Class at David Rose - in the 70ies? - Deaf Association of Guyana

Class at David Rose - in the 70ies?

3/1/2012

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And this is an earlier strand in Guyana's Deaf history, much earlier, probably some time in the 70ies. This is David Rose School - at that time sign language, as an accepted means of communication, was still very very young in Guyana - we need to do some research here; find out more about what it was like, many years ago, to be born deaf in Guyana.

1 Comment

Tracey Cholmondeley

5/26/2012 05:27:56 pm

May 27, 2012
I, Tracey Chomondeley, was one of the earliest students in the late 1960s. I left DRS in July 1971 and still continue to visit that school over the years. There was NO SIGN LANGUAGE to communicate in the 1970s and 1980s either. Just Oral and lipread. However, the first or basic sign language was taught to students by a female teacher who learned sign language brought to David Rose School (DRS) around 1989 or 1990 from Jamaica. I was still a student at Gallaudet University in DC between 1987 and 1992. I met and spoke with that interesting teacher there at DRS once or twice while I was on vacation. Sadly, I know why she left DRS after two years and left Guyana. Deaf adults still used their home-made signs outside of classroom settings at their homes. Guyanese Sign Language came late 1990s, and then American Sign Language was introduced later in 2000s. So this becomes a mixture of GSL and ASL. We the school leavers or former students know and share a rich history of DRS and its trained teachers who left before1990. We knew why.
My volunteer team and I still have been working on one of our own research projects on school leavers, their life and time at DRS and its history. We would know where to find to interview and have them come out of their hidden places (before too late) and help join us to complete this important research project on History of the David Rose School Leavers.

Educationally Yours,
Tracey Cholmondeley, MA
Maryland, USA

Class at David Rose - in the 70ies?

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