1
- You want to blow some bubbles?
Okay.
Remember.
Right?
Same.
Yeah!
Remember?
Woo!
You do the same, ready?
Okay.
Yes! Keep on, keep on.
Good try, you want to hold it?
Yay, good boy!
- Come on, jump.
No, no, jump.
Come here, jump.
Okay yes.
Okay Jason.
What did Jason do?
He jumped.
Say it.
Jumped.
Okay, good.
Walk.
Okay?
Walk.
Walk.
Okay?
Walk.
Okay.
Walk for me.
Okay.
What did I tell Jason to do?
Yes!
Jason walked.
Can you say Jason?
Jason walked.
- Okay, go sit down and eat.
Snack time.
- Ah!
Yes.
Ah!
Mmm hmm.
Ooh.
Ooh.
You do it.
- Ooh.
- Uh huh.
- Ooh.
- Yes.
Can you say, bye-bye?
Bye-bye.
Bye-bye.
Two times.
Bye-bye.
Bye-bye, see you later.
Bye!
Tell Cheyenne to come on.
- On your nose.
- Where's your nose?
Where?
Where is it?
Yeah!
Good!
- Where is your nose?
Okay?
Okay.
Where is your
your cheeks?
Your cheek?
That's mine.
Okay, your cheek.
Okay finish with the nose.
Your cheek, okay, now your chin.
Jason, where is your chin?
Right here!
Okay, that's good.
Where is your elbow?
- Oh, yeah heard, huh?
Your elbow...
- A, B, C, what's next?
What's right there?
D, where's D?
Good.
Okay what's next?
A.
B.
C.
D.
E.
E.
Where's E?
A, B, C, D, E.
It's right there.
No.
F.
F.
Mmm hmm.
Okay, what goes right here?
A, B, C,
D, E, F.
No, not K.
E, F.
What is it?
G.
Mmm hmm.
- Baby. - Baby.
- Yes! I like your
speech this morning.
Can you say
Cheyenne?
I hear nothing!
- Cheyenne!
- Aha, Cheyenne!
Yes I see your name
Cheyenne, right?
Okay, you say, hello.
- Hello.
- Ball. - Ball.
- Can you say boat?
Ooh, that's hard, look here.
Boat.
Mmm hmm, boat.
Shoe?
What color are your shoes?
What color are your shoes?
What color?
- Purple.
- Yes, purple.
Can you say shoe?
Let me hear you.
Good girl!
Say you.
- You.
- Uh-huh, good look here.
- Ah!
You.
- You.
- Better.
Can you say white?
Where's white?
Yes!
I see some white.
I want you to say white.
(vocalizing
Very good.
What color is that?
What color?
Looks a little bit dirty, huh?
What color is this right here?
- What?
- Blue.
- I want to hear it, blue.
- Can you count the apples?
How many?
1, 2,
3, 4,
5, 6.
Six apples, red.
Yes good boy.
- Circles, circles.
No I don't want it on me.
No I don't want it on me!
Oh no!
Make circles.
Where's your nose?
Nose?
Nose.
Nose.
Nose.
Your nose?
- And as kids develop,
their sign language
is going to change also.
Okay, almost everybody
knows shoes.
- Shoes, yeah.
- Okay, coat.
It's like you're putting
on a big heavy coat.
- Pulling it up over
your shoulders.
- Pulling it over.
Now this is put on a coat.
This could be take off.
It's really a gesture
than a true sign.
Coat.
Where is your coat?
Or you know, once you come in
you can take off your coat.
Okay?
That's the verb and the noun.
- That covers the
whole sentence.
- Take off your coat.
It's really just
sort of a gesture.
There again you start miming it.
Wine, it's a W down the side.
Okay.
Beer is sort of a B.
Okay, you got to be
careful with the B sign,
cause there's some other things
they use like a female dog.
Tea is like the tea bag, okay?
Tea bag.
Bread.
This is like a loaf of bread
and you're slicing it.
But bread.
Come down with it,
yeah turn your hand.
Okay turn this one, put
your palm forward.
Okay this one's like the
knife, and you're cutting it.
Cutting it, okay?
That's bread.
Milk.
You all remember milk?
You know when I went to Mexico
and all I knew in Spanish
was, "Where's the bathroom?"
They know that sign for
milk down there folks.
And that's when
"How can you learn
sign language?"
I always say, "Well
we all use it.
"What's the sign for goodbye?"
They go, "Really?"
Okay then I said, "Now
guess if you wanted
"some milk to drink and
you were in China,
"what would you do?"
And you know eventually somebody
will come up with this.
So a lot of times we
really are scared of it,
but we really shouldn't.
- We'll let Billy
Jo be the bird.
And then if Becky comes
back, I have a chicken.
I have a yellow chicken and Becky
can be the yellow chicken.
Okay Quentin, come on boy!
Come here.
Let's take off the gloves.
You can't sign good
with your gloves on.
Okay look, What are you?
- I
am
a
bear.
Good boy, sit down.
Come here.
No.
No no.
One more time and
the smile's going.
Okay, come here and
let me get you.
This might be too
little for you.
Okay, I can fix it later,
when we're getting ready
for the big program.
What are you?
Like I said,
I
am
a
monkey.
Monkey.
Come here Michael.
After while, one second.
Good, okay.
She
is a spy.
She is watching
your
voices and listening
to see if you talk.
Did you lose your tail?
Okay.
Let's see your hands.
Okay.
What are you?
I...
Okay there's your
tail, go sit down.
Come on Daniel.
Daniel.
Where are your glasses?
What are you?
I
am
a
rabbit.
- Rabbit.
- Yes good boy.
Okay Wiley.
What are you?
I want it in a sentence.
Good boy, okay.
- Winks.
- Winks.
- Is that right?
Yay good girl.
You forgot to say A.
No ma'am, A.
Good girl.
Okay do it yourself.
Good girl show me five.
Yay! Good for Jesse!
- Stops.
- Stops.
- Falls.
- Winter.
- Winter.
- Good reading.
- What are we going to
do about our decimal?
What are we going
to do with that?
You just move the decimal up.
Okay.
Now.
You are dividing right,
but you are putting your
answer in the wrong place.
What are we going to
do about that Travis?
You use the decimal?
Where is it?
Alright.
Go back and check
your work again.
What is confusing you is
probably the decimal.
Right here, let's
try it like this.
Forget the decimal,
go ahead and do this.
Right.
There okay.
No you don't put your G over
there, put your G right there.
What goes up here?
What goes here?
- Nothing.
- Right put it down.
Now, okay very good, now look
at this decimal right there.
Now what do we do
with that decimal?
We move it up.
What are we gonna do with that?
So you have two dollars, two
dollars and fifty cents
divided by five
equals fifty cents.
You don't worry
about that decimal,
until it's time for you to
move up to the correct place.
Now come here.
- Sherry, that's a
girls name, Sherry.
- Sherry. - Uh huh.
- Shop. - Shop.
- Ship. - Ship.
- Good! Alright can you say that
list by yourself? I won't help.
- Shoes, Shoot.
- Okay wait just a minute.
Make your SH's real soft, okay?
Don't try so hard, no big deal.
- Shoot. - Shoot.
Start right here.
- Shoot.
- Uh huh, real soft, shoot.
- Shoot.
- Okay.
- Ship.
- Mmm hmm.
- Sherry.
- Good, no that was pretty.
- Shop.
- Good!
- Ship.
- Alright now I want you to
try and compare them okay?
It's going to be harder.
Shoes, choose.
It looks the same, but
it sounds different.
It looks the same, but
it sounds different.
Alright let's try this one.
Remember SH is
soft, that's hard.
Sheep.
- Sheep.
- Pretty.
Cheap.
- Sheep, cheap.
- Better.
- Sheep, sheep.
- Cheap.
- Cheap.
- Good!
Sherry.
- Sherry.
- Cherry.
- Cherry.
- Good!
Shop.
- Shop.
- Chop.
- Chop.
- Good, Teddy.
Ship.
- Chip, chip.
- Soft and lots of air.
- Ship, ship.
- Good!
Oh that is so good!
Okay, you're all done.
Adios!
- Bye.
- See you later, alligator.
- See you later, crocodile.
- After while, crocodile.
- After while, crocodile.
- Alright try again.
See you later, alligator.
No! No!
I say, "See you
later, alligator."
You say, "After
while, crocodile."
- After while, crocodile.
- Alright let's try again.
See you later, alligator.
- See you later..
- Again.
See you later, alligator.
- After while, crocodile.
- Yay!
Bye!
- Okay, okay, you
don't have to yell.
That's fine.
Everyone's got one now.
You must,
Alfred look.
What's it say?
Right, what's that mean?
No, write.
You must write the words in
alphabetical order first.
No, first you write the words
in alphabetical order first.
Then you find the words
in the dictionary.
No, here, now.
I want you to work on it now.
When you finish your work,
you can go to the bank.
- What will you do?
Hopefully we can show you
some different signs
that will help you.
If you see the sign
for Coke, sign Coke.
People in different parts of
the country might sign Coke.
Who knows a different
sign for ugly?
Someone told me, ugly.
Another person told me, ugly.
That's really ugly isn't it?
Ugly.
How many different signs
do you know for light?
Let me see.
How many different signs
can you think of?
Light, let me see.
How many different signs
can you think of?
Right.
Light, light, light.
Sometimes people say,
"Turn off the light."
Sometimes people might say
"Turn off the light."
But it all means
the same, right?
I bet most of you
know, what is this?
What is that?
That's helicopter or helicopter.
Who knows what this is?
Ho-Ho-Ho.
Who knows?
Santa Clause.
Some people say Santa
Clause, or Santa Clause,
or Santa Clause.
Santa Clause.
Okay.
There's many many different
signs for all these words.
- Help, I have a
limited vocabulary.
Thank you, thank you,
please ignore last remark.
Thank you, please
ignore last remark.
Please ignore last remark.
- You should of
seen her upstairs
sitting in your chair.
- Oh is that right?
You want my robe?
- She used your gavel!
Let's get a picture of her.
- Oh that'll be fine.
- Bill we had an
election yesterday,
and we elected the
judge and the sheriff,
and you know different,
and everyone of them got,
we had one, there's
the defenders,
put him in jail
quick, he's mean.
- He's getting ready
to get him again.
- He'll have to go
straight to jail.
- The judge said you would
have to go straight to jail.
- You have to go
straight to jail.
Now, come on.
- How are you judge?
- Hello, hello?
- She said didn't have one.
- You don't have no pistol?
- Bill that means I love
you in the deaf language.
- Ahh!
- And you give it to him.
- Thank you darling!
- You're welcome.
- Thank you judge!
- Well it's so good
to see all of you.
Sheriff, I got to
get you a pistol.
- Yeah, you see this?
You know about that don't you?
You remember?
That's the man that
they think killed
all of the deaf people.
- This man is the
sheriff's helper.
- He has a badge.
- He has a badge.
- He has a gun.
- He has a gun.
- That's not play.
- Real gun.
- Not play.
You do not play with it.
That's truly a gun.
That's what they're
interested in.
Yeah where are your handcuffs?
- I don't have any on me.
- Wait just a minute,
wait wait wait.
They like y'all.
- They have a T.V. in there.
- Well a lot of the cells
upstairs have T.V.
You gotta have something
for them to do,
quiet 'em down,
they get restless.
- They get bored?
- That's when we started
having problems, fighting.
- What do you tell her?
Let me hear it again.
Again, louder.
Okay, thank you,
that's good speech.
- Yeah, that's very good.
Y'all come back to see us.
Bye-bye.
- Bye.
- Alright the only time
now you think you're
going to run 800
in the 32 relay.
Big surprise.
Mark!
Set!
Go!
- We talked about kinda
they don't have it
or the beginnings of
it, by the time they
get to secondary level,
they ain't going
to get enough of it.
- Well I think that it's
certainly is a wish
that many parents have,
that your, you know,
wish we could help fulfill
that dream of theirs,
but most of our students,
by the time they've reached
ninth grade have not established
fairly intelligible speech.
That's not going to be done
between ninth and twelve grade.
We've got more important
things to teach them
in high school than to
pull them out for speech.
- Certain vowels
are just getting
reached by that time.
They've just gotten
something to talk about
at that age level.
- And again, we're not
preparing someone
for a higher school degree.
We're looking at, here's the
strengths this individual has,
here's the needs this
individual has now,
to survive functionally
after age 21,
for this individual, what
do we need to teach?
Build on strengths, or
bring up some weaknesses.
For some children were working
specifically on strengths,
for some children they've
got some basic weaknesses
that have got to be built up.
And so you might have
then conceivably
one 17 year old child
that you would feel
very much that you'd
need to pull out.
And another 17 year old
child perhaps with
even the same speech
problem, but there's
another priority that's going to
prevent you from doing that.
And since you're
not looking at a
high school curriculum
or something like that.
- Mmm hmm.
Well, and if you look
at where they are
developmentally too, so
many times it takes them
now, it wouldn't until
they're 20 or 21,
but it takes them 'til
they're 10 or 11,
to be ready to sit
down and participate
in that kind of activity too.
Or to take advantage of
something like that.
- If you could make up one
sentence of using good details,
in your sentence, try
to make up one for me.
Now you want to use
good adjectives.
You told me you said upset,
depressed, what about lonely?
He looks a little bit
lonely right now.
His expression is not happy.
If you realize it
is Christmas time,
you see the Christmas
tree in the window.
Okay, if he looks lonely,
perhaps,
or perhaps he didn't
get what he wanted.
Okay come on, make up
me a good sentence
using good details
talking about the boy.
- The boy has got to
get away from home.
- Okay, we will begin
with that and we
want to add more
details to that.
Okay, because we have
added two adjectives,
that makes the sentence a
little bit more interesting,
more sophisticated and
it gives your reader details.
Perhaps they can't see that
picture, but inside their mind,
they have a good image that
the boy is upset and depressed.
So they know the
expression's not cheery.
They know it's not mad, he's not
just stomping away from home.
He's just upset and
depressed and his
expression is more just
subdued.
What about the weather Vincent?
Very very cold, what else?
Why is it so white up in here?
Why?
Foggy and windy.
Perhaps the temperature's
going down.
Okay, create one sentence.
Now you said what while ago?
About the weather?
Tell me again.
Mmm hmm.
Okay I'm going to change
it just a little bit.
Okay?
Gonna find a picture now
that I want to explain
a little bit about and
then you're gonna
have to do this for
your homework tonight.
I want you to pick
apart the picture.
List and get ideas
for adjectives
and try to make your
short paragraph,
I don't want a long paragraph,
I want a short paragraph.
- Maybe if we went to McDonald's
and you were working,
I could say, "Wow, today
I went to McDonald's
"and I ate a hamburger
cooked by Tommy."
Might cooked it for me.
You give me more than
a quarter pound,
or are they measured already?
Would ya?
You cook me a special one?
Okay, so that would be an example
of a participial phrase.
I ate a hamburger
cooked by Tommy.
Cooked by Tommy
describes hamburger,
tells me more about it.
It's functioning as
an adjective now.
You think of an example.
These are hard, aren't they?
Okay, you keep talking
about sports.
The present participles
are a lot easier
than the past ones for y'all.
They're a whole lot easier
to think up, especially.
You wanna try one more?
Okay.
The picture on the
wall is a subject.
Okay, you could say, the
picture on the wall,
painted by DeSoto,
is very valuable.
That'd be fine.
The idea that DeSoto
painted the picture.
That's a good example.
The clothes bought by your mother
looked very pretty on you.
Bought by your mother are
describing your clothes.
They're functioning
now as an adjective.
That's a good example.
- Okay, Kenneth, number four.
- That's not enough.
The thunder happens
once in a while
in 20 years, they said, but why?
But, it's not raining.
It's thundering, why?
What causes that
thunder, Mary Anne?
And so what they're
saying is that every,
at 20 years, if you hear
thunder on a really
sunny day to be
careful because it is
Henry Hudson with
his crew of men
and they're playing
and if you drank
from their barrel,
you're gonna sleep
for 20 years just like Rip.
Now, in town, when the
men have problems,
or troubles with their
wife nagging on them,
what do they do?
- Does the P sound have voice?
Does it?
Does it have voice, yes or no?
- No.
- No, you're right, good.
Okay, first we're gonna
try the P by itself
and see how we do with it, okay?
Okay, let's try it one time.
Puh.
- Puh.
- Very good.
Okay, let's try it again.
Let's do three times this time.
Puh, puh, puh.
- Puh, puh, puh.
- I hear a little bit of voice.
Okay, we wanna get rid
of your voice, okay?
Puh, puh, puh.
Hear mine?
Puh, puh, puh, nuh uh.
Just only air, okay?
Puh, puh, puh.
- Puh, puh, puh.
- Okay, do you hear yourself?
Puh, puh, puh, voice.
Okay, look, let's
change it again.
Try it one time again, ready?
- Puh.
- Puh.
- Good.
Puh, puh, puh, puh, puh.
- Puh, puh, puh, puh, puh.
- Very good, okay?
Now, I want to show you
about the air with the P
because you have to have
a lot of air, okay?
Okay, watch the paper.
Puh.
See it?
Puh.
Okay, watch the paper.
Buh, buh, no air, okay?
Okay now watch.
Buh, buh, buh.
- Buh.
- Right.
Buh, very good.
Okay, now we want
to practice the P
in the middle position,
and then we'll
practice it in the
initial position, okay?
Ready?
Okay, we're gonna use some
other sounds with it.
Okay, we're going to
the middle first.
At first we use our voice, then
no voice, then voice again.
Apuh.
Can you hear the
P in the middle?
Apuh.
Okay, ready?
You try.
- Apuh.
- Okay, just a minute,
let's try it again.
Apuh.
- Apuh.
- Okay, I hear voice on your P
which makes it become a B, okay?
Watch.
Apuh, do you see the P?
Can you hear the P?
Apuh, you try.
- Apuh.
- Very good, try it again.
- Apuh.
- Again.
- Apuh.
- Okay.
You're paper's not moving
very much, just a little bit.
Okay?
Let's try it again.
Okay, first let's try
it at the, let's try it
at the first and see if we
can do a little bit better
and then we'll go back to the
middle in a minute, okay?
Puh.
See it at the first?
First, no voice, then voice.
Puh, okay, puh.
- Puh.
- Very good.
Try it with the paper.
- Puh.
- Good, okay.
Pooh.
- Pooh.
- That's better.
Let's try that one again.
Listen, air first.
Pooh.
- Pooh.
- Very good.
Pow.
- Pow.
- Good.
Pah.
- Pah.
- Good.
Oy.
- Oy.
- That's good.
See? You got it right that time.
- What apparently set Peter
off yesterday afternoon
was he received a
letter from you.
- Yeah.
- And he apparently gotten
a letter on Friday.
He didn't get it 'til Saturday,
apparently, maybe Sunday,
but um...
There may have been some
problems with that, too.
That's what happened with the...
- He was upset with that letter.
- Well he had previously
sent me a letter
and told me that Bubba
Bishop had moved to Fairhope
and that if I didn't let
him move down there
and go to school
with Bubba Bishop
that he was gonna hate me.
He wasn't gonna love me anymore,
that he was gonna run away,
so in my response to him
in the letter I told
him that I was sorry
he felt like that,
that I loved him,
but that I thought Talladega
was the best place for him,
and that we would talk
about it when he came home
and that's all that I
really said in the letter,
so evidently that's
what got him upset
'cause I refused to
even consider it,
because I don't know
Bubba Bishop's parents.
I wouldn't consider him going
off and living there, anyway.
I mean, he's my responsibility.
- Well, that response is
not necessarily unnormal.
I think there's a
number of kids,
probably a good
number of the kids,
who come to school here
sometimes the separation
is such that they
believe their parents
don't love them anymore,
or if you love them,
you wouldn't send them here.
That set him off
the first episode.
Yesterday, he received
another letter from you.
I don't know what was in that
necessarily, either, but...
- I would like to
know what you had
put in that letter, because
we didn't have it last night.
We had to ask Peter for it,
that he had gotten upset
about that first,
and then he had gotten
upset not getting...
- And that must
have been the one
I just wrote, 'cause I
just put one in the mail
yesterday like you
recommended and told him
in that one that I
would call his father,
his real father, you
know, when he come in
if he wanted to
talk to him and see
and that we would go over
it when he come home,
you know, talk about
it when he came home.
- Right.
- Well, that apparently,
is an issue.
- Yeah.
- The real father and the
stepfather and yourself...
- Well see, now what I
probably should have done
is years ago shoulda told
Peter how his real father
feels about him.
That was one of the
grounds for divorce
is that he couldn't
accept the fact
that Peter was deaf, that
I had rubella measles
when I was pregnant with Peter
and that was causing
Peter's deafness
and he didn't wanna hear
nothing about that,
when the doctor wanted to
terminate the pregnancy
in the beginning and all,
he was totally against it
because he just
said you know women
have measles all the time.
That that's just nonsense
and so then when Peter
was born and it was
a long time before
he would accept the fact,
he said I was looking
for a problem, because
I noticed right away
that there was something
wrong with his hearing.
I knew it had to do
with his hearing,
but I didn't know to
what extent it was
and he just said I was
looking for problems
and then he just never was able
to accept Peter's deafness
and then when Peter went
into hearing aids and all,
he totally rejected him
and the hearing aids.
- 'Cause that made him
more visibly different.
- Right.
- As long as he
didn't have the aids.
- Right.
- It was not as...
- So he's never been denied
his visitation rights,
he's never paid child
support and for a while
we lived out in Texas
but when we moved back
to Mobile he knew
where I was at,
and he coulda come,
called, wrote,
done anything he wanted
to but he never did
as his own choice.
- His real father
lives in Mobile.
- Right.
- And at this point
does not see Peter
unless you initiate it
or Peter initiates it?
- No, he doesn't see him then.
He might see him
if I take him over
to his grandmother's house.
His mother lives here and if I
go over to his grandmother's
house or something, he sees her.
He doesn't see him.
Now, he's been to my
house several times
for my older son
that I have by him
and he has seen Peter
then, but he's never
put no time in with him
or to where he could
promise him anything or do
anything like that for him
or give him anything
on his birthday
or Christmas or nothing.
So, there's not a
relationship there.
- Well...
- But it's been by
his daddy's choice.
- Okay, that is
part of an issue.
I don't know, now
it's, I don't know.
From what you're saying that
that is as much the issue
except that maybe
Peter was using it
as an issue to get back at you
for some other reasons, but...
- That's what I honestly believe
at this point, because he...
- The more he can
make you feel bad,
something he wants or has
not received or whatever,
that's what he's in the process
of trying to do, but...
- Yeah, that's just
like writing a letter
saying he hates me.
Now, if he knows it
makes me go to pieces,
and I cry and I feel
guilty about it.
- We need to talk with
Peter when he comes in
about that, but the other
thing that set him off
last night, which is not,
which is another issue
with him and that's money.
- Yeah.
Well, I had just sent
him some money...
- Right.
- And that's what I was asking...
- Well, he had money.
- Yeah.
- The point was last night,
last night was
recreation time for them
and they were going
to the skating rink.
He asked Mrs. Sweeney,
the houseparent
for six dollars of his
money, which is not
what we give the
students when they go,
we give each of the
students two dollars...
- Yeah.
- To try to be equitable
to all of 'em,
so they all don't go out
there and have more than,
somebody more than
another and one of 'em
gets to buy something the
other ones don't or whatever,
so they get two
dollars to go skating
and that wasn't satisfactory.
The letter, that situation,
when he came back
from supper last evening,
apparently started
pushing and shoving
the other boys
and causing some
problems and uh,
at that point in time, he
told the other houseparent
that he was gonna hang himself,
and he borrowed a belt,
same belt I think again,
that he borrowed Monday
or whenever it was,
Sunday night, Sunday night,
that he borrowed the belt
from another student and,
in the closet, was gonna
hang it from there
and was gonna hang himself.
Well, they called me at
home yesterday evening
and I went over to
the dormitory and
talked with he and the
houseparents for a while
and really got nowhere.
He was very stubborn, very
upset yet and very mad
at everybody and so,
I took him with me.
I was gonna go play tennis
last night at seven o'clock
and I took him with me
in the car and went over
to the tennis court and
I sat and talked to him
as I was waiting to
get on the court
and I wasn't getting anywhere.
I couldn't get on the
court and I couldn't
get it from Peter,
either one, but we,
Dr. Meechum came and we,
we met with Phillip
there for a little bit,
and talked, Phillip, Peter,
for a while and talked,
got really nowhere.
- He was too upset to listen.
- So, Doc Meechum went
back to make a phone call
to try to see if he could stay
in the infirmary last night,
which we have done in the past
when something like
this might occur
so they're under
constant supervision
and I took him back
to the school to wait
for Dr. Meechum's call and
she couldn't get through
so she came over
to the dormitory.
In the meantime, that period
of time I sat with him
outside, hugged him a
lot, talked to him a lot,
finally got him to start
admitting that, you know,
killing himself wasn't
gonna help him.
Wasn't gonna help anybody that,
nobody could help
him if he was dead,
and he couldn't have the
things for his roller skates
if he was dead and he
couldn't have a go cart
that he talked about
if he was dead
and all those and
he finally started
opening up a little
bit and talking.
He promised me he wasn't
gonna do anything
and that he really
didn't mean it
and we went in and talked and Dr.
Meechum came
and we talked some more.
I called you.
While I was calling you,
he went and got himself
a bottle of pop and a candy bar
and he was as happy as he
could be, when we left.
Last night, there was nothing,
I mean, he slept
in the dormitory.
The houseparent slept
in the room with him.
This morning at
breakfast I saw him.
He was fine.
Had a smile on his face coming
back from vocational class.
We haven't told him
that you were coming.
- But he had gotten
calmed down on Monday
in the same way.
He was not as calm and as
happy as he was last night,
but he had resolved
the issue Monday
and said that he would
not kill himself
and that he understood
some of the same things
and two days later
was just as upset
or really 36 hours later
was just as upset.
- But then it could
that he's used this
and it worked one time,
it's worked again
and he could use that,
now I have to live in fear now.
Every time he
doesn't get his way
he's gonna threaten
this and if I don't
acknowledge it, and then
he did do something,
then there's a big
guilt trip there.
See, but that he's
learned to use it
to where all I gotta do is
threaten to kill myself
and I'm gonna get my way.
- Well, he hasn't
gotten his way...
- Yeah.
- In this process.
That's the only thing that has,
the only way that you
can deal with that
is to deal with it at
that time but not give in
to whatever it is he's demanding
and using that as the
vehicle to get it.
He has not received anything.
He didn't get the six
dollars last night
by saying that and he
did not want you to
come, he did not
want to go home on
the 26th with you
and we can't deal with
that yet, beside here,
but he didn't wanna go home.
He didn't wanna see you.
Well, he didn't get
that yet, either
because he doesn't know
you're here, but you're here.
So, even though he's
using that as a way
to manipulate you
or manipulate us,
the things that
he's trying to get
through that
manipulation process
he hasn't received
yet and each time
he's been convinced that
that's not the way to get it.
- I have to say, too, that
each time he says it,
if it costs him more in the
way of loss of freedom,
and of supervision and he
does not get those things
he wants, then eventually the
ploy won't be used as much
so the manipulation
doesn't work.
- That we can use
with him in that.
Okay, if he's gonna
use that as a process
to get something, he can't
go with the Boy Scouts
and go camping anymore.
I can't trust, I can't
take the responsibility
of allowing him to go
with the Boy Scout leader
and go camping over the weekend
because we wouldn't
feel comfortable
with his, way he would be
supervised during that process.
He's gonna have to stay
under a closer supervision
than he would be if he went
on that kind of a trip.
- Yeah, well what I...
- So what he's gonna do, he's
gonna end up losing his,
he's gonna end up losing a
number of the freedoms,
the number of pleasures
that he is able
to participate in because
of, we can't take the risk
of allowing him to be
involved in those things
because of that.
- May I ask you a question?
- Mmm hmm.
- When he was real
young and you first
determined that he was
hearing impaired,
did you not discipline
him in the same way
as you did your other children?
- I didn't.
I gave in to him a lot,
because it was so long.
He was three years old when
we were totally confirmed
that it was a nerve deafness
and was uncorrectable,
and he was like three years
old when he started school
and he couldn't have water
'til he said, "Water"
because he did have vocal
cords that he could use
and it was the
hardest situation.
I knew what he wanted,
but I wasn't allowed
to give it to him until he
actually said the word.
So I gave in to him a lot, I did
and I didn't punish him
like I did the other kids
and then the doctor told
me one day, he said
you have to more firm
with him and more strict
with him than you
do the other kids.
He said he's not a handicap.
You're making him a handicap
and so then I tried
to do an about face
and I didn't do a
good job on him
because he still has
been like that,
but he gets discipline.
If he does something
wrong, he gets whipped,
he gets punished or
he gets restricted,
whatever it calls for
and he gets it now,
but it's like he don't want,
he wants more than
the other kids.
He wants to be
allowed to do things
that they can do, but
really he can't do
and he gets mad with that.
- Because he wants to
be treated equally,
but in addition to that,
have some compensation.
- Right.
- He is angry because
he can't be with you
and he can't be out of
the dorm, but I think
the main thing is he
wants more freedom,
more flexibility in his
after-hours programming
and at 14, some of
that is natural.
Some of the anger toward you
is what we call individuation,
trying to grow up and separate
some from parental control
and consequently also
separate from school control
of his free time and his money.
That was part of the anger
about the six dollars
and the way he's found of
controlling the situation
is just say okay, I will
do away with myself
and then you'll be sorry and
hope that it works every time
and I dealt with him in
a very lengthy process
trying to get him to
understand that when he starts
getting his way by
trying to scare people
and threatening and
telling people that
that he is the one
that loses because he
will always be in a
situation as we all are
that we have to accept
other people's instruction
on what to do, whether it
be a job, in a marriage
and he understood that
to a degree on Monday,
but he still is so
angry, he's got to work
through some of this
and possibly seeing
all of us aligned
on it would help.
At any rate, like Mr.
Tiffany said,
he hasn't gotten his
way so he may drop it
from his repertoire
of things to use
if it doesn't work,
but at the same time,
we have to be very sure
that we attend to him,
that we give him the
attention he needs.
It may not be the
attention he wants
and also protect him by
a lot of supervision
and we can do that to a
degree, but since this is
just a regular school we
would have a difficult
time having one on one
constant supervision.
- He's got this
fear of the devil.
He says when you die he
automatically thinks
you're going down
there, you know?
And I said why do you
always think that?
And he's 'cause, he says
you bad, you go there.
I said you're bad, so he's
got this fear of going
to the devil.
He says, he tells
me all the time,
you're getting old,
Mama, you're gonna die.
You know, when you
get old, you die.
- And when you get
gray hair, you die.
This is what he told me.
- Yeah.
- He said that if he
didn't see his natural
father that he would
die in a few years
because he had gray
hair and I said...
So contradictory.
I was trying to tell him, you
know, if you kill yourself,
you don't have any options.
You can't choose
to see him later,
and at that point I was
just trying to get him
to understand the same thing Mr.
Tiffany was
about trying to get
him to wait before
he made any drastic decisions.
He, have we found him?
- Yes, here's here.
- Can't say hello to your mom?
Did you think your mother was
gonna come up here today?
Who told you that?
Who told you?
I told you?
Why do you think your
mother came today?
You don't have any idea why
your mother would come today?
- I would say yeah,
she's worried about ya.
Why does she worry about you?
- Before that.
Why does your mother
worry about you?
Not just only when
you say that word
or words, "I'm
gonna kill myself"
but other times.
Why does your mother
worry about Peter?
- She thinks I'll run away.
- That's one reason.
- Because of his first daddy.
- That's another
reason, but the most
important reasons why your
mother worries about you?
- I don't know.
- She loves you.
Your mother worries about you.
Doesn't matter if
you're here, at ASD,
or if you're at home in
Mobile or, doesn't matter.
Your mother worries about
you 'cause she loves you.
Think so?
You told me last night no,
she doesn't love you.
You don't think your
mother loves you?
Why?
What's the reason?
- One time, one time
and I was sick.
- You got a letter last Sunday.
You got another
letter yesterday,
and your mother wrote a
letter yesterday at home
and sent it but it's
late to arrive.
That's three letters in a week.
- Not many boys and girls get
that many letters in one week.
- You say your mother
doesn't love you.
Why do you say that?
For what reason?
- Because what?
You hate with mother?
Mother does not move you
to a different school,
so you're mad.
You hate your mother?
You hate her?
Hate?
- Not much.
Just a little bit of hate.
- Why do you use that word hate?
- He needs another school.
I want another school, not here.
- You need to change
the word that you use.
Hate.
Maybe better to say don't like.
Don't say you hate.
I'm mad with mama.
I'm mad with mother, not hate.
You don't hate your mother.
You just told me a little bit.
I'm telling you that the
wrong word, it's not hate.
Mad, angry maybe with mama.
Right?
You need to stop
using that word.
You don't need to hate anyone.
Why don't you like this school?
- Because I have problems
in the dormitory.
Boys fight me.
- Whose fault?
Boys' fault. - Boys' fault.
- You fight with your brothers?
- No.
- You don't fight
with your brothers?
Not much?
Peter, when you're a young
boy, and you're growing up,
you're gonna argue
sometimes with other boys.
That's normal.
What one of your problems
is that you want it
Peter's way.
You argue with your
brothers at home
and the boys in the
dorm are kinda like
your brothers there and you
argue with them, also.
Sometimes it's their fault,
sometimes it's your fault.
You got a bad temper.
Right?
- True, that's true.
- I know it's true.
I've seen your bad
temper when you blow up
and you're stubborn.
- Yes.
- You hate your mother?
- No.
- No.
- Okay.
Okay.
- Do you love your mother?
You don't know?
You need to separate
some things.
When something happens,
and you get mad,
you don't like, mad,
that's normal sometimes
to not like, to be
angry, that's normal.
But don't say I hate,
I hate, I hate.
Or another, the words you
were using Sunday night
and last night, "I'm
gonna kill myself."
Are you gonna kill yourself?
I can't hear you.
- No.
- Why won't you kill yourself?
Don't like it?
- Don't want to.
- You wanted to kill
yourself last night?
- I won't say it again.
- Your mother has thought
about having you
go to different schools.
Why has mother
told you she wants
you to stay here at this school?
But why?
- Because mother wants...
- Why this school
most, what for?
- Vocational and
other things here.
- Your mother cares about you.
The houseparents care about you.
Dr. Meechum cares about you.
I care about you.
Why, you don't like the
rules sometimes, right?
They're strict.
Why?
What if I just let Peter
do what he wanted to do?
Leave, go to town,
spend your money,
not study, not
wash your clothes.
Would that mean that
we love you a lot
to let you do anything
you want to do?
You think that means that?
The school rules
are strict and we
discipline you when
you get in trouble.
Not because we hate you,
I don't like that word.
We do that because we love you,
care about you and
wanna teach you
how to handle
yourself and grow up
and accept responsibility.
Does mother punish you at home?
Does mother punish you at home?
Why?
- 'Cause he's a bad boy.
- When you're a bad boy
and you break the rules,
mother punishes you.
How does mother punish you?
Mama paddle you before?
Stay in your room?
Why did she do that?
Why does mother do that?
Does mother punish
you but it's okay
for the brothers and sisters,
does she not punish, she punish
brothers and sisters too?
Fair?
Fair, right?
Your mother is fair
with punishment, right?
You told me you
loved your mother.
Do you love your
brothers and sisters?
Boy, they been waiting for you.
I wanna see Peter,
I wanna see Peter.
Where is he, where is he?
I can't wait to see Peter.
You come walking in and
you don't even say hi.
You've not even
told mother hi yet.
Why don't you look at your mama?
- I don't know.
- You've got to stop talking
about killing yourself.
That's got to stop.
If it doesn't stop, then
there's many things
that you can't do.
Like, last weekend,
did you go out to the
the racetrack with
the Boy Scouts?
What'd you do out there?
You ate and you
danced and what else?
Did you camp?
Did you sleep?
Sleep?
Did you have a good time?
You enjoy it?
You like the Boy Scouts?
You wanna do it again
and again and again?
You can't if you're gonna say
you're gonna kill yourself.
You've got to stay
here, stay with us
so someone can watch
you very closely
'cause I can't trust you.
If you say that you're
gonna kill yourself,
I can't trust you.
I can't let you go.
I can't be responsible.
I must keep you close so I
can keep an eye on you.
- He's not gonna...
- I know, I know.
- Now he just doesn't care.
- You're not gonna
kill yourself?
You promised me last night.
You promise me again.
And again now.
Why?
- Because he doesn't
want it again.
- Why don't you want it?
Yeah?
Forever.
If you did that you would
hurt yourself forever.
- Peter, I want you to
tell your mother hi.
Okay, tell her that
you're angry with her.
You tell me or her.
Look at her.
- Tell mother and look
at her and tell her.
- Look at her.
- Tell your mother
that you're mad.
Go ahead.
- Look at her.
- Tell your mother.
You look at your mother.
Tell your mother how you feel.
- I'm angry with you
because you're late
while writing a letter to me.
I wait and I'm
worried about you.
It's too long but now I'm mad.
Sunday I got a letter and
decided I would kill myself.
Before the letter that
you got that arrived
here on Friday, and
you got on Sunday,
how long had it been since
you got a letter from mama?
Y'all talk about it.
- On Sunday.
- But before that, how
many weeks or days...
- One, one week.
Two?
- Yeah, he told me...
on Monday that it
was three weeks
since he got a letter
the last time.
- Not three weeks.
- Two.
- Two weeks.
- Okay.
So, y'all have decided
together two weeks, right?
You agree?
You agree?
Okay.
When you told me about
her promising a letter,
talk to her about the promise.
- When did I promise?
- When did I promise that
I would send a letter?
- Friday.
- Okay.
- I promised that I would
write you a letter
letting you spend the
night with Bubba Bishop
and I did, didn't I?
- Gave you permission to
go with you to sleep?
- Yeah, but not.
Bubba's moved.
- Right.
- Okay.
- That's not my fault.
- I know, but.
- It came on Friday.
Asked me to spend the night
with Bubba Bishop last Friday.
- But Pete...
- He's moving, got to move.
- Bubba moved, now last
Friday, next Friday,
that they can't go.
- Mother's letter was late?
Mama's letter was
late, so you couldn't
sleep with, and then he left.
Now it's late, can't
stay with him, right?
So, you're mad
because it was late.
Letter late.
- Arriving.
- Late, can't stay.
- Peter, I gave you
the letter at home.
- I know.
- You brought it back to school.
You did.
I gave you the letter at home.
So I was not late.
- Look at her, look at her.
Bubba's mother forgot.
- Bubba, but before, before.
- Before Friday,
Bubba left and...
her to get the money,
because she was broke.
He waited two weeks and
didn't get a letter.
Okay, look at her.
I want you to look at her
and y'all talk about
the money thing, okay?
- I send you money.
- Two weeks he's waited
for money and permission.
- But then I was out
of town with Daddy.
On his boat.
- Okay, one...
- Was out of town with
Daddy on his boat.
- Okay, this brings up
something that I think
we need to discuss
just a little bit.
Y'all can't really communicate.
Some of it is because
of no signing skills
on your part, right?
And some is because you
don't watch her anyway,
but maybe you learn that because
it's not really all that helpful
for both of you to sit
and try to communicate
things to each other.
- No, when we sit and
look at one another,
we do communicate.
- And that helps, right?
Do you agree?
Did you understand
what mother said?
What did she say?
Just then.
Okay, watch her now.
- What we see if we look.
We talk.
Do you know what I say?
- Okay, right.
It's easier to understand
your speech, right.
- Right, but what he
doesn't understand
is that I have three
children at home
and all the classes for
the sign is at nighttime
and I have no one to watch them.
- You ever say,
"Mother, thank you"?
- He's late, he doesn't...
- You late.
You late to tell mama thank you.
- Let's tell her thank you now,
for the money...
- Thank you.
- And for the three letters.
Okay.
Can you decide to forget
about the late two weeks
for the letter getting here?
It doesn't matter
now, it's finished.
Why can't you just forget it?
Why does it still bother you?
Why are you still angry
about late two weeks?
Two weeks ago, then the letter,
worried and worried.
He got a little bit mad.
Okay, why do you
worry about mother?
Okay, no, that's not the
reason that you're worried.
Why are you worried
about late letter?
Because maybe you love
mother and you want
to hear from mother?
You need to talk with her.
Maybe.
- You miss mother?
You miss mother?
- No.
- No?
- No, don't miss her.
Really misses his
father, first one.
- First one.
Why do you miss first father?
- Late to see him
in a long time.
Okay, tell mother that.
Y'all talk about that together.
- Do you know why?
- No.
- Because he does not love you.
No.
- Grandma told me.
- No, Grandma lied.
No, he don't see Johnny Ray.
At his grandma's, but not
at his real father's,
because his real father
does not want Johnny Ray
or Larry.
He just doesn't love you.
That's okay, that's okay.
But he's on a boat, too
and gone all the time.
- But tell him that
you told me that...
- But I told, I called
him on the phone
and told him he
can come see you,
he can talk to you, he
can visit with you,
but he don't want to.
Why?
Huh?
It's okay with me.
I don't care.
He does not want you.
Or Larry or Johnny Ray.
- How you feel?
- Very depressed.
- Well, say it.
You've got to say how
you feel, get it out.
What about second daddy?
- But does he love you?
Peter.
Does he love you?
- Second daddy hold
you sometimes?
- Yes.
- Why don't you
love second daddy?
I told you a little
bit ago that when
mama punish you
'cause she loves you
and wants you to behave
properly and grow up
and be responsible.
The houseparents punish
you here sometimes.
I've paddled you before myself.
I love you, I care about you.
I do that because I
want you straighten up,
grow up, become a fine
young man, be responsible.
Second daddy, punish
you sometimes also.
You told me, right?
Why?
- 'Cause he's a bad boy.
- And daddy, second
daddy punishes you
to try to help teach you
to become a better boy
and not be bad, to
learn to behave
and accept your
responsibility, to not argue.
- I wanna see my first father.
- I understand that.
- Okay, your mother
said you can.
That's fine with her.
She will help kinda plan
for that to happen.
She will tell your first father
and that's fine with mother.
So, are you still
angry with mother?
Tell your mother, not me.
- For what?
- That you are not
still angry with her.
Tell her.
- Are you mad at second father?
- No.
- Sure?
- Sure.
- You mad at me?
- No.
- You mad with Frieda?
Who you mad with?
- Me, nobody.
- Mad with yourself?
- Nobody.
Forget it.
- Forget it.
- I don't see you smiling.
- I smile.
- I don't see you
smile very much.
Who is that?
Who is it?
- Me.
- You like what you see?
You like to be sad?
- No.
- Then why don't you smile more?
- I smile.
- Really lucky boy.
You're really lucky.
- Yeah.
Just forget it.
- You wanna forget it?
- To really forget it,
you need to start again
and try to do a
little bit better.
To communicate with
each other here,
to communicate with
people here at school,
to not say things that
you don't really mean,
for example, hate.
You don't hate, you're angry.
Kill, you don't plan to kill.
You're angry.
Say you're angry, say the
truth, how you feel.
Make sure that you
tell the people
that you need to talk with
and when it's finished,
listen to all
the different words
and forget the things
that really don't matter.
For example, two weeks
late with the letter,
just forget that, you know.
That's not important.
Can you stop being so angry
and really forget it,
finish this by hugging,
going over here
and hugging your mother?
Okay, wanna do that?
Okay.
Do you feel better?
Why did you do it?
You love mother.
Not only because I asked
you to do that, right?
Okay.
- What do you wanna do now?
- Go back to school.
- I told you last night.
Last night easy.
And your mother has
a hard time 'cause
you got brothers and
sisters and second daddy's
out in the boat working.
She's alone.
She misses you.
Same you miss mama.
When you see each other,
you need to say hi.
Come in and see your mother
and hug your mother.
Same with your
brothers and sisters.
They were waiting to see you.
You walk in, walk past.
I had to make you stop to see
them and talk with them.
- Peter, that makes
problems for you.
You know, it's not
only for other people.
If you try to continue
to find problems,
you will do that.
You will find all the
trouble and problems
that you search for.
You have to decide how you
want to live in the future.
If you want to stay
mad, you can find a lot
of things to be mad about.
If you decide to be
happy, you can find
more things to be happy about.
You have to search for whatever
you really want in life.
Anger, no.
Happy, yes.
Okay.
Will you try to stay that
way for a little while?
- Yes.
- Okay.
I think it would be...
- You're what?
What are you?
- Smile.
- Smile.
- When you're sad,
you're not very pretty.
When you smile, you're
better looking.
- What did I tell
you the other day
about the girlfriends?
Yeah.
But I think that mother
needs to kinda come
to the middle sometimes,
too, and try harder.
When he's angry,
or acting angry,
that's when he needs you
the most sometimes.
Try to remember that.
I know it's hard, so.
Well, let 'em visit.
- Let's go with mama
just a little bit.
She's driven up a long, long
way to come and see you.
You know that should
prove to you quick
that mother loves you.
She got up early this morning,
drove from Mobile, five
hours, quick got here.
It's expensive, gas.
- A rainstorm scared me.
- Raining hard and bad storm
and she drove up here.
What do you think?
What do you tell mama?
- Yeah, Mom.
Thank you.
- Look at her, darn it.
- Look at your
mother and say that.
- I know.
- Well go over there
and tell her.
- Thank you very much...
- Thank you very
much for the letter.
- Got to stop being angry.
You got, you told
me you got rules.
You got rules at home.
You got rules here
at school, right?
I got rules.
Dr. Meechum has rules.
Your mama has rules.
We all have rules.
If you follow the rules,
you can go roller skating.
If you follow the rules, you
can go to Boy Scout camp.
If you follow the rules,
you can be in the band.
If you follow the rules,
you can go to town.
Play football, anything
you want to do.
When you break the
rules, what happens?
- Can't get out.
- You can't.
You get punished.
You get paddled or you
stay in your room
or you can't go to this place.
So, when you learn to follow
the rules you will be happier.
What do you think?
Think yes or no?
- Yeah, sure.
- Yes, sir, wonderful.
- Yes, you're learning.
No, I wanna see your teeth.
You got teeth?
- Peter, I love you
very, very much.
- Look at your
mama and the eyes.
Look at the eyes.
- What for?
- I love you.
- Why don't we let you
two visit a little bit
and then if you want
to go somewhere,
you have not eaten.
- No, I haven't.
- I need to call, I don't know.
The kitchen's closed.
- No, I can go down to the
chicken place down here.
I seen a...
- You wanna just take him
with you for a while?
brothers and sister
and that'll be fine.
- Visit.
- I can't take too much
longer so I won't be
on the road at nighttime.
- Right.
- Yeah, why don't you just go
and do, be with him for a while
and you can bring him on back?
- Okay.
Yeah, bring him back
up here or over...
- Bring him back here
to the classroom.
- Up here, to his dorm?
- Well, you probably oughta,
you'll be back
before school's out.
Just come back here.
- Okay.
- Bye bye.
I'll see ya after
a while, Peter.
- Come on.
Rodge, gotta get
back on defense.
hurry up, Greg.
Come on boys.
Good job.
Go boys, trying to jump.
Shoot, shoot.
Three steps.
One three one.
Red, one three one.
- Be the same one.
Right here, okay?
As close as you can, 'cause I'm
gonna follow the ball, okay?
And ask 'em to spread out
so it looks navigable.
Agreed?
Quick.
- The boys seen here at the
Alabama School for the Deaf
is not the only story, though.
The girls' team finished
the season ranked
number three in the
nation, giving the school
a double dose of
basketball pride.
We're making great
time, so, we're fine.
The boys seen here at the
Alabama School for the Deaf
is not the only story, though.
The girls' team
finished what, no.
- Go ahead.
- No, I did my had.
The boys' team here at the
Alabama School for the Deaf
is not the only story, though.
The girls' team finished
the season ranked
number three in the nation,
giving this school
a double dose of
basketball pride.
- That's good, that's good.
- Who are some of
your favorite people?
Your friends, both
boys and girls.
It is not necessary to
only have girl friends
if you are a girl.
Sometimes you can really
have a boy friend,
not a sweetheart,
but a boy friend.
Who are some of your friends?
Can you think of people,
maybe in this room,
that you have not told, you are
one of my very best friends?
Who?
Cassandra Davis.
Uh huh, okay.
And Brenda, okay, fine.
We can go with first names.
You have two very good friends.
That's nice.
- A friend is also a
person that you can go to
when you have problem,
you know, to go to
and talk about the problem.
If you can't hold it
in, you can go to see
your best friend and
discuss about the problem
with that person.
Kevin...
- Kevin.
- Helped you?
- It helped her
and that's a boy.
Really, a cousin, but
also a friend, right.
I have a close friend that
lives, Lynn, last name.
Sometimes they're
special friends
and the next, that
person left the school.
Lisa Cowan moved away from here.
- That's when you need to
have made new friends.
If your old friends are
gone, it's time for you
to make some new friends.
That one, okay?
Okay, let's see.
Another way to, um let's see um,
trying to think of another way
how to become your friend.
If you see a person that
is lonely, needs a friend,
maybe it'd be a good
idea for you to go
to that person, I will be your
friend, if you want me to.
You can have another person.
- Teach her, Lauren Moore
about how to be a friend
with those people.
When you go home to your
hometowns, many of you
will not have anyone that
you can communicate with,
people that know sign language
who you can really tell
all the things that you tell
all the people here, right?
Is that true?
So, it is necessary,
sometimes people talk
and say they're
friends and nothing
and they say they'll learn
sign language, but they don't.
Sometimes I watch
them and right.
And that makes a difference.
People can decide
to be our friends,
but if they cannot
communicate with us,
doesn't matter if we're
hard of hearing or not,
many times, people that
hear can't communicate
but I think with you
it is a necessary part
of the commitment to make,
if they say that they
will be our friend, for them
to learn to sign, right?
And it is necessary
for our families
to sign to know when
we need to contact
other people, maybe you
live near a friend
and need to tell your
parents that you need
to talk with someone
about a problem.
You need to stay in
contact with people
you can communicate with.
- If, for any reason, you
happen to be around campus
in the evenings, it would
be very much appreciated
if you would drive
through the campus
and if you see something
that's not correct,
stop and talk with
them about it.
I was fortunate last
night to be called
back up here because
of a problem
and I saw the lights
off at Grace Hall,
and puzzled, so I went over to
go in to turn on the lights
to find to my surprise,
two students practicing
what they've been taught
in sex education,
in that building.
They were very polite about it.
I got, we've taught them well.
They were just
necking, that was all.
They were being friendly
with one another,
and they stopped immediately
and said, "I'm sorry."
But...
Well, I mean, I drove
past the first time
and I thought, ah, it's okay.
But then I stopped
and I backed up
and drove down and
went in and uh...
- Which nights did you
notice it was not on?
- The outside lights
around the patio,
it was dark as it could
be and there were
boys and girls all around.
I thought, well, you know.
I probably need to
stop and look at that.
- That was a good clue.
- But um, we need to
encourage the people,
particularly the houseparents
that if the lights
are off, there's got
to be a reason.
Someone needs to call
somebody and tell 'em
to come turn 'em on.
- This year, we are doing
mostly the same things
that we have done in the past,
but now we are trying to
make sure that all people
here know different ways
of giving and sharing
information to our
counseling staff.
I am using a kind of case
management and am giving
some different people
responsibility in following
different students and
making sure that information
is gathered and given about
each of these students.
- Freida, I don't know
if this is what you're
driving at or not,
, we had a problem
last night with one of
the boys, Mike Donald,
which might be of some
help to some of you
for writing in these forms.
This boy was horse
playing in the dorm,
and another boy walked up to him
and told him, stop,
'cause I don't wanna
see you get punished.
The boy gets mad, you
don't tell me what to do,
you're not my boss, so they had
words and all of a sudden,
he gets angry and
runs out of the dorm.
Of course, somebody chased him,
they catch him, then they
tried to talk to him.
No, he shuts his eyes.
I won't listen to you.
You're not my boss.
I don't have to
listen to anybody.
Finally, they get
him to my office.
We sat down.
We talked for about
an hour and a half.
Now, if a houseparent
wanna fill this out,
you might wanna use
that one example
how they would go about
filling that out.
- Particularly, if that
situation happened
a lot of times and that
student didn't listen
to other people and did
not accept authority,
then you would know that
that student had a problem
with that particular idea
and maybe we'd need to
talk with the parents and Mr.
Tiffany
and see where that happened.
If it always happens,
like in school
and at home, then there
really may be a problem,
but if it doesn't happen
but in the dormitory,
then maybe it is a
personality problem.
You know, maybe they
can't interact well
with that dormitory supervisor.
I don't know, but I look
at those kinds of things
when I'm trying to decide
what is the real problem?
Okay, do we have another
example of the kinds
of problems that
you might suggest
for sending a referral
form or that you might
send through to the
dormitory supervisor?
Yes, sir.
- Suppose there's a boy,
he's in the, something
like the eighth grade
but his reading level
is something like
the fifth or sixth grade?
- Sixth grade?
- Okay, then that is
an academic problem
and it's an, it's not
really a counseling need
or a problem that I
would help to handle.
I think that you need
to contact, like,
the classroom or the
supervisor in that area.
Maybe Judith Gilliam would be
the right person to contact
so she would know but if
they are in the eighth grade
and they're reading at the
fifth or sixth grade level,
then that's not that low for
a hearing impaired student.
It depends on the age
and the situation,
when they started to
school, you know,
a lot of things enter
into that decision,
but you need to talk with
someone in the classroom
setting, I think Buddy agrees
with me on that, okay.
Yes?
- This may be silly, but
we have a boy that
every time we,
and makes no difference
what we discussing,
he comes back in a
argumentive way which,
since he's a senior, I'm
concerned that if he
does this on the job
and when he gets out,
is that a type situation
that we turn in?
- I would think so because
it does show that
in real life, he would have
a hard time adjusting.
What's the sign for adjusting?
Somebody.
Adjusting, oh okay, like,
but I would send that to
the vocational department.
We hope to have a
vocational rehab counselor
by well, during
this school year.
I would not handle that
myself, but I would
send it to the right place.
Yes, Miss Sweeney?
- And that happens often.
- I think in a way,
sometimes that is a,
evidence of a real
emotional problem,
but sometimes it's a
discipline thing, an issue
and it depends on the
person and how long
it continues and you know,
who they fight with.
There are a lot of
different things.
Again, I think that
needs to be written up
if it happens many
times, but it's not
necessarily something
that will need
real in depth
counseling services.
Yes ma'am?
- When we have students
who we feel are maybe
inappropriately placed, a
staffing needs to take place
within our school
and possibly invite
say, for example, one
internal transfer
would be moving a student
to Helen Keller School
or for Helen Keller
School to move 'em to us
if that's appropriate.
Your staffing should be
held and there should be
recommendations or
discussions of you know,
progress or weaknesses
or whatever,
but, and recommendations
of what your staff
in your department so
when they have 'em
they need to have, be sure
that we include everyone.
Academic, academic,
vocational, dormitory,
PE, so that everyone
has an opportunity
to be involved with that change
and then the recommendation
needs to come to me or
it would go to Philip
at Helen Keller School and
then we'll discuss it
between us and try to
make a decision and...
The parent will
need to be involved
before a decision's made also.
We really need to be
sure that parents
are involved in that and
like with the one student
that you had the other day.
We'll probably need to
sit down and decide
what we're gonna do.
If we decide that the
best place is to move
to Helen Keller School,
that's the most appropriate,
we need to call the
mother and father in
and sit down and go through
it with them also,
but the other problem would be
when we're talking about
internal transfers,
would be students who are moved
from class to class here.
We need to be careful that
when we make those changes
that the parent is involved,
even if it's not
really a change in IP,
it's just a change in
the class placement,
a different person's gonna
be responsible for that IP.
We need to be sure to
include the parent
in those discussions before
we make those changes.
- Talk with his uncle.
And may get more information.
Okay?
His uncle came Saturday.
I talked with him and was
very, very interesting.
I found out many
things about him.
He knows how the boy's
mother treats grandmother.
The boy lives with his
mother and grandmother.
And from what the older says,
the boy's mother mistreats him.
Seems to be pretty bad
home, bad situation.
The older says that the boy,
12 or one o'clock in
the night, comes home.
His grandmother, his
mother cannot control him.
And said maybe
sometimes boy sittin'
doing nothing wrong
and the mother
will walk up to him.
Knock him across the room
for no reason
and the mother drinks very badly
and if the boy sees the
mother with even one can
of beer in her hand,
he runs, runs away.
And they have paid a
lot of money before
but the little boy
he throws rocks at
people's houses.
Breaks, breaks windows.
Doesn't have much
trouble with the boy.
And it's pretty good
and the little boy
always come to
admit what he has done,
but the mother and
the grandmother,
the little boy does not
have many clothes.
They refuse, the mother's
- Do we send home the clothes
that he will need for a visit?
- Okay, how close does the
uncle live to the family?
- Pretty close, because
uncle picks the boy up.
It's the Birmingham area.
The uncle picks him
up and takes him home
when he wants to go but the boy,
very, very seldom
wants to go home.
- Okay.
- This uncle told me,
"Do what you think's
best for the boy."
- Okay, do you have any
evidence that the boy
might be being hurt yourself?
You know, you have
gathered information
from the uncle.
I feel that it
might be necessary
to report this to DPS,
but we would have to
substantiate it ourselves
and not only based on what
the uncle has said, okay?
That could be included,
but I think it would be
important to have some
information to share
that we had gathered
here, you know.
Is he bruised, or
you know, hurt, or
very frustrated
when he comes home?
All the information
that he doesn't want
to go home with the
family is important.
How many times does that happen?
How often does that happen?
You know, write all that.
Trying to escape her
or being with her.
I think he needs a
lot of counseling
and maybe since you
have started that,
you can continue, but I may
need to see him myself.
Well, that was why I
talk with you about
you continuing to talk with
him, you know, before.
Where is the father?
Do you know?
Oh, in prison, okay.
But I think the combination
of both of you
working with him, a
motherly image with you
and a role model with
you, you know you're not
old enough to be the father,
but you are old enough
to be like a big brother
and I think he needs
people that really care and
who will supervise him
and give him some
limits so that he feels
more safe than he feels at home.
- Steve Glassy you gotta stay
low and remember what to do.
Where to go, right or left?
Arthur, you gotta stay low.
Linebackers you gotta
stay home a little bit,
watch, count or die.
Defense, secondary, you
gotta pay attention.
Remember to communicate
with each other.
Remember when to
change your cover.
Offense, you gotta
line up right,
remember what to do and do it.
Walk it right.
We pass, catch the ball.
Now, if you make a mistake
on defense or offense,
give up, bad play.
Stay up.
Don't get depressed.
Sometimes bad
things will happen.
It's alright, accept that,
improve yourself, right?
Coach, you have anything
you want to say?
- Now pay attention.
Practice all week,
hard, hard, hard.
Now, I'm gonna say four things.
First, remember where
you got your skills.
The Lord gave it to you.
Second, have a good time.
Third, do your best.
Fourth, all of us
here love each other
and remember that, okay?
Let's go out there and play
football this afternoon.
Play hard, tackle hard,
but enjoy yourselves.
Make good plays, run, strong,
support each other, okay?
We got to get ready.
We ain't got but
four, five minutes
to get on the field.
You need to hurry.
You're in the first group.
You guys wanna say anything?
- Yeah, five minutes,
five minutes.
First group on the
field five minutes.
- Anything, this wild.
- Go and wash your face.
Come over here and
work on this one.
- Gonna read a story
first, then stop
and answer one, okay?
Finish two.
Finish three.
Four.
We will type it on
the computer anyway,
so when the printer
worked, okay?
Type this sentence.
What does this mean?
No, can't fill in.
Type it exactly like this
sentence right here.
Okay?
Number ten.
Add, same as my paper, mmm hmm.
- Are you doing it right?
Okay.
Fine.
Alright, pin it.
Be sure you get the pin.
That'll hold it.
Wanna it fixed so the
stitching on that ruffle
is in between.
Where's your hearing aid?
Did you break it?
Well you better calm down.
Okay.
Put the pins in it so
it'll stay in place.
I'll check it.
Or Sandra'll check
it tomorrow morning.
Alright, you try it.
I'll stand right
here and watch you.
Wait a minute, let me help her.
Check this.
Be sure that's tight because
sometimes it comes off.
Okay, okay, go on, fine, go on.
Stop being silly.
Okay, that's fine.
I don't know what happened.
Just sometimes it does that.
- Okay, I think I'll begin
with just a few comments about
what we readily
accomplished last year.
John, you know these figures.
You want into the
'83-'84 budget, period.
We were at 8.9 million dollars.
Thanks to your support,
we increased by 20.7%
and that included, of
course, a 15% pay raise
for faculty and staff.
That took us to a
base of $10,770,000
and then when you
add the $205,000
in teacher units for
these pre-school centers
that took us overall
to a 23% increase.
So we're now,
our total appropriation
is 11 million dollars,
so we, needless to say,
I've said it before
and I'll say it again.
We thank you for making
sure that we were
included in a way that
we could pay our bills.
Both from a salary
standpoint and also
from the insurance standpoint.
There were a couple of items
that Freida thought we
needed to apprise you of.
Do we take the approach
that we really shoot
for the center of
excellence and we go in
and say this is what's
it's gonna cost
or do we continue to ask
for realistic increases?
It is a philosophical
question, I think.
- I've never been,
there have been times
in the past, I'm talking
about 8 to 10 years ago
where on various
projects we would go in
and pad the projects in
order to get actually
what was necessary to perform
what we wanted to accomplish,
what we wanted to accomplish.
I think that one,
living with the realities of it,
I think that one, you should
ask for what you need.
What it would take to get you
to that point of excellence.
But be realistic
enough to know that
you aren't going to get
what you're asking for and
you know what the bottom line is
and we can't settle for
less than the bottom line,
but at the same time,
I think your request
should reflect what it
would take to bring
these programs to where
you'd like to have them.
- Recognizing it may
take several years
to get to that point.
- But if we could pick up,
if we could pick up a
few percentage increase
over and above what the
bare bone necessities are
each year for the next
two or three years,
then that eventually
would get us
to the point we're
trying to get to.
So, I would suggest
that the budget request
reflect what it would
take to provide
the excellence that
you want to provide,
that level of excellence
and you know,
then let's sit down and
talk with finance director,
some of those people, see
what we can get out of it.
- We have enough of this
capital outlay request.
In fact, when I was talking
with Miss Arington,
she said, you know, I'd
like to be helpful
in any way that I can.
Would in your estimation
it be helpful for us to,
in the near future, next
two to three months,
to get a number of our
trustees like Miss Arington,
our supporters like
you and go down
and talk with the Governor
about these items
and our need for these,
these buildings.
- Jack, I think we can
receive funding for this.
But the plan that you
unveiled in Tuscaloosa,
I think that you're
going to need to school
your trustees that
when these candidates
for Governor, particularly,
are coming 'round
asking for support,
they bottom-lined
the request that that person
has for their support
with what kind of support
they're gonna get
and I don't think
you have a trustee
that the institute is
not their top priority
as far as funding
anywhere in the state,
any agency, anything.
As these people are
coming 'round, you take
people like Miss Arington.
Miss Arington has a large
sphere of influence.
She's well thought of
as her husband is.
A lot of people listen to her,
and it's not because of
her husband's influence,
she's well liked.
She's well thought of.
I'm sure she wouldn't
have any trouble
even getting the mayor to,
in conversations to bring up.
Would you help secure
funding for these projects?
And lay 'em out there.
You've got Judge McCollum.
You've got some prominent
trustees all over and it,
the largest proportionate
part of the funding
for your master plan
is going to have to
come from these people.
They need to just bottom line
it with these candidates
and find out what
they're going to do.
Are they willing to do it?
Most of 'em will do what
they say they'll do
but they need to be asked.
I think this is realistic.
I think that we can
secure, if not all of it,
a large portion of it.
Because of the excess
in the budget,
whether it's a bond
issue or whatever,
I think we can do that.
- It's now my pleasure
to introduce a gentleman
who for the majority really
needs no introduction.
It's Dr. A.G. Gaston, our
speaker for this program.
I have followed Dr.
Gaston for as long as
I have been in the greater
Jefferson County area
because he has had such
a pronounced effect
on what has happened
in that community.
It didn't happen,
probably couldn't happen
in any other country
in the world
that a gentleman could
accomplish so much,
so much from such a
meager beginning.
He wrote a book and it's
entitled Green Power
and I took great pleasure
in reading that book.
In fact, he was to
autograph that book
and Rachel Arington
has it in her library
and I'm gonna hold
her to gettin' you
to sign that book soon.
But in that book,
you can cut through
all that's written
to the bottom line.
The bottom line is,
to be successful,
you find a need and fill it.
And I think if you look
back over the history
of this gentleman's work career,
you'll see that he
has consistently,
over many, many
years, found a need
and has attempted
to fill that need
and has attempted with a
great degree of success.
Dr. Gaston just celebrated
on July the 4th,
what a symbolic day to have
a birthday for this man,
he celebrated his 92nd birthday.
He was born in the
year 1892 in Demopolis
to a very poor but
hardworking family.
He lost his father at age 11
and was reared by his grandparents,
Joe and Idella Gaston.
They were former slaves.
Dr. Gaston graduated from
Tuttle Institute in 1910,
that was in Birmingham
but finding
the employment
opportunities very few,
he joined the Army and
in 1917 found himself
serving as a supply sergeant
in France during World War I.
In 1923, Dr. Gaston founded the Booker T.
Washington
burial society and it was
because of the recognized
need that he saw that
he started that program
because he kept going
to funerals and seeing
people pass the hat to pay
the expenses for the burial
and so he believed there
had to be a better way
and so he set about to
start an insurance company
and I've read many, many
interesting stories
associated with that early
beginning and maybe he'll
share some of those
with you today, but
that business today is worth
$550 million dollars.
Several years later, he founded
the Booker T. Washington
Business College.
In 1953, he started the
Vulcan Realty and Investment
Corporation, which today is worth
approximately $44 million.
In 1975, he saw yet another
need when he started
the Booker T. Washington
Broadcasting Company,
estimated to be worth
some $10 million.
The driving force again, behind Dr.
Gaston's success
has been that he's seen a need
and has sought to fill it.
Dr. Gaston had the
vision and the tenacity
to build a strong and
vital enterprise,
while at the same time investing
himself in his community.
His story might be summed
up in the words of
Henry David Thoreau
when he said,
"If one advances confidently
in the direction
"of his dreams and endeavors
to live the life which
"he has imagined, he
will meet with a success
"unexpected in common hours."
Dr. Gaston, it's a delight for
us to have you in Talladega.
I introduce you to Dr.
A.G. Gaston.
- Thanks Dr. Hawkins.
This is kind of a peculiar,
unique situation for me.
I told Mrs. Rachel
Arington, my good friend,
whose husband is my dear
friend and my inspiration.
A young man who's doing
such a great job,
as Mayor of the great
city of Birmingham,
with the problems
that all of us have
overcome this problem and
still fight them out.
I think we're very
comfortable and
that these politicians
here from the
state of Alabama from the
legislature who are making laws.
As I understand from Dr.
Hawkins or somebody
tells me that they get all
of their appropriations
from operating this
institution from the coffers
of the appropriation of
Alabama legislature.
But this is such a
unique situation.
And I'm kinda at a loss
as to where to start.
Only the fact that it's amazing
to see you young people
and I'd say all of us
young people even those
who are beyond 18 are young.
But those of you here
in this institution
are what one might
call handicapped.
It's the only thing
that inspires me,
what I would say is
just these words
I just jotted down now.
Wonder what I was gonna say?
But I got the idea that
some of the things
that I went through.
I was handicapped
as you might say.
I was a black boy born
down in the south Alabama
where there's no opportunities
for black kids.
No recreation facilities,
no role model,
nothing to look up to to
someday I might be somebody
and I overcome it from what Dr.
Hawkins
had just said here a while ago,
I must be somebody, right?
So that's what I want to talk
a few minutes to you about.
Instead of getting
sorry for myself,
I had many reasons
to be sorry because
I had no opportunity, but
here I am here today.
And that brings us
to your attention
about this great
country of ours.
No where in the world could
that happen but in America.
A black boy born in the
condition that I born in.
Come on, I've traveled
all over this country,
all over the world practically.
We was in Russia
a few years ago.
We went in to Leningrad and
we came out of Leningrad
went out to Moscow,
came out of Moscow.
We were trying to
get into India.
Went I got a little
money, I just always
wanted to travel and I traveled
first class, you know?
My wife, she always
trying to save money.
I'd say I lived too long
to get to the place
where I could afford
to first class
and with power, first class.
I tell ya, I rode on
the back of the bus.
When I get on it now, I'm
riding on the front.
So...
So we went on into
Moscow from Leningrad
and we came out of Leningrad
and we were trying to
get into New Delhi.
There's a doctor friend of
mine at the hospital up there.
We had some address of his
family from New Delhi.
I wanted to see the Taj Mahal.
We've seen many of the
things, so went came out
of Moscow and toward India,
where they having this
trouble now in Iran
and then on into Turkey.
When the war broke out, y'all
remember when the Pakistan
war broke out over
there, they blocked us
and we couldn't get into India
and so then we had to go
back down to Lebanon,
Beirut where they're
having this problem now
and then we flew on from
Lebanon right across
over to Bangkok, went
on down to Hong Kong
and back up to Singapore
and Tokyo and back here.
Now, I mention all those
things, those are part.
We've been to Africa,
South America,
all over the world, but you
know this the best thing
in the world, this system?
This is a system here where
the individual is important.
Can you imagine in Russia?
We went up to the
University of Moscow,
beautiful place, you know,
and some of the little girl
who was our interpreter
tells me that
the professor, very few
automobiles there.
The fella who driving
he is somebody.
It's a very few of 'em.
Beautiful city.
Can you imagine New York
City, just once in awhile
you see an automobile?
That's the comparison
you see in Moscow.
Beautiful city, very
few automobiles.
And the important people
there is what, the state.
Not the individual.
As we went out to the
theater that night
and we got off little girl
who was our interpreter and Mrs.
Gaston
talks so much, you know.
That's another thing.
You can get yourself in
trouble talking too much.
In Russia in particular.
She would begin to praise
about how important
we was over here and
what we thought about
our leaders this and that
and this little
girl resented that.
She was the interpreter, you
know, an she resented that
and she took part in the
fact what they thought
of their leaders and
theyselves was not important
but the leaders and as
we found out there,
as they told us about
this professor gettin'
the same salary as
probably the boy
who was driving the automobile.
And so, the individual
is not important,
but the individual here,
even we went to Egypt,
we was in Cairo the
day after the,
we down the Nile River
and the hotel we
were staying in there, we
had talked to the folks
and then the government
owned everything,
owned the radio, owned
the newspapers.
Everything there was
government owned.
No individual and
here we are here
and you never see
nothing in the paper
about any of their leadership.
All over the coast, even down
in South America, Brazil.
Beyond the Rio de Janeiro there,
most beautiful
city in the world.
But the rich folks is rich
and the poor folks is poor.
Ain't no between there.
Yeah, I got a fella
who works in my yard
out there comes to
work in Cadillac car.
This is the greatest
thing in the world.
Nothing like it.
Yes, too often I see how
folks cursing it out.
Now, that's the minute
you talking about it.
'Bout handicapped, ain't
nobody handicapped.
And if I could give
any of you folks who
might say think you
a handicapped,
I want to give you,
you're blessed.
You're living in
a great country.
One of the greatest
in the world.
Ain't no such thing
as a handicap.
As I walk to the desk
there, saw that little
down at the other
place I went to,
I couldn't imagine that she
could say anything to me,
but she began to talk to
me and she did the...
You know, hitting
at that computer.
That's nothing.
When I came up, you
know, we had a slate
and a rubber on the
end of the pencil
and if you made a mistake,
you could rub it off.
But really, computer nice,
got to be done right.
And here he had that
girl down here blind,
pushing that button.
She's smarter than the
whole lots of us.
You think I could?
I wouldn't know how to do it.
So you're not handicapped.
Not only are you encouraged
to not be handicapped,
but you're living
in a great country
and that is all praying up.
That will always be this way.
We have sitting before me
here now, black senators.
Some of these young men
who are sitting here,
their foreparents were slaves.
Here they are lawmakers.
The funds of this institution
comes at the hand
and the vote of these
black legislators.
These lots of folks,
I made 92 years
and I'm stubborn now.
But as I think back, I
couldn't imagine this myself.
Somebody told me
40, 50 years ago
we gonna have a
black legislator,
not only a black mayor, I'd
just couldn't believe it.
Here a few months
ago we had a black
man run for President.
Ain't nowhere else in the
world that could happen
but America.
If you start some this
kind of stuff over there
in Russia, you'd be in trouble,
if you wasn't in the clique.
The same thing in Egypt.
So forget your handicaps.
Don't be sorry for yourself.
Look forward and be glad you're
in a great and free country.
It's my pleasure, thank you.