Title
NTID History panel 1: Pioneers of Innovation
Subject
NTID's educational philosophy
Description
Content: NTID was founded to accomplish two primary goals: to offer technical training to young deaf and hard-of-hearing adults and to ensure job placement. A corollary goal was the education of deaf and hard-of-hearing students in interaction and assimilation in hearing-dominated workplaces; to this end, it was equally important that NTID be located within a larger, majority-hearing institution.
NTID's administration, faculty and staff were primarily composed of hearing people who recognized the ability of deaf and hard-of-hearing people to contribute to society, and worked tirelessly toward ensuring that those contributions were realized.
At the time, simultaneous communication (Sim-Com) was widely used. This form of communication was used so that students theoretically could benefit from lip-reading and learning English grammar. Classes were not limited to technical studies; lip-reading and speech classes were also offered. The administration felt that this would help NTID's students get jobs and sustain careers.
NTID students were in many ways considered pioneers. They used educational technologies that were available, and provided input for improvements. They created a deaf space by setting up the NTID Theatre program along with Robert Panara, a deaf faculty member. After graduation, some of them took jobs in government or industry, paving the way for future generations of deaf and hard-of-hearing workers.
In the early years, the Basic Interpreting Training Program (BITP) was also founded. Although hearing students had been recruited to live with deaf and hard-of-hearing students, learn how to sign, and interpret for their deaf counterparts, the more-formalized BITP was an early step toward the emphasis on communication access evident in NTID today--in both deaf- and hearing-majority classrooms.
Near the end of the 1980s, the Grand Experiment had largely become an established institution with entrenched ideals which would be challenged and refined by the next generation of students, setting the stage for changes to come.
NTID's administration, faculty and staff were primarily composed of hearing people who recognized the ability of deaf and hard-of-hearing people to contribute to society, and worked tirelessly toward ensuring that those contributions were realized.
At the time, simultaneous communication (Sim-Com) was widely used. This form of communication was used so that students theoretically could benefit from lip-reading and learning English grammar. Classes were not limited to technical studies; lip-reading and speech classes were also offered. The administration felt that this would help NTID's students get jobs and sustain careers.
NTID students were in many ways considered pioneers. They used educational technologies that were available, and provided input for improvements. They created a deaf space by setting up the NTID Theatre program along with Robert Panara, a deaf faculty member. After graduation, some of them took jobs in government or industry, paving the way for future generations of deaf and hard-of-hearing workers.
In the early years, the Basic Interpreting Training Program (BITP) was also founded. Although hearing students had been recruited to live with deaf and hard-of-hearing students, learn how to sign, and interpret for their deaf counterparts, the more-formalized BITP was an early step toward the emphasis on communication access evident in NTID today--in both deaf- and hearing-majority classrooms.
Near the end of the 1980s, the Grand Experiment had largely become an established institution with entrenched ideals which would be challenged and refined by the next generation of students, setting the stage for changes to come.
Creator
Dyer Arts Center
Publisher
Dyer Arts Center