Teacher Made Fun Of Me In Class

[@madeleineluna2612]

I am a teacher. This was absolutely a violation of your rights as a student! You should have had subtitles, or the teacher should have given you an alternative assignment. I won't even start on how unethical their treatment was of you.

[@sk8ernutdw]

I agree. I am hard of hearing and i feel the same way. It was a different time and not many people understand deaf people's culture and background but still could've done something about it.

[@TheMegalusDoomslayer]

As much as right-wingers try to blow smoke up our asses, the climate wasn't so pleasant 10 years ago. 10 years ago, schools were barely any better than their 1990s movie counterparts. Despite the rhetoric, my generation didn't grow up in a participation trophy culture. We grew up in a culture that produced high rates of suicide for a reason. We dealt with a fuck ton of shit.

[@madeleineluna2612]

They should know it, as it's a violation of federal law to discriminate against disabled students. It's a violation of ethics and usually grounds for loss of a teaching license, depending on the state, for a teacher to bully or harass students based on race, religion, or disability. If any teacher is currently doing this, get in contact with your school board about your concerns.

[@TheMegalusDoomslayer]

It takes a special level of stupid to hate disabled people.

[@emmacarr799]

Megalus Doomslayer I feel the same way.

[@shaylac5095]

I'm profoundly deaf now. when I was starting out in high school I was very hard of hearing i went through the same thing for almost a whole year. with movie with no captioning. as well as no sign language interpreter. teacher's saying I need to listen better if I didn't understand. one teacher even would making me take out my hearing aids when they kept squealing. my English teacher would make fun of my writing because I sign ASL and I don't always think in English. she also made fun of my speech how I pronounced words. I was even kicked out of her class because I was so frustrated with this teacher when she was not making fun of me would talked and wrote on the black board. I tried to get her attention. she ignored me. so I threw something at her hitting her shoulder. she got mad sent me to the office. I had to have a different English teacher. which I liked way better, i found out she had a brother who was Deaf so first she would sign to me after class if I didn't understand. then she pushed for sign language interpreter to go to all classes. she even find captioning movie if there was one, or the interpreter would sign it.

[@meaganfeik6564]

Sorry you went through that, but glad you found someone who was willing and able to be your voice to advocate for your needs.

[@Lily_May]

im a burn survivor and i dont cover up my burn scars so one day we had a substitute teacher and i raised my hand to ask for help so when he came up to me he saw my scars looked horrified and turned around walked away and ignored me the whole class. i never told my normal teacher that he did that but i probably should have

[@kayla-ph3it]

That is horrible! I hate it how people can act like that. You should of told your teacher. If it happens again tell your teacher or whoever

[@Lily_May]

Kayla Arroyo yeah i will tell the teacher if stuff like that happens agian

[@AbominableDr.Phibes]

You should absolutely tell someone about it! A teacher has no right to disrespect any student like that. I hope he didn't ruin your feelings and self-confidence. I'm sure you're a very beautiful person.

[@Lily_May]

AbominableDr.Phibes Thank you, ive always been confident and i love my scars so no one yet has made me self conscience about it. I doesnt really bother me to much when people stare or say its ugly

[@SMGbird]

Lily Stanyer I wish I had your confidence level when I was in school.

[@BrieCheese]

I never liked the "copy the facts from the movie" assignment because the time spent taking notes means that I would miss even more things in the movie, and just because I heard a sentence once doesn't mean that I memorized it enough to copy it down exactly. I would get confused on what they said a minute ago because the movie would continue to play and the new dialogue would confuse me. I get that they want to make sure that we pay attention to the movies, but I think that those assignments are counterproductive. And some subtitles definitely wouldn't hurt. Even hearing people miss things, so they help out everybody.

[@harveyabel1354]

I don;t t remember that we had to copy facts from a film, but our Grade 8 teacher would rewind them with the projector still going - those were fun to watch!

[@sarah-le9hj]

I know right!!!

[@isagomez757]

i feel you!!!!

[@mozzarellakrunccy5655]

Brie X I'm blind and when we have to do that and a lot of my classes , the questions that we have to answer from the video ar rarely in braille so my friend has to sit back with me and read me the questions and if I don't jot them down fast enough or if something happens then I just miss it and I get it wrong. and it's not fair I don't think that should have to be her responsibility she's trying to learn too I at least wish our teachers would give us time to read the questions before the video started so that we weren't missing the video trying to relay the questions. .

[@kayjpjessie]

Hope you don't mind me as an ignorant non-blind person asking this question but how do you type on computers if you're blind or see where the comment box is etc if you're blind. I know nothing about the blind world so I just find it intriguing.

[@Px828]

I am a hearing person who transcribes in real-time for Deaf students. I am amazed at how often videos are not captioned. Equal access is the law. One of my pet peeves. I'm sorry you were treated so horribly.

[@cassim.9921]

I'm HoH and my psych professor in college refused to put captions on the videos and claimed if I wanted them on I could watch the video outside of class with them because its distracting to other students. This is also the professor who was able to get away with denying me the ability to make up tests though I have chronic migraines that make me puke and I got a 0 on a test because I left the room to puke in a garbage can in the hall instead of the classroom where I would have disturbed other students. She refused to let me make up tests if I needed to miss them due to the migraines (or the other 2 chronic illnesses I have which are debilitating). Even with the ADA laws here in America we still have issues and loopholes. The Disability services at my school refused to step in saying it was an "Unreasonable accommodation" to be able to take the test the next day or even a few hours later when things calmed down. I couldn't take it early because she never finished them in time and wouldn't let me schedule them early. Because similar issues like this have happened the past few semesters I've finally dropped out of college because the support and accommodations aren't there for me to get my education. I'm in the process of seeking legal council about it all in hopes of making the school change policy and do their job in accommodating.

[@wanderlapsed906]

I hate it because people always talk about how important it is to go to school, but never accomodate for everyone. So that leaves a lot of students who want to go unable to because of their disability that they can't help. I'm sorry that that professor was so unaccomodating towards you. You deserve better.

[@littlereddress82]

would he have done the same if you were pregnant and had morning sickness. Just wondering.

[@heyyyitskat]

Awww sweetie, no :-( I am also HoH and have chronic migraines. There have been many times when one or both of those things that I have no control over have been mocked, refused to be accommodated, or just ignored when I needed help the most. Sending you hugs, loves, and support for you in your journey and hopes that in the future others will be more flexible and respectful towards you

[@Zark-Muckerberg]

+Natalie DeHoff she*

[@Zark-Muckerberg]

Fuck that teacher and The Disability services at the school.

[@sydneystevens7576]

I'm very hard of hearing and my parents refuse to buy me hearing aids so at school I told my counselor and she said YOUR DEAF? Very exaggerated and then she proceeded to call a meeting with all my teachers and just me and her and they talked to me like I couldn't hear them. I can lip read and sign and talk because I am loosing my hearing and when I asked for a translator Rhett said that would cost too much well just turn it up. Which like you said made an unbearable noise for me because of the pitches.. I can only hear low sounds.. And so for the rest of the year my teachers just ignored me. So I just started signing one day in class to them and they just shrugged it off but I did it the next day and the next etc and they finally said we can't understand what your saying and I said EXACTLY!! So they finally got a retired sign language teacher to do it for free...

[@sydneystevens7576]

They said not rhett

[@margaretadamski1876]

Sydney Stevens, Go file www.ADA.gov or go to Disability Right Center at your hometown area.

[@margaretadamski1876]

Suggestion. Go to audiogolist if your parent have a health insurance coverage for audiologist. Maybe they could help your low income affordable?

[@MrBatboy2667]

Sydney Stevens nice one lol😆 I should have done the same but now I have hearing aids

[@cedriclucas3294]

Why did your parents not let you????????

[@NinaThomas]

I'm so sorry you experienced this in your life. I'm a Special Education teacher and find that treatment unacceptable.

[@alyssashoemaker3414]

Nina Thomas what should I do if a teacher called me to the principal's office and the teacher brainwashed the principal to think I didn't even do the assignment and this was a paper I wrote on my own and I majorly disrespected her, and they tell me for a solid 10 minutes that I'm going to get nowhere in life if I say these things (aka stand up for my beliefs that the earth is good!) and then deliberately ignores all my messages and tells me herself that she saw them a month ago but purposely didn't answer, and I asked a homework question and she didn't answer on purpose! She also counted points off things I deserved and she teaches horrible things that are scientifically proven wrong (which is why I stood up for myself and contradicted her beliefs that organic things are horrible and we need less trees since they are polluting the earth and we need sulfur in our air for acid rain... yeah, so I said that I believe all life matters and I got in trouble for it. I also got in trouble for making a typo and saying both her first and last name instead of just her last name, and I said so myself I didn't mean anything by that, I was trying to be formal and I accidentally wrote the name that way, and then she also mistreats an autistic kid bu sending him to the principals office for no good reason, even 2x in one day. On the 2nd day if school, she yelled at him for writing a paper about Einstine and she didn't even look at him and she yelled "put that away, I dont have time for that." And he said "yes mam!" And he was so polite about it! She even ripped off a cut-bag-helmet on a kid not even in class yet, and it was a history class simulation we were required to wear the whole day. She even talks every day about her personal life issues, like is that even allowed? She even cried like 3 times (in total, not the same day) in front of us talking about her sappy life, and she constantly hates on outside people/groups, and teaches to not compare people but hey it's fine to judge, be as rude as you want, just never to me! Yeah, shes a major hypocrite.. so how do I tell the principal he's being brain washed by his worker to think I'm a horrible person all the sudden?

[@ArtieMack]

Reminds me of all the times we had to watch videos and I'd cringe of embarrassment because I didn't want to rely on an interpreter because it bothered the other kids and reminded everyone that I couldn't hear. In college I asked to put subtitles on and the class reacted negatively and my professor just shrugged like, "Majority rules." Ever since then I had to look up the videos ahead of time and rent them from the library or find them online. God, I'm sorry this happened to you. I hate that feeling back then of not being comfortable with who you are and looking back like, "You know, I should've spoken up." Well you are now.

[@DarkVioletgirl318]

I'm thankful that only once in my life I had one classmate that wanted captions off and I told that classmate off really quick for that. But it still isn't easy for advocating what I need because not being comfortable for who I am ( as a HOH person) and dealing with other people's reactions. Honestly the most embarrassing thing about the video thing is that a lot of professors and teachers don't even know how to turn the captions on DVD ( I can understand a bit for the older ones but the younger ones have zero excuse for it) and took up most of the class time to figure how to turn it on. I thought it was embarrassing for me to come up and help them find the menu you to turn on the captions. I don't mind doing it sometimes but I feel as a education professional you should know how to turn on the captions on instead of waiting until the day of the class and let the deaf/HOH student do it. I know they don't use captions themselves in their daily life but it's not that hard to look up how to turn on captions on a TV/DVD something like that ( I found out there is a go around to caption online youtube videos too). While I'm fine with educating people, professors and teachers need to do their own homework ahead of time instead of having a HOH/deaf student do it.

[@davidanders1565]

Sorry that happened. Next time someone suggests to turn captions off or complains there are captions, suggest we mute the video as well so everyone gets the same amount out of it as you. That usually shuts them up pretty quickly.

[@SteppingStonevlogs]

+David Anders GENIUS

[@JustThatLauren]

Majority rules? That's fucked up. Captions are NOT that big of a deal. If you need it to understand, they need to accommodate for that.

[@JustThatLauren]

David Anders I like that.

[@Gettingbi]

I have a condition that can cause "fog" in my brain causing me to stutter or pronounce things incorrectly and mash up words and so on and i have told people about this and yet i still get made fun of and people make a big deal out of correcting my mistakes even though i am fully aware of my mistakes and the understood what i said they feel the need to mock me. Once the whole class was laughing at me, including the teacher and i couldn't take it anymore, i ran out crying to the bathroom and for the rest of the term people avoided me and talked about me behind my back calling me fragile and pathetic. It's interesting how "normal people" seem to be the ones who seem to have a disability which causes them to lack consideration, empathy and the ability to actually take in the information you give them about your condition.

[@heyyyitskat]

The fogginess can be really frustrating :-/ I had a really bad brain injury a few years ago and that was something that kinda came with the after effects of that injury. Sometimes I struggle with not being able to describe what was going on in my mind, will lose a word, or stop midsentece and simply not know what I was going to say. All I can say is that I hope people treat you better in the future and to not be discouraged. People can suck, but don't forget that others can be pretty great. Sending hugs and good thoughts your way, dear!

[@briarblack8442]

Kat hanana We could’ve been friends, I do the same things but less stuttering and weird variations of names and forgetting a name of something.

[@daveThbfusion]

I'm not deaf, and I prefer closed captions.

[@myagonzalez2066]

deepCdigger James same its hard for me to make out what someone exactly says in a movie because it often sounds mumbled so i like to put captions on

[@rahmel2009]

Me too

[@thedeaforc]

My family does to.

[@Allison1111]

Back in community college I had a psychology class that the professor showed VHS tapes (of course they didn't have captions) but this was two or three years ago so I don't get why he couldn't get a DVD. I complained about it but he just said that using VHS tapes was the way he taught and wouldn't use DVDs. In 6th grade we were doing this vocab game where a word was given and you went around the room, one person said a letter. I couldn't hear people because they were talking softly (why do hearing people talk so softly? We aren't in a movie theater), I complained and the teacher said just try to hear. I CAN"T! That's the whole point of being Deaf. That school in general was a mess and didn't care about its disabled students.

[@ayyhibiscus564]

That's really infuriating.

[@rachelmerrill9051]

Allison9519 In the hearing world so many people speak softly because it is actually considered rude in most environments to speak loudly, especially indoors. I was raised in a large, Italian family. We speak loudly to begin with and I learned to be loud to be heard over every other person in my home. I am frequently shushed and told to be more quiet. I'm also frequently told to calm down because loudness is equated with stress, anger, sadness etc. It is just my voice but most hearing people don't like that.

[@ZeeJeff]

I know this is a 6-month old comment, but VHS tapes can have closed captioning. Many tapes issued by big studios and even smaller distributors will have closed captioning which are the same as CC for broadcast and are decoded by the TV set's built-in decoder. If you record something off of a broadcast onto a tape, it will also maintain the CC. A lot of people don't know how to turn on their TV's closed captioning and if your teacher/prof are anything like some of the ones I had, they could simply be ignorant on how to use technology/video equipment. I bet those tapes did have CC, the prof was just being ignorant.

[@TheMegalusDoomslayer]

We speak softly enough so as not to hurt people's ears. If you've never heard an excessively loud sound, just picture a bright flash of light in your face. That's the sight equivalent of having someone stand next to you and talk really fucking loudly.

[@LuckyisSara]

I know this is a very old comment, but for me, I talk softly because I have no control over it. I've tried speaking louder but my loudest can be hard for even the hearing people to be able to hear me. I'm not sure if it's to do with my self conscious or what, but yeah ._.

[@Catigizmo]

I get yelled at by everyone in my family for putting captions on. I am hearing and I just like captions. I read and understand things better than just watching them. My family makes me turn them off. I think everyone could benefit from captions once they're used to them.

[@kittycatgaminghayley6210]

Catigizmo same whenever I put captions on the tv my family always turns them off I am hearing the captions help me understand things better and help with my spelling I have captions on Netflix always on I have the Netflix app and the captions are turned off on everybody else's device because I use the Netflix app.

[@MsBrendalina]

Growing up, I liked the captions because it helped me learn to spell difficult words. LOL

[@PilotMoochi3]

it also helps you read faster

[@briarblack8442]

Catigizmo Same

[@atinity6749]

I wonder if this is something only native English speakers experience. I'm from Finland, and everything always had subtitles in it. Well obviously the shows and movies that were in foreign language, but also documentaries usually had them even tho they were in Finnish. I rarely hear people complaining about captions. Everyone is used to them. I like watching yt videos with captioning, in case I miss a word or because it's funny to read what the auto caption did wrong. Now I've turned them off because they are usually blocking my vision. I watch a lot of tutorials etc, where you really need to see what happening on the screen.

[@NikkiScatch84]

Some teacher told me the video isn't captioned but it's loud enough.. Uh noo it doesn't work that way.

[@Arlothed1no]

At the beginning of the school year this year, my teacher asked us to compose an email about things that they should know and I put in my email that I need to be up by the board and that I need captions for a video. Whenever they played a video, they would ask if anyone needed closed captioning, and if not enough people raised their hand, they wouldn't like, this is not up for debate it's a necessity.

[@sk8tie]

my mom had to repeat multiple grades because of her hearing. she is totally deaf in one ear which caused her to repeat in elementary school once because she couldnt listen in class, and again in high school because she got water in her ear at a school function and had a massive raging ear infection that caused her to get a 0 on all of her finals and graduate a year late. believe it or not, tolerance IS albeit slowly improving

[@LungsOutJem]

I am not a person with any form of hearing impairment, but I actually do understand what you're talking about. Louder doesn't equal clearer. I wish more people understood this.

[@mayaa6253]

Hey I know you commented this quite awhile ago, but please refrain from using the phrase “hearing impairment” it implies that there is something wrong with us and that we need to be fixed. Instead, use hard of hearing, (hoh for short), or deaf.

[@pxs1919]

I am an abled-bodied person in terms of being hearing and sighted but I do have a disability which is ADHD. I was in a french school for middle school, which had the french school system, in the United States and I process and work a lot slower than the average mind can. well this took a toll with my education in that school because lets say for an example that I had math test a map and that I did 6/ 10 of the questions by the time the exam time was up the remaining for questions that I didn't complete were marked wrong, like 100% completely wrong. It wasn't because I didn't know the material because a lot of the times I did but the school system didn't recognize specialized learning of any kind. And so because of this I got worse grades in school than a lot of my classmates. Also I was also made fun of In front of everyone in my math class. We had graph paper notebooks in that school for Math and I used to doodle to kind of distract myself, and also to help maintain my focus in class, and I would draw little cubes in the notebook right off to the side of my notes and my teacher one day picked up my notebook, and proceeded to show it to the entire class saying that what I did was it supposed to be done when he didn't know that I did that to keep my attention going. that was just one of many horrible experiences with my ADHD in that school.

[@candacemichelle8345]

pxs1919 that teachers messed up, I drew cubes in math class to Distract my anxiety and no one ever said anything to me.

[@seherling207]

That happened to a high school friend. She has ADHD as well and would always doodle on the margins to keep her focus. A teacher often called her out that she should pay attention and not draw

[@melz6625]

This is so abhorrent. Growing up I had a hoh friend in elementary school. It was a public school as most them are in Germany and before she started school in her first grade, the school designated a classroom for her and the class she would be put in. And they completely renovated the classroom and put in wall panels with holes in them so that the background noise of loud first graders would be filtered out or something. I'm not sure I remember it right since they explained it all to us when we were 6. And the whole class was educated in how to accommodate my hoh friend, like not being too loud and not all talking at once. And we never changed classrooms in those 4 years unlike the other classes so that she could make full use of that special wall panel. Also in our elementary school there were a lot of stairs even on the ground floor but all of them had special lifts for wheelchairs. I remember being confused because they was no child in a wheelchair at that time until someone explain there had been a disabled child in a wheelchair a couple of years ago. So they went and made at least the whole ground floor accessible (mind you this was 20yrs ago and that wasn't common). It's crazy how much is still dependent on a single person/bureaucrat to what extent necessary accommodations are being made. It's sad that this is like a: look how nice they were- story when it really is just a right for every disabled person to have equal access to eg education.

[@melz6625]

Oh and my mom had a speech impairment growing up in the 50s. Back then it was normal for people to be assholes. Her teacher bullied her as well as the students. But a teacher doing that is worse bcs they are role models. She still tells us that story so you can see how much that affects a person. So yeah, to all the future teachers, don't do the job when you're not really into it or like to bully kids because what you do has consequences and being part of raising a child (yes that's literally what you're doing together with parents) is a great responsibility. And also don't be a black sheep like that, most teachers are hard working and dedicated people.

[@kkstar1297]

I'm so sorry that this happened to you. Nobody should get laughed at for their weaknesses. Especially physical weaknesses. And especially by an adult. What the heck was he thinking? He should've gotten fired from his job for doing that to you. Well I hope your doing better in school now. And if someone's giving you a hard time for your deafness just ignore them, and just move on with your life. Good Luck😊

[@davidanders1565]

Wow that really sucks it happened in the middle of class like that. I've had friends make fun of me for not "getting" a youtube video because it had no captions and was hard to understand, but I always call them out on it. One video in particular was apparently satire, but it just looked to me like a lady having a "public freak out" outside McDonalds, so I caught about four or five phrases she said through lipreading and commented on that, and was laughed at for not understand she was joking. Somehow its satisfying to see peoples reactions when you respond "oh, I was supposed to _hear_ her tone?" and they freeze and realize what they've done. Idk, maybe I'm sadistic. I was luckily homeschooled as a child when I was far more self-conscious, so I did not have to deal with teachers. Now, in college, if a professor were to act that way I'd absolutely call him/her out in the middle of class, but I'm an outspoken jerk. I also have in my "disability" requirements that captions be provided on films in class, so I haven't had that problem yet. Professors know before the semester even begins what my needs are, since I make a point to meet with professors before classes start to introduce myself and discuss class. I haven't had a problem so far.

[@thewitchdoctor9821]

some teachers should never been allowed to teach!

[@Riya-fu1qz]

i’m so thankful that i found your channel, there’s so many things i can relate to and so many things the deaf community can come together and talk about it, just letting out our traumatic or horrible experiences. thank you.

[@rikkipoynter]

Thank you!

[@Kaynaydiaandkumo]

I have sever depression and I had one teacher that would constantly make fun of me for crying all the time and he would just pick on me he still picks on me because I still participate in fundraising at the school and if I see him he always has something mean to say and he's a teacher I just don't get it

[@MsBrendalina]

Its so baffling when people who clearly have no empathy for kids go into teaching. Like....why?

[@callumjames84]

MsBrendalina exactly

[@maxonite]

Yea he must get fired

[@midgetgirl5]

People like that teacher makes me so mad 😡

[@piggsvinner]

it is so sad that teachers don't make the eduation material accessible, but captions? come on, that is basic! thanks for sharing

[@wanderlapsed906]

Captions seem basic but I guess hearing people don't need them and some of them don't think other people need them either, even if they ask. In my French class my teacher would play these videos and tell us not to look at captions to try and figure out what they were saying. The problem is, I could never understand them. My hearing is fine but I am pretty sure I have APD, and this was before I even knew what APD was. I always got frustrated because I thought the subtitles would help me make sense of the words if I knew what they were, and in turn help me learn better.

[@overachievernamedmarco1141]

Rikki, you didn't deserve that, you're a great person and I'm sure you were a good student in school

[@TheRedpanda18]

I feel so lucky that I have friends now who ask me before we watch any movie or tv show if I need subtitles/cc. They fact they didn't find it annoying was really touching because when I was little I wouldn't say anything and reacted to something cuz somebody else reacted not because i knew what they were saying.

[@heyyyitskat]

I have a few friends that check a lot to make sure that I have subtitles when I need them and will repeat things when I miss them without making a big deal about it. It's amazing how good it makes you feel when people go out of their way just a bit to make sure you can enjoy things with them.

[@bonnieelaine8042]

That was a disgusting thing for him to do, and I'm so sorry it happened to you. You can come watch movies with me whenever you like :P I can hear fine but I love having the captions on, haha. :P

[@RuthJackson]

WOW! I've had HS teachers make fun of me too for both my race and my deafness but this is just awful. Some people never mature, no matter their title, job or age. I too wish I had a time machine so I could stand up for myself during those dark days. I'm still not confident in who I am as a deaf person fully, but it's a work in progress!

[@iTyseries]

I’m so sorry you went through that! That is terrible! How awful! Disrespectful and a teacher is supposed to facilitate learning and inclusion!

[@RonaldBradycptgmpy]

Can someone tell me what the Canadian equivalent of the ADA is? This irks me that these things still happen at all. I have both Cerebral Palsy and High Functioning Autism, I have ALOT of similar stories. Thank you for sharing your stories. Experiences like this that we've been through are the reasons I'm a Deaf Studies major now, with designs on a Master's in Disability Studies. YOU RULE the interwebs!

[@RonaldBradycptgmpy]

Rikki Poynter ah got ya. I’ll be googling. Thank you!

[@vanizorc]

I'm located in Canada too (Ontario). All I can find is the EEOC (Equal Employment Opportunity Commission) for those who have been discriminated against in matters related to employment such as career training, hiring, promotions, etc... I'm not sure if the EEOC will cover other areas such as education-related discrimination; if not, I believe you can escalate the matter to the school board.

[@kaylav16]

This makes me so happy that my writing teacher this year is being so accommodating! My school's disability office is refusing to help me because I'm not "deaf enough" so I have to make informal arrangements with my teachers. We have film assignments in my writing class so I asked him about captions and he has no problem with putting them on! Makes me grateful for teachers like that in the world.

[@jamie.2413]

This is so horrible. I'm so sorry that happened to you. When I was younger, there was a deaf boy in my class and I hope he never felt like this. I mean I'm sure he struggled with the same issues of videos in class and things, but I sincerely hope no one made fun of him like this. I can't imagine laughing at another person like that. It's so completely cruel.... I'm glad that you're more comfortable with yourself now. You should never be ashamed of something you can't control. And other people should know better than to be so hurtful.

[@cemsezer5891]

I'm so sorry to hear what you went through but it means a lot I think for all of us to have you share something like this. I think a lot of people, whether they be deaf or not, will feel comfort in listening to someone opening up and it gives people an opportunity to make sure things like this don't happen again to future students. It means a lot Rikki!

[@itsincredible6407]

Thanks for sharing this story with us. Be strong and brave.

[@inkPuraCera]

Love you, Rikki! Deaf people deserve the same respect as everyone else, ESPECIALLY from people like teachers who are supposed to be setting the example. It's so awesome that you're using the bad experience to educate people set a good example now.

[@kayliemancino6269]

My heart goes out to you and every other person with hearing disabilities. I'm not saying that you need to be pitied, because you seem like a strong person. But my best friend is deaf, and I know that life has been hard for her ever since she was very young. Your videos inspire her so much.

[@Daicidus]

My history teacher once decided to move me away from my friends to put me next to my other friend who happens to be a female (see where this is going?) and now every lesson... "How is tour work environment MR a MISS Shepherd?" To be fair he picks on all the students...

[@Daicidus]

And he is now telling me if I do bad in lessons he will move me next to this kid he thinks annoys me, me and that kid are friends... 😂

[@PaulDGreen-bu4iz]

New subscriber. That teacher should be ashamed of himself! That is pitiful! You should have been accommodated in some way to make sure you could complete the assignment. I'm sorry you had to go through that! Thank you for sharing!!

[@keithshannon7792]

Holy cow, Rikki! That's awful. (And the attorney in me is screaming - and signing, albeit probably very poorly - that it's probably a violation of federal law, too.). It's tough not to be very, very bitter about those sorts of things, and just to slam the teacher. But instead, you've turned it into a video with a great message that everyone can learn from. Thanks for posting this!

[@madtingz2288]

That's awful, glad you're not getting treated like that anymore. People need to take others into consideration

[@kathleenbrockway1954]

It is ironic I'm Deaf, but teachers made fun of me because I was "smart" and they could not compete with my intelligence. It was humiliating in front of the class for 2 years. I hope your teacher hears your video and send you an apology!

[@wanderlapsed906]

That's just flat out rude. I thought teachers were supposed to praise intelligence, not make fun of it. Its rude to make fun of people for any level of intelligence, really.

[@kathleenbrockway1954]

+Rikki Poynter yeah I know. I was mentally abused for two years in a classroom. I do not know what teacher thought, but I am glad she passed away. I wrote a like 10 pages letter of this pain to a School superintendent. That felt good, even better, he responded with a heartfelt apology. I moved on.

[@kathleenbrockway1954]

+KAt Brockway when I said "teachers" instead of one, because that teacher was a "ringleader" and her best friends were the other teacher and the elementary school principal. They worked together, lied together, and torture together. So weird.

[@venwilson7055]

Same happened here, although I was stuck with mine for 7 years. I feel your pain.

[@clairecheskin4213]

I am visually impaired and have hearing loss as well. My teachers used to make fun of me because I couldnt read the board, and as a result I learned to be very disruptive in math lessons, and make the whole class roar with laughter behind her back. Things like this stay with you, but you have turned out a very confident woman, and remember - it's THEIR problem!

[@ElishaMay]

This happened to me A LOT when I was in school and I went to school in the 90's. There was NO anti bully back then so I got teased EVERYDAY all day. In class was the worst and teachers never would say or do anything about it.

[@GreenHatemerald]

I'm so sorry this happened to you. This is common in schools in Canada. The teachers would at least make sure there were captions, but teachers and students would still make fun of my deaf friend in front of her and me. Teacher's would be less explicit about it and they wouldn't challenge her at all to become a better student through means that were viable for her. It was nuts!

[@shersmk90]

What a terrible thing what the teacher was doing to you... And that nobody was helping you! I can feel your feelings about it! My uni keeps forgetting that I need closed captions under video's, even that I have an interpreter with me during class and no they can't do closed captions live, because in video's it usually goes to fast...

[@pinkrainclouds2190]

I cant even count how many times I've told someone I was hard of hearing and they laughed and said "so am I". they shut up when I show my hearing. it pissed me off!

[@Ahriman_II]

thank you for sharing these personal moments.

[@gracedingus]

Oh my god, I relate so hard to you. This makes me so sad. I grew up in a hearing family and school and this is exactly what I had to deal with. I always felt that it was fine, till recent activities and I never realized how hard I had it back then.

[@chrisb9512]

I have been watching your videos over the last few months and think your doing a fantastic job. I'm sorry to hear about your struggles in school. I'm a 34 hard of hearing individual who has to wear powerful hearing aids(analog types not digital until 2004) to be able to hear OK. I went through same thing you did about having to write notes on paper when watching videos. I was often frustrated in school about not be able to understand what was being said or unable to get proper notes for later studying. Students often teased me about my poor ability to learn well due to poor technology at the time and lack of understanding of my needs. My experience in school has made me stronger today but still need help from time to time. One of the things that help me is to find someone,(not family or friends) to talk to, who will listen and understand you and will give you advice to help you overcome your thoughts about your past. Talk about your past troubles and deafness early in life because the past will come back to you later on. Just thought I past that on and good luck.

[@christyinthecarolinas]

I had a mean, bully of a teacher as well. When I was in 4th grade, the teacher that I had did NOT like my mom who was also a teacher at the same school, but different grade. She would pick on me constantly. During recess, she would make me stay inside in a dark class room and I wasn't allowed to leave for any reason. Just because she didn't like my mom. I remember having panic attacks as a little girl being left alone in a dark room for an hour. Then I'd get in trouble because I had a panic attack and was inconsolable. To make matters worse, she never openly threatened me, but she had ways of letting me know that if I told anyone what she did, my life would be hell on Earth. So I never told anyone. I hated going to school. I was terrified every single day. Not only was she cruel, but the kids picked up rather quickly and I was targeted by the class. She would let them make fun of me and of course she didn't do a thing about it. She was the worst! Im 42 years old now, and I can still remember all of those horrible feelings that I had. No young child should ever be made to feel like that because some teacher has a power Trip. It angers me so much!

[@briarblack8442]

Christy In The Carolina's That’s evil.

[@MrBatboy2667]

Hi my name is Jorge or just Jr... I love your videos you have made my days good and made me feel confident. I was born with hearing loss on my left ear. Many doctors have seen me and haven't found out what actually happened. When I was 13 and in middle school my teachers did not believe me and ussualy ended up getting in trouble.😑 Now I'm 15 and in 10th grade I tell my teachers in advanced. Yes I still look funny just turning my head around like if I wanted a kiss yet I do it for better hearing. Thank you.

[@desertislanddream]

I am so sorry that happened to you. Teacher's are supposed to be there for support.

[@isagomez757]

OMGGGGG I CAN REALLY RELATE TO YOU THAT IT FRUSTRATES ME I've been through the same thing and i still go through it but it frustrates me that it hasn't changed at all.

[@queerditchmarshh7000]

That's such an awful thing to do anyway, but especially after you mentioned you had trouble hearing it. Teachers especially should know better than to behave like that, I'm so sorry this happened to you.

[@NenaMataHari]

I am so sorry that happened to you. If somebody did that to my kid, I would totally go off on him and raise hell to all the administrative staff and demand he be fired and then banned from EVER working with ANY students ever again!

[@EricBurbeck]

Thanks for sharing, +Rikki Poynter. Seems like quite a difficult experience, and it's really good to hear about events like this so that we can all be more aware and sensitive to others around us. I really like the videos you're making, please keep up the good work!

[@christi_ee1998]

I’m so sorry this happened

[@AustinCProductions]

I want to thank you for making videos, and teaching me more about what its like for you and others being deaf/ hard of hearing. I have learned a lot from you, and I will be taking strides from now on, in my future videos to add CC to anything that I am speaking in. Im sorry you had to go though this from a teacher, thats inexcusable. that teach ( if it already hasn't happened ) will get theirs in the end one way or anther. I look forward to your next video.

[@Thawah]

This is so messed up. Beyond bullying. Teachers are supposed to be someone you can look up to and trust! I'm sorry this happened to you.

[@boudicathebrave]

That's just cruel. I don't understand how some teachers don't understand why mocking students is okay? Those things can just stick with you. I understand about the regret and not being strong enough to stand up for yourself at that point in time. Thank you for sharing your story.

[@weepingwillows21]

I had a similar experience in sophomore year in the sense that I was bullied by a teacher because of my disability. Like you, I didn't feel comfortable standing up. I definitely wish I had now.

[@lukedurant4200]

I'm going through the same thing, I'm hard of hearing but my parents think it's selective hearing. but the thing is I don't really have a lot of confidence because of my hearing. I've been to the ent and he says my hearing is 98% great but it's really not. I REALLY can't hear people I can hear noises but not people so thank you for sharing this

[@alisonc4669]

That is so horrible!! I am hard of hearing too and wasn't comfortable speaking up either. I also was told to sit at the front and of course failed those stupid movie assignments. We really should be able to get exempt from these things if there's no captions. I don't think these assignments have any educational value anyway. It was completely unacceptable that he made fun of your answers!

[@ThatDeafGirlKJ]

Oh my god, I totally relate. I have even had this happen to me... they turned the volume up and out of embarrassment I just said it was fine because EVERYONE in class was staring

[@claretravels783]

I'm so sorry that this happened to you, that's so fucked up! I think it's so important that schools and teachers are properly monitored for their behaviour, and every teacher should be trained in how to meet the needs of students with disabilities. Literally every DVD I've ever bought has subtitles, it's not difficult! But I don't think your teacher was just suffering from "lack of training" - that's just plain mean, making fun of people. Teachers who bully their students are the absolute worst, and don't deserve the job.

[@the.legit.batman]

Although i know my experience pales in comparison to all you've gone through 😅 your video reminded me of it. I've had a lot of trouble these past couple years in school with accommodations for disability regarding dyslexia and something else I'd rather not discuss. In class i was having trouble with a reading assignment and my teacher was trying to find the assignment online so i could listen to it. I had finally begun to get help after a long list of loopholes and was doing better in school. Later that day a couple classmates came and yelled at me during lunch for being self centered and distracting them from their assignments. It was mortifying. I ended calling my parents and going home. I typically avoid going to that said class at all costs now ... 😅

[@Gagagaellee]

Hi Rikki, I'm a recent subscriber and I'm watching some of your video's and I recognize a lot in your experiences to mine. I'm also deaf, I have one CI on my left ear, but that doesn't make me less deaf, as you know it I guess :-) And people can be so harsh and rude, even though teachers, I have had real struggles with that kind of persons haha, I was more the kind of child that would not let something like that happen. And If i didn't dare to say anything I made sure someone else like my mom or sister or friends said something. And I'm really thankful that they did, because they helped me made more stronger. Love, Gaëlle

[@camb99]

You should run for President or something lol, I appreciate you deciding to tell us your anecdote, and it's another story that you hope is a story because it's something that just shouldn't happen. I've had similar experiences, not to do with hearing as I'm not deaf, my disabilities just make me tired and in pain to sum it up but when I was 12, we had a lesson in school where there were awards and I had the award for the lowest attendance because of the numerous hospital appointments, which the teacher and students thought was hilarious. But the school had given me a hard time all year and continued to until I left, but them not giving me a lift pass until the year after meant I had to have a lot of days off to recover, but I was the same, you don't tend to start sticking up for yourself until the later years which I did in the end and it never went well lol, but people who need help or things done in specific ways should definitely speak up and share stories as it can help so many other people. Thank you again for sharing your story :)

[@AndreaCasselbrants]

NO WAY! How did we both upload a storytime video the exact same day? Haha that´s pretty crazy! Anyways, great video as always! :D

[@Katelyn3666]

As a hard of hearing student who was in mainstream schools, I understand your difficulty. I have also been in that situation where I couldnt make out what was being said.My hearing loss is not is not profound but it is enough to make watching a film without captions difficult especially if I was required to write down specific info from the film. i just did my best but I was lucky to have teachers who were understanding. I can't believe that a teacher would act that way with a student, but especially KNOWING that you're HoH. He should not be allowed to call himself a teacher because all he was teaching that day was discrimination.

[@sticksthunder]

i really love watching your videos, I have an idea which maybe you could think about doing..? Which was to ask your deaf watchers for stories and put them into a video since I would love to hear more.

[@alyssashoemaker3414]

If I was in your class I would've been like "hey, you shouldn't read that out loud to the entire class" and if it was me I would be like "hey, would you mind not making fun of me to the class? It's not my fault for being deaf" or something, I would never stand aside and let someone get hurt no matter how embarrassing it may be for me (trust me, I've done these things before, I'm not that person who brags about confidence and doesnt actually do it, I willingly ignore a group of people to help someone) so girl your class mates were trash, I'm so sorry you had to deal with that

[@reeniedawn]

I can identify with you. I was born hard of hearing with bilateral sensorineural hearing loss, I'm almost completely Deaf now. I was mainstreamed too. Front of the class, had trouble understanding when teacher looked down or at chalkboard. I'm the only Deaf person in my family. Others went to hard of hearing from getting older, but I've been told mine was worse than "Getting old deafness" I also follow you on Snapchat, i love watching you! I hope we can become friends!

[@YouLostTheGame3233]

I was also an incredibly hard of hearing student in a mainstream school! And I've had similar experiences. I'm glad to know I'm not alone. c:

[@313Games]

It amazes me how some teachers qualify for there positions with such a low moral I.Q. In my school days, I had my head smashed on a fire extinguisher while waiting for class and lay dazed as the teacher called us in, he just told me to get up without a care In the world.

[@louierichards8459]

I went to a school in Seminole Oklahoma. There was 1 student who was deaf and main streamed. Cathy Hammond. I knew she was deaf. But there was no help in class for her. She tried really hard and graduated. I had no idea if she had any hearing aids. Since then I have seen very few deaf in regular school.

[@alisonlmt4029]

Similar things happened to me as a kid... The problem is we never outgrow bullies.

[@laceylorae4196]

Totally unrelated, but, are you left handed or right handed?

[@thebluetrinity]

Rikki Poynter me too! lefty but do everything else with my right hand. that's probably because of growing up forced to conform to a right handed world.

[@kahealaninakoa5921]

Lacey LoRae I never know which hands to use for signs bc I'm ambidextrous. I try my right but I'm more comfortable with my left as dominate .. is that why your asking ? I'm wondering how to sign properly lol

[@shelbynelson5470]

Lacey LoRae Ik ur asking her but I'm left

[@Emma-es8il]

Totally unrelated, but I love your profile picture! ❤

[@carliebugizzyb6860]

I SEEE GAAAAAYYYY -i love it-

[@chilew99]

I've been picked on by teachers as well for different reasons as I am not deaf or hard of hearing (although the teacher that picked on me the worst happened to be an ASL teacher :/) and it just pisses me off so much that there are teachers like that when they are supposed to be setting a good example and encouraging students, not damaging their self esteem! It makes me so mad, too, that people aren't willing to have captions on movies, etc. when watching with person who is hard of hearing. They really aren't that noticeable and it's so selfish. Personally I use captions anyway whenever I watch things because I have a hard time paying attention to what is being said. Point is, I can relate to having teachers who make fun of you/ embarrass you for things you can't control and I have zero tolerance for people who won't do what they can to accommodate the needs of others! Also I looove your hair lol :)

[@cyb3rDracul]

This is seriously so sad. If that ever happened to me, ( i am super shy and insecure just like you were), id be like crying on the inside and very embarassed

[@nadiaschutz1598]

i'm so sorry to hear that. that sounds very bad, honestly. in my back home country we didn't have and still don't have any accommodations at all. none. zero. i was one of the best student in my school, which was located in a small Siberian village. most of the teachers knew i had trouble hearing and sometimes spent an extra hr with me if they had time. so basically i had some sort of support from my teachers. but mostly i spent lots of time learning things on my own by reading lots of books and magazines. so to be able to learn a subject i would read a chapter on my own after school. that's it. when i was 13 i easily got in to a gymnasium(high level school with university level classes) after passing lots of test. and you know what, i was basically forced to quit it in 7 months, cuz there were lots of students and teachers didn't really care about each of us. they would reply to my request for some sort of help(like a copy of their notes at least...or if i asked few times to tell me what themes they will teach on the next class) in this way: "oh! i'm so sorry to hear that. there is probably some sort of surgery for that kind of sort of disease...oh no?! why not?! ...well, i don't have any notes...ask your classmates, maybe they have... "...and i would spend hrs and hrs literally copying by hand (no copy machine at that time..)someones notes instead of actually doing my homework.. the same story was in university...people don't care, don't understand and they don't want to understand even if you cry your eyes out explaining them how hard is that for you to study with no accommodations at all as a hard hearing person.... oh, and i had same situation in Canada here. they took my $36000 for 3 years and i barely finished the school by doing lots of self studying....and the most funny part, i must to participate all of the classes, even though there was no point for me of doing it, cuz i couldn't understand most of the teachers which were standing 2 meters away from me. there were no accommodations at all which is kind of upsetting.

[@laceylorae4196]

Also, that's happened to me as well. Usually I have to listen intently, and with people whispering occasionally around me, it's hard. I have a problem with background noise like talking, music, A/C, etc, and I can relate that turning up the volume, doesn't make it any better.

[@toribecker9197]

I am a HOH mainstreamed student, and because I started losing my hearing in my early teens, people forget that I can't hear them. Some times my signing or not hearing people becomes the base for jokes from the hearing kids. Last semester, I had an amazing teacher who tried to look at me; but the one time he tried to cc a video we watched for me, it had only Spanish cc and I don't speak a word of Spanish. Shout out for him to trying, but it didn't really help.

[@johnw.pederson10]

I am retired from the Government and we had an Electrician who is deaf. We, all the mechanics who worked with him were always nice and accommodating to him in any way. He had his small book and pen so we could communicate with him. Whenever we had an all hands meeting Management would arrange and interpreter ASL for him. No one every even mentions it and I’m sure his is still working and will stay until Retirement. Having a deaf cousin myself, I understand him more than most!

[@susannea4196]

That teacher should definitely get fired and not ever allowed to get back to ANY school again. What an absolutely fucking horrible person!

[@Blue-yi6ij]

The hair looks great m8!

[@mhairibrown4957]

I always see this post on facebook here in the UK where there's a picture of a TV on a table with wheels and above the image it says "You knew class was going to be fun when the teacher rolled this in" and for me it wasn't. It's exactly as you said. Nothing had captions so I couldn't keep up and i would tell my teachers and they would just say "it's cool just do your best" and then they'd be like"hmm not good enough" Teachers were the worst with me. Most of the comments in my "Just like me" video were things teachers said to me

[@miranduhhh13]

I can relate to this. I got bullied quite a little bit for being deaf. Not so much now because people know not to mess with me

[@emij1210]

I honestly cannot believe that a teacher would have done that. It's completely unprofessional how he treated you, and it's not right to treat anyone like that, HOH or not.The way the teacher acted is extremely inappropriate, and no one should ever have to go through that kind of treatment from anyone.

[@killjoy1016]

love your hair!! very pretty

[@Rosierainbow17]

I used to have a teacher who was extremely sexist. He favoured the boys, and would always 'banter' with them, but he generally ignored the girls. Also the boys would make blatant sexist jokes in lesson, and state things like 'all girls should be tied to the oven', which the teacher encouraged and joined in with. I wish I was confident enough at the time to take action, but I had such low self esteem that I just let it slide I suppose.

[@DanniFantom565]

first off, omg I flipin love pokemon, second I know exactly how you feel I'm 15 hard of hearing and just completed 9th grade, when ever I would watch movies or videos in class I would have the teacher turn on subtitles and everyone in class would complain and it pissed me off, not only that but my biology teach was always teasing me about being deaf and because she did that the students did it too

[@taylorsmith8721]

I understand about your pain because I still feel uncomfortable all time in my classes and teacher made fun of me

[@cattheinvisible6605]

I'm hard of hearing and went to a mainstream public school and i feel really fortunate that my teachers were really understanding and did not make fun of me. They were very considerate and gave the necessary accomodations. And if a student was caught making fun of my hearing loss they were scolded by the teacher and made to apologize

[@PrincessTsunade12]

not deaf, but I have a learning disability so I can relate to this kind of treatment and embarrassment. Ive had teachers mock my bad spelling and slow writing. and this is both from regular AND special ed teachers! (special ed programs in public high schools are really shit sometimes...)

[@goldfished]

You're voice has really improved!

[@andromedastar9774]

I don't intend to speak for her and this isn't necessarily how she feels, but you are probably not paying her the compliment you THINK you are: Most deaf people that are vocal aren't so because they think it's fun, they're literally only speaking in order to make hearing people comfortable. Many of them have been forced to undergo speech therapy and the ability to be a "good speaker" isn't necessarily a good thing or something that fills them with pride - Especially since it's something that they often can't hear for themselves.

[@ChrisLhamon]

Things like that piss me off, and they should always be called out. That behavior isn't acceptable in school, the workplace, or even personally. Don't treat people like that. I started going for a second degree a couple years ago, and I had one professor that did something similar. I'm not hard of hearing or anything, so it's not similar in that way, but I did work full-time and I was taking about 10 credit hours every semester (including summers). I always had a full schedule, and I was doing it out of my own pocket. No loans. No scholarships. One day, the professor said something at the end of class that wasn't very clear. He had done that before, and he was extremely difficult to get a hold of. I messaged him about 8 times through the course, and I received a reply twice. There was no way I could have gotten clarification. The first couple times he said something in that way, it was a joke (although all of the class was confused by it and they also could never get clarification from him), so I took this as a joke. It turns out he was serious, so I sent him a message saying that I didn't know that he was serious, and that if there were changes, like the one he said briefly at the end of a class, it would be helpful to send out an announcement. No complaint. Just a suggestion. After a couple weeks, he replied to my message and made fun of me in an oddly-long reply. I sent one respectful message back, and he didn't ever reply. Three or four weeks after that, he got in front of the class, referred to my message comically, and got the entire class to laugh while he looked right at me. It was strange that a person with a PhD would stoop so low. I didn't ever go back. Not even for the final. I left that university, and I don't think I'll return despite my advisor trying to bring me back and apologizing for the professor that did that. I had the luxury where I could tell him that I'm not putting up with that and walk away. Most school kids don't have that luxury, but you should still do something. No matter who you are, stressful and embarrassing situations like that are just not acceptable. Sorry about the rant!

[@nightreaper1824]

Have you thought about researching whether the school failed to accommodate your rights as a disabled person?

[@ChanaNatalia]

Nothing to research-that type of discrimination, and the teacher’s blatant actions, are in clear violation of 504 plans, IEPs, and the ADA of 1990.