Deaf students new to US find their footing
21.05.12
Alzate-Medina, now 22, is one of a handful of students to have graduated from a two-year-old program at the Horace Mann School, one of the first in the country to target deaf teenagers who immigrate to the United States.
For these students, the challenges of being deaf amplify the struggles of being a young immigrant:
They learn English and American Sign Language simultaneously, trying not to confuse the different grammar and syntax. They struggle with basic academic concepts like telling time or putting names to feelings. And even as they learn to communicate at the Horace Mann School, which is on Allston’s Armington Street, they may still lack a common language with family members.
“It’s hard for us to imagine how isolated some of these kids are in their communities,’’ said Fiona Bennie, one of four teachers responsible for the 16 students in the program. “They are, without exception, very loved. But the lack of communication is profound and extreme, and they feel very cut off.’’
Source: Boston Globe