Mainstream V Special School

As for her being sign only, we have not eliminated the possibility of her developing speech. She just hasn't yet. She gets speech at school and we hope to develop her oral skills. It just hasn't happened yet.
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Well at least she's in a dhh program for preschool/kindergarten right now.
Maybe you could talk to the teacher and suggest having a "voice off"/HA/CI off Day.
As a hoh kid, I had a next door neighbor who was Deaf. I didn't understand that she couldn't hear or speak. Maybe the kids in the program don't understand that your daughter can't speak yet.
Has she been evaluated for apraxia? It's too bad that no insurance companies are as generous with HA rehabilatation, as they are with CI rehab. If they were you could go private and see an auditory verbal therapist Well on the other hand.......maybe if she got an apraxia dx she could get private speech therapy. Unfortunatly, in terms of developing fluent oral skills, you have to go private. That in turn costs a lot and isn't always covered by insurance/affordable.
 
Mrs Bucket said:
:hug: Botts, you are not the only one.

I had to make the hardest decision and I withdrew from college the past week. I made the decision with a lot of good thoughts and I am proud of myself and how hard I have worked in college.

I just am not able to keep up with my peers in college. Being DeafBlind as well as the ADD, it is rough to cope with.

A controlled environment is very important for me to have and I have that already at home and when I go out, I control my own environment. It is so vital to me to have control over my environment; I had none of that at college.
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Can you continue your education via online?? That way you can have control over your environment. The downside is that it costs more.
 
I know I didn't read all of everyone's posts, but I thought it'd be nice to post what my college professor is doing for her two deaf children.

Long story short and for many good reasons, she decided to place her kids in BOTH deaf and hearing/mainstream schools. That way, they get the best of both worlds. The child will get full interaction with the deaf students in the morning for a half day, experiencing deaf culture, sign language, and other postitive things a deaf school may provide for a deaf child. The other half of the day, the kids go to mainstream school and take their classes there. The professor felt that her kids would benefit more educationally in mainstreamed school than a deaf school, however; she also felt that the kids would benefit into having deaf friends. Either way, the kids are exposed to BOTH cultures and IMO, I think that's an excellent idea because if there is a problem in one school, the other school could adopt and fix that problem. I hope you all get what I'm saying. =)
 
Just too bad that there is a stigma attached to deaf schools. I think they are wonderful.
 
Lighthouse77 said:
RoxyRose,I was a Mainstreamed oral deaf from preschool to 12th grade. No ASL whatsoever.

Let's just say it was very lonely. And all that speech and such, well, I still keep to myself because I don't know how to communicate the way hearing people communicate. Maybe one - in-one conversation but that's the far as I can go. but My friends who are in school are gone now. I'm left with family and my husband. But I guess that's normal for many people who are settled down and have family.

Anyway, alot of my posts is about being in mainstream.
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i quite agree with all you said,i was mainstream when i school ,it was lonely but i have some hearing friend who do help me out
 
Sydas said:
I know I didn't read all of everyone's posts, but I thought it'd be nice to post what my college professor is doing for her two deaf children.

Long story short and for many good reasons, she decided to place her kids in BOTH deaf and hearing/mainstream schools. That way, they get the best of both worlds. The child will get full interaction with the deaf students in the morning for a half day, experiencing deaf culture, sign language, and other postitive things a deaf school may provide for a deaf child. The other half of the day, the kids go to mainstream school and take their classes there. The professor felt that her kids would benefit more educationally in mainstreamed school than a deaf school, however; she also felt that the kids would benefit into having deaf friends. Either way, the kids are exposed to BOTH cultures and IMO, I think that's an excellent idea because if there is a problem in one school, the other school could adopt and fix that problem. I hope you all get what I'm saying. =)
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i really love this idea,it is good
 
Oh and yeah, I think that a split placement is a VERY good idea especially early on. Actually I think early on kids need to attend Deaf schools/programs (not just general special needs programs) and then "graduate" from them. Then a mainstream placement should be introduced too, and then the parent can figure out which placement is the best.
 
I like the idea of the split day between schools.

I don't know what will be best for my DS. He is hoh; about 80% loss in left and 20% in right. He wears 2 HAs. I'd have to dig for an audiogram for details. He is at a special needs preschool 3 hr/4days right now and typical daycare the rest of the day and Fridays.

His 1st language was ASL. As soon as he started speaking, he signed less and less, although we continued to sign for him.

At preschool, he started in the deaf/hoh classroom. He was the most verbal, so he moved to a mixed special needs class. He has no other disabilities, so this year he started in a classroom where the only issue anyone has is articulation, speech delays, etc.

Right now, the plan is a 3rd year of preK, then mainstream Kindergarten.

He doesn't seem to want to sign, though he does still like to watch "Signing Time" and if I sign some things w/o using my voice, he still remembers the ASL and understands.

The day deaf school is a long way from our house. I'd rather he not have to be on the bus for hours every day. I worry that because he's so verbal, he'd be on the outside of the "more" deaf/hoh kids.

But, I also worry that he will not receive the needed accommodations in mainstream school or that the large, noisy class sizes will be difficult for him. Or that he is missing out by being the only one with HAs or he will be picked on because of it.

This has been such a journey; I'm glad to learn everything I do each day.
 
Some mainstream schools have deaf programs... usually the teasing start in middle school and mellow out in high school.

I know you are concern about him not making friends with deaf kids because they sign and he doesn't, but how well can he communicate with his hearing friends? Sometimes making hearing friends isn't as easy either because they can hear well and you can't.
 
rivenoak, that's good that he's doing well...Also awesome that he moved from dhh ed to general special ed instead of vice versa.
Does he still have spoken language delays? Little kids who are dhh may think " Oh I can hear and talk fine. I don't need sign." (I was one of those kids)
It's AWESOME you gave your kid the choice. He was surrounded by dhh kids who signed right? Maybe a good idea would be to have a "voice/HA off" Day.
Maybe then he'd make the connection " I can talk without my voice or using my hearing aids!" or " I can understand 100% of the time!" Like you could say something in a very soft voice. When he says " What?" Sign it! Little kids don't understand that not everyone has an easy to understand voice. (a lot of parents and professionals tend to subconsciously speak in a professional speaker voice to dhh kids, so they can understand better)
Communication choices can change drasticly. Just b/c a little kid does well orally, it doesn't mean that will always be the case.
It is VERY common for kids to do well early on and then things get harder around fourth grade/middle school, due to increasingly complex language.
Make ASL FUN....Make it like " Hey we have a secret language!" .right now its OK to concentrate on speech. However as he gets older, make sure that he has access to dhh extracurrcualar stuff. (there's really not all that much resources for oral dhh kids)
 
rivenoak said:
I like the idea of the split day between schools.

I don't know what will be best for my DS. He is hoh; about 80% loss in left and 20% in right. He wears 2 HAs. I'd have to dig for an audiogram for details. He is at a special needs preschool 3 hr/4days right now and typical daycare the rest of the day and Fridays.

His 1st language was ASL. As soon as he started speaking, he signed less and less, although we continued to sign for him.

At preschool, he started in the deaf/hoh classroom. He was the most verbal, so he moved to a mixed special needs class. He has no other disabilities, so this year he started in a classroom where the only issue anyone has is articulation, speech delays, etc.

Right now, the plan is a 3rd year of preK, then mainstream Kindergarten.

He doesn't seem to want to sign, though he does still like to watch "Signing Time" and if I sign some things w/o using my voice, he still remembers the ASL and understands.

The day deaf school is a long way from our house. I'd rather he not have to be on the bus for hours every day. I worry that because he's so verbal, he'd be on the outside of the "more" deaf/hoh kids.

But, I also worry that he will not receive the needed accommodations in mainstream school or that the large, noisy class sizes will be difficult for him. Or that he is missing out by being the only one with HAs or he will be picked on because of it.

This has been such a journey; I'm glad to learn everything I do each day.
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This is interesting, I'm watching for updates from you as I think that this will be me before long.
 
Oh hey, rivenoak........what state are you in? A really good mainstream option is one of those "magnet" programs where there's a significent population of dhh kids housed at a hearing school. That way he could take advantage of a hearing school, PLUS deal with teachers who have been trained how to teach dhh kids.
I've got to say that I think that the gross majority of dhh kids could signficently benifit from a formal educational setting designe)d for dhh kids.
One of the BIGGEST problems with a "regular school regular classes" setting is that very few teachers (including special ed teachers) have been trained to teach dhh kids. As a result of that, its very easy for kids to fall through the cracks.
Some kids do thrive in a minimal accomondations mainstream , and that's awesome.
But regular school regular classes mainstreaming for kids with more " classic" disabilites REALLY needs to be very carefully monitored. Remember most mainstream schools are designed for the average learner.
We've had a few parents who did the regular school with "resource room type pullouts" route. Then they put their kids in a formal program for the dhh, and they REALLY started thriving!
 
ROXYROSE said:
I want to eventually be a teacher for deaf children and was talking to my friend who has a younger brother, he is deaf and started off in a local deaf school, he did not get on well here and chose to move to a mainstream instead, he found this alot better and was alot happier, i have looked on similar questions on here and it seems many people also think mainstream is better however some do not?
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I have mixed feelings about that. Everyone is going to be different. And it also depends on where you are too. Like me, for instance, I grew up in Maine, we had a deaf school down south. But my parents were very leery about sending me down there because they heard certain things going on, and they wanted me to be closer to them. So I eventually broke an unofficial rule here in Maine and went to public school instead.

There's some pros and cons to going to public schools. Sometimes I wish i had gone to the deaf school, but what is done is done. Years later, I am now learning ASL, and trying to get myself more involved with the people in the deaf community.
 
I'm going to start my own thread so I can quit hijacking this one!
:Oops:
 
i'm profoundly deaf (120 dB in both ears) and i was mainstreamed from pre-k to 12th grade. i didn't feel lonely, there was a small deaf/hh program at the elementary school i went to from pre-k to 4th grade.. but i was mainstreamed for my science/math, history, and social studies classes during that time. the girls who sat near me in 5th grade learned sign language just to talk to me.. then the signing spread to a few more hearing students. we even had a signing play in 5th grade, and we set up a signing club in middle school so more people could learn it. it was a success, but it fizzled out when i started high school - my interpreter was the leader. we had ASL classes in high school. i feel that my mainstream experience was a positive one. i was given the option of going to a deaf school when i was in middle school, but i didn't go because i had friends at school and i didn't want to leave them.
 
there was a small deaf/hh program at the elementary school i went to from pre-k to 4th grade.
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That's prolly why you did so well. I think the gross majority of dhh kids need to attend a "formal program" for the early grades. That way they wouldn't fall through the cracks of a mainstream to the max type of program.
 
I attended an school for the deaf from 3-11 years old, I loved it and use to go mainstream for 1/2 a day regularly at the mainstream across the road :) By Year 6(10-11 years old) I was mainstreaming twice a week for English(usually 1 hour)
In Year 4 and 5 myself my classmates used to mainstream for PE for 1 term. The rest of the term, PE was at our deaf school we absolutely LOVED PE at the deaf school, all of us signing, cheering each other on, playing rounders, different games!! I went to mainstream school for high school 11-16. There was around 30 deaf students and the rest were hearing, I mainstreamed in all classes but still had a interpreter in all except PE. I believe that children should most definately start off in a deaf school then continue with the deaf school or attend a d/hh programme
 
Lighthouse77 said:
Why do you call it special school?
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I'm glad you mentioned that. It was the first thing that caught my eye. Using that terminology just perpetuates that old stereotype of deaf schools being for those who are low in IQ.:roll:
 
Its nice. Ah i moved deaf school when i was little kid to full public school, I was pretty super happy and i owe to my parents and people who suggested me to, Because years later i saw same classmates who i grew up when i was kid in deaf school, I noticed that their education and social skill and knowledge was pretty different. Seems like they have more struggle with hearing world than i does because i learned to survive and function with hearing people very well. Even experienced more stuff. But the mainstream will be nicer. So that way kid have a deaf and hearing world in one ways but i cant answer about mainstream.

ROXYROSE said:
I want to eventually be a teacher for deaf children and was talking to my friend who has a younger brother, he is deaf and started off in a local deaf school, he did not get on well here and chose to move to a mainstream instead, he found this alot better and was alot happier, i have looked on similar questions on here and it seems many people also think mainstream is better however some do not?
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