, etc. I don't think this is necessarily a bad thing, in fact I would suspect it makes the book a better resource for educators who have a DHH student in their classroom for the first time.

This quarter I had the amazing opportunity to take Brenda Brueggemann's class "The Disability Experience in the Contemporary World" at The Ohio State University. She encouraged me to read this book (that she happened to be the editor of), and I can't thank her enough! While at times I felt this book was a bit redundant, I think that is just a stylistic choice; it is Oliva's way of reiterating the profound impact these specific events had on her life. Personally, I agreed to read this book because I felt as a future teacher it is crucial for me to be aware of current issues and debates in education. I really feel all of the points addressed by Alone in the Mainstream are very real concerns that need to be considered by everyone involved. As a result, I would highly recommend this book to any educator; past, present, and especially future. The future of these highly capable students is dependent on the educational opportunities, and it is the responsibility of educators to be as informed and knowledgeable as we possibly can. While we can't turn back the hands of time and erase the painful experiences expressed by Oliva and others throughout the book, it is my hope that we can take actively work to create the possibility of a brighter future for d/Deaf and hard of hearing students. They have a lot to say about this issue, and it is time to stop and "listen."

I'm severely to profoundly deaf and like the author, I grew up in the public school system alone No role models to learn from. Being deaf and the only deaf in a public school has its challenges. I attended public school starting in 1959 all the way to graduation in 1971. The educators at the time did what they thought was best for me. Imagine...no closed captions, no interpreters or assistive devices to help better hear or follow classroom conversations. In my case, I sat at the front of the classroom, close to the teacher as possible to lipread, but not all teachers are easy to lipread (mustache, lopsided mouth, accent)! I would only get maybe 20% of the conversation. It is easy to miss out in lunchroom or locker room chatter...all part of growing up and socializing. I read a lot and hard work got me by. I had speech training which helps a lot and I speak well that many people think that I can hear well too...not so! I have hearing friends and most are easy to converse with but sadly it is hard to be friends with those who are hard to follow in conversation...it just doesn't work well. I communicate well on a one to one basis but if a third or fourth person joins in, the conversation goes downhill! In my early twenties I discovered the deaf community and resolved to learn sign language (ASL) and I'm glad I made the effort. Today, I feel I have the best of both the deaf and hearing world when it comes to social life.I would like to say to parents of a deaf child, give your child an opportunity to socialize with other deaf children and learn ASL. There is no harm in learning ASL, the deaf child can learn to verbally speak well and can mix well with both hearing and deaf children. I should know because have a deaf cousin (25 years younger) with similar hearing loss as me...and the cousin was encouraged to socialized as soon as possible (in this case, in the early teens), is proficient in ASL and speaks reasonably well, now teaches in a school for the deaf.I recommend this book to all with a deaf member in the family or friends as well as for the educators/teachers.