Gina Oliva Early Childhood Analysis

Stepping back and reviewing her growth from early childhood until now, Gina Oliva provides a strong developed storyline of the setbacks she faced and how she overcame them. Yet, throughout all of this tribulation, a common theme remains, she always wanted to progress forward in a comfortable and inclusive way. Many of her stories from navigating the Hearing and Death world elaborate on this and the beneficial opportunities she was given to intertwine between the two communities. One aspect of Gina’s life that highlights her interest in controlling the environment she navigated was when she explained how she made plans for her own events. As a mainstreamed child, Hearing children constantly Oliva by not always creating an inviting and comfortable environment. So rather then feel left out or largely struggle with the situation, she explained how she would create her own schedule or plans for the week that fulfilled her requirements. These included smaller groups, friends that supported her, and
Growing up, Oliva was forced into a mainstreamed learning environment where she was the sole d/Deaf individual among her peers. However, as she grew older, she grew into a community of mostly d/Deaf individuals at Gallaudet. Something though, as she explained, kept pushing her back to the Hearing community. My guess is for two reasons; the challenges she faced growing up make this environment enjoyable similar to the challenges of a maze, and that she was accustom to Speaking and Hearing communities from growing up, such as her house, and she missed this situation. While there are likely many other reasons for her return to Hearing community activities, a common motion was to integrate the two communities in a way she never saw them previously. Many of her mainstream study participants told of similar experiences, returning to the Hearing community for a plethora of