Alone in the Mainstream

When Gina Oliva first went to school in 1955, she didn’t know that she was “different.”  But, when the kindergarten teacher played the piano to signal the next activity and other students began to move, Oliva didn’t react.  She couldn’t hear the music.  So began her journey as a “solitary,” her term for being the only hard of hearing child in the entire school.  Gina felt alone because she couldn’t communicate easily with her classmates, but also because none of them had a hearing loss like hers.  It wasn’t until years later at Gallaudet University that she discovered that she wasn’t alone and that her experience was common among mainstreamed deaf students.  Alone in the Mainstream recounts Oliva’s story, as well as those of many other solitaires.

Gina A. Oliva, author

Published by Gallaudet University Press