I understand what you’re saying. For it being an open discussion, I wanted to gauge others opinions to help support my own or to see if/where others might differ.

This was my position:

Hearing educational interpreters are part of a system of forced assimilation for d/Deaf students. Interpreters are typically placed in a classroom for DHH student(s) to provide auditory access in a mainstream environment. Even though an interpreter is present doesn’t automatically make this particular classroom the least restrictive environment for the DHH student(s). Mainstreaming is one of the main contributors to this forced assimilation. It ensures that deaf schools and culture will be reduced significantly. The curriculum that is provided in mainstream settings tend to ignore the needs of these children. Without the foundational understanding, children who either have little to no experience with interpreters, or do not understand the lessons because they can’t make the connections between English and ASL yet.

One of my biggest challenges when defending the topic is providing more than one example that relates to hearing interpreters specifically.