ABSTRACT
The "benefits" of oral communication were not only reinforced by various schools and the medical community, but they were also stressed within family groups. Being brought up oral had consequences for these women's self acceptance and educational opportunities. For most women , being brought up oralled them to delay accepting their identity as a Deaf woman as weil as miss critical information and to feel socially on the margins in their mainstreamed classrooms. Debbie feit that growing up oral had given her "the edge" so that she could better work in a hearing society, however, she also struggled throughout her life to ensure she had equal access to hearing classrooms.
