Sunday, March 18, 2007

Suffered from Deaf Catholic Oral Education Experience!

From my first grade through 3rd grade, I always had HARD TIME to memorizing the alphabet order A,B,C to Z by using my voice and sound. I was no good to remember A to Z until I was in 4th grade, I finally got a children book something about Helen Keller's life story from SJI's small library in the Middle School because we, the SJI dorm students did watched one movie called "Miracle Worker" with closed captioned in a theatre on one of every Sundays after supper... I found that children book about Helen Keller from SJI's library that has picture of fingerspelled alphabet order from A to Z in the back of Helen Keller's Lifestory book.

So I was so happy to be allowed to bring that book to my dorm bedroom and I did enjoyed study fingerspelled A,B,C to Z. Fingerspelled A to Z did really helped me to remember A to Z so much far better than using my voice and sound!





So one of the 6th grade dorm girl who was an Upper School (6th to 8th grades) Speech Teacher's favorite pet did told one of the nuns to follow her to go my bedroom. I was caught studying with my fingerspelling from both of them. I didn't know that they were watching me!!!

So that Speech Teacher Nun did grabbed the book and pulled my arm out of my bed!!! She squeezed my arm so hard to pull me to go the girls dorm bathroom. She did turned the hot water on to fill up the sink. That cruel SJI Speech Teacher nun scolded at me that I did wasted my mother and father's alot of money to sent me to SJI. She had a nerve to force my hands in the hot water!!! I did screamed so painfully and she got the chance to put the soap in screaming mouth.




That Speech Teacher nun forced me to bite a soap by closing my screaming mouth and forced me by her hands to make me swallow the horrible taste of soap! I got so sick of tasting that soap! I cried so hard because my hands were so hurt from the hot water!

I was SO sick with the taste of soap and the pain from both hands for all night! I already know the A to Z and got myself passed the written test right away after one time studying the A,B,C to Z fingerspelled from Helen Keller's book! I was glad that Helen Keller's book that helped me to remember A to Z so very well.

I don't trust some of the dorm students! I do not trust some of day students who have their mothers who worked at SJI to serve lunch for us the students because of "favorism"!

15 comments:

Anonymous said...

Wow your artworks are powerful. I had never experienced like this with my speech teachers throughout my hearing school years. I feel for the Deaf students like you who love ASL got abused by the nuns, teachers and etc. Keep up the artworks, blogging, and vlogging!

Anonymous said...

Your art is powerful. I am so angry that you went through this as a child. I am so sorry you experienced this as a child. You do NOT deserve this. I admire how you are getting the truth out there. Through friends, I have heard many horror stories like yours, but your pictures bring harsh reality to it, bringing tears to my eyes. Your story should be published. And those nuns need to be jailed for child abuse. You truly are a survivor with a beautiful spirit.

Julie Rems-Smario

Anonymous said...

wow ... Pretty poweful artworks you have. Add some colors of hot water if you can .. Something like yellow, red or orange -- symbolizes the water is hot. I am sure your hands must be hurt. I hope your hands are not burnt badly. Keep up the artworks, bloggings and vloggings.

mishkazena said...

Uh oh, that brings back painful memories for me as an oral student. Likewise, we were disciplined pretty harshly if we were caught using homemade signs, like being spanked with wooden paddles and soap in the mouth, etc.

We really need to document the abuses we endured in the repressive boarding schools.

Anonymous said...

Wow !! Your experience was much worse than my experiences. I was never sent away to school . My parents were overprotected me and sent me to local public school with no ASL interpreter back in 1960's . Yet, I was forced to speak orally. The teachers were mean to us . They tied me up so we could not use the gestures to communicate our way out . we even made many homemade signs. The teacher hit my hands with their ruler, pinched our hands and pulled my ears and they throw the chalks at us for not pay attention to her and she spanked my butt with wooden stick . I screamed so loudly and it interupped another hearing classes. so teacher stopped spanking me cuz i was tooo loud !! I couldn't tell my parents what really happened in classroom dued to lack of communication . It really was damaged my self esteem and my own identity.I learned the letters but i never really understood them until i was nine years old after i learned in simm Comm method .. I picked up more and more ... but When i was sent to MSSD, I picked up more in ASL and My education was blossomed so quickly .

written by Cheree Mull

Anonymous said...

your drawings are worth more than one thousand words. very powerful images of injustice and abuse. It is great irony because the Church teaches us to fight injustice. they does not always practicing what they teaches us. thank you for sharing with us.

Aslpride said...

Tell me where that nun live and I will kick her butt!

Anonymous said...

wow. It's really sad that some of us had to go through this horrible abuses in the past.

ASL Risen said...

I guess that nun lives Nazareth Living Center from this copied and pasted link:

http://www.nazarethlivingcenter.com/aboutnazareth/

or lives in the Development Department of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet from this copied and pasted link:

http://www.csjsl.org/Default.asp?ContentID=67&SectionID=19

Anonymous said...

The pictures are very powerful. They brought up so many unpleasant memories. I was brought up as an oralist. I was fortunate that I did not experience the awful things that others like you did. I did witnessed some classmates being beat by ruler on the head by teacher. That scared me into silence. Even though I did not experience the abuses by teacher, I still suffered being neglected. Someone told me that it is similar to being locked up in a closet because no one talked with me, helping me to deal with different things in life. Hearing people just moved me around without explaining anything to me. I grew up being confused, angry and bitter. When I finally learned sign language, it helped me to blossom greatly. Just imagine being denied from full communication during the growing years from birth to teenager. Isn't it their right to have communication? Thank you for speaking up. Everything needs to be documented.

Anonymous said...

Shawn --

Your artworks are very powerful. I know that SJI have had many bad creditableness.

I looked into SJI's website and found that the SJI have a sponsor -- United Way of the Greater St. Louis. I was hoping that the United Way officials would have pull the plug SJI's sponsor. So, can you find out the information?

What a filthy business.

I am glad that Sister Joyce Buckler resigned. She deserved it.

White Ghost

ASL Risen said...

I tried so hard to find United Way's original mailing address and phone numbers but I am NOT going to pledge and not going to write a check over the phone!

http://www.stl.unitedway.org/difference/pledge/default.aspx

ASL Risen said...

ASL Risen said...

Anonymous said...

That's awful. I am not very surprised though. I went to catholic boarding hearing school. I think the nuns felt the need to take their frustrations out on us. They did not have enough self-control. We were only children! I was lucky as 2 of the nuns were nice and looked out for me, the others were mean or just didn't care when I was bullied by the other students for being deaf.