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Un vistazo a la vida diaria y educación de migrantes sordos, algunos quienes viven sin rec...A look at the education and everyday life of Deaf immigrants, some of whom go without government services.
Rafael Pineda [0:00]: Did you know that almost all Deaf children are born to hearing parents and that in the case of those who are immigrants, most are Dominicans who don’t claim benefits? In this special report, our colleague Mariela Salgado takes us to a school in Queens for a look inside the world of those who live in silence.
Mariela Salgado [0:21]: When you live in silence, signs are everywhere.
Lelys Barreto has spent a lifetime bringing her immigrant students, most of them from the Dominican Republic, out of the silence and stressing to them that the word "deaf-mute” is a thing of the past.
Lelys Barreto [0:40]: That word has derogatory connotations. It was thought that since the Deaf didn’t speak, they weren’t smart. A lot of parents still…hide them away and keep them from society.
Mariela Salgado [0:56]: But far from their homelands, at this school in New York, we saw how they strive to learn…using the sounds of silence. Since she arrived two years ago, Gladys says she has learned signs used in both English and Social Studies.
Gladys Cruz (interpreted by Lelys Barreto) [1:16]: When I was five, I started to realize that I couldn’t hear.
Mariela Salgado [1:19]: She doesn’t recall taking it hard when she became aware of her reality.
Christine Hernandez [1:23]: They can’t believe it. Sometimes moms come to me in tears saying, "It’s my fault.”
Mariela Salgado [1:29]: The parents are the ones who take it the hardest. How do you accept that your baby is one of the 90% of Deaf children born to hearing parents? But the most difficult thing is convincing immigrant parents to apply for dwindling government assistance.
Christine Hernandez [1:46]: They have the right to services. And I have to teach them that nobody, doctors or therapists, is going to ask them those questions, about whether they are here illegally.
Mariela Salgado [1:58]: Madeline did look for help so her child, Alexandra, could have the best education possible.
Madeline Montanez [2:05]: This condition is not the end of the world. There are a lot of things that they can… If they can’t hear completely… my daughter can hear with hearing aids, thank God, but if they can’t hear completely, they sign.
Mariela Salgado [2:18]: Each student at this school receives an audiological examination, which is used to design an individualized educational plan. The great majority of students end up graduating from high school. Many of them even make it to college and get their master’s and even their doctorate degrees.
From New York, I’m Mariela Salgado for Univision 41 News.