School For The Deaf Or Mainstream?

[RoseLS]

My 8 yr old daughter has progressive unilateral hearing loss. She qualifies for a reputable deaf school. Our local mainstream school provides her with only 20 min a week of HHS and said they won't give her any more until she starts failing or goes 100% deaf. There are 1600 students in her school(overcrowded k-8) and no other HoH kids in the school. She wears a hearing aid and the teacher uses an FM system. Is this enough? Or should I consider the school for the deaf as a day student? When I visited the school for the deaf the student ratio was 1:6 which was great but the only downside was that the HoH kids were not aloud to speak. Only ASL was aloud in school. My daughter has excellent speech. Why would prohibiting speech be a good thing? Also about 80% of the kids had severe hearing loss or were 100% deaf. I am very stressed about what I should do.

 

[Bottesini]

If she is a day student, she will come home at night and be able to use speech then. She won't lose it.

If it's a good school with an excellent pupil teacher ratio, the deaf school seems like your best bet.

 

[RoseLS]

I have never been around a child who has no speech before. I observed for 30 min and left a little sick to my stomach. The kids could only make sounds. No words at all. My daughter has never seen this before either. Why would the school not teach them how to speak words instead of make grunting noises and bang on the table for attention? None of the kids are aloud to have behavioral issues but with the way they communicated it looked as if they did.

 

[RoseLS]

but their ASL was excellent.

 

[Mieke]

Is it not more that they just don't want the hoh kids there to use speech among them and by doing that, locking other kids out?

 

[RoseLS]

Not sure why they won't let the HoH kids use their speech. The requirements to get in are low too only 50db loss for unilateral and 20db for bilateral. With those numbers a person could definitely hear speech and be able to speak.

 

[whatdidyousay!]

WOW this has to be a real tough decision for you, I was going to say go with the deaf school then I say that your won't allowed to talk there. It seem like that would be stressful for a child not being allowed to talk when she is using to do this. Are any other schools to check out around you. I think if this was my child send her to the public school then start looking around for some other schools which might mean moving .

 

[RoseLS]

She was at a Catholic school which we liked but no HHS at all. They didn't even have an FM system. Nice people and kids but my daughter still struggled to hear sometimes and said the teacher seemed to be yelling a lot (could have been her hearing aid not adjusting fast enough). But if her loss is progressive I am afraid for her future. I am even considering homeschooling.

 

[whatdidyousay!]

She was at a Catholic school which we liked but no HHS at all. They didn't even have an FM system. Nice people and kids but my daughter still struggled to hear sometimes and said the teacher seemed to be yelling a lot (could have been her hearing aid not adjusting fast enough). But if her loss is progressive I am afraid for her future. I am even considering homeschooling.

I was going to suggest home schooling to you. I really feel for you and your child. She is very lucky to have a parent that proactive in her education . I find it so
horrible that things still aren't better in school for deaf and hoh students !

 

[LoveBlue]

Not sure why they won't let the HoH kids use their speech. The requirements to get in are low too only 50db loss for unilateral and 20db for bilateral. With those numbers a person could definitely hear speech and be able to speak.

Because using speech will exclude the other kids from conversations. Your daughter will presumably learn ASL and be able to communicate with the other kids. It is a deaf school after all and ASL is the appropriate language for the deaf.

The kids could only make sounds. No words at all. ... Why would the school not teach them how to speak words instead of make grunting noises and bang on the table for attention?

As I just said, this is a deaf school. They don't NEED speech to communicate.

 

[Mieke]

See it this way Rose, if your kid went to a French speaking school, would you expect her to speak English there?

That's actually the same you are asking from this Deaf school. Which does not mean she can not also still speak at home.

 

[HappinessCounts]

My 8 yr old daughter has progressive unilateral hearing loss. She qualifies for a reputable deaf school. Our local mainstream school provides her with only 20 min a week of HHS and said they won't give her any more until she starts failing or goes 100% deaf. There are 1600 students in her school(overcrowded k-8) and no other HoH kids in the school. She wears a hearing aid and the teacher uses an FM system. Is this enough? Or should I consider the school for the deaf as a day student? When I visited the school for the deaf the student ratio was 1:6 which was great but the only downside was that the HoH kids were not aloud to speak. Only ASL was aloud in school. My daughter has excellent speech. Why would prohibiting speech be a good thing? Also about 80% of the kids had severe hearing loss or were 100% deaf. I am very stressed about what I should do.

I think you do have cause for concerns. Every child is different.

What I am getting is that things seem to be okay with your daughter at school at this point. I am wondering what you're worried about. I think that as the needs arise, you could still call a meeting to discuss them. Is it socialization that you're worried about?

 

[whatdidyousay!]

See it this way Rose, if your kid went to a French speaking school, would you expect her to speak English there?

That's actually the same you are asking from this Deaf school. Which does not mean she can not also still speak at home.

Do you really think it's going to easy for a 8 yo child to not try to talk when that what she is use to doing ?? If a child is able to talk they should be able to talk and use ASL at the same time . What harm is that doing to do!

 

[RoseLS]

I think you do have cause for concerns. Every child is different.

What I am getting is that things seem to be okay with your daughter at school at this point. I am wondering what you're worried about. I think that as the needs arise, you could still call a meeting to discuss them. Is it socialization that you're worried about?

Yes, she said she feels different than others kids at school because of her hearing aids and need for the FM system. Also, the doctor goes over her audio gram and she is aware that she has progressive hearing loss and seems to have anxiety from the fear of not knowing when she will no longer hear.

 

[Mieke]

Do you really think it's going to easy for a 8 yo child to not try to talk when that what she is use to doing ?? If a child is able to talk they should be able to talk and use ASL at the same time . What harm is that doing to do!

Do you think it is easy for an English kid in a French environment? I'm not implying it would be easy, but the fastest way to learn a language and take classes in it is to be really surrounded by it.

I'm fluent in 3 languages, but trying to speak 2 of them through eachother usually only geld the person I'm talking to confused even when they also speak both languages. But specially when still learning one, will only make it harder.

And the younger kids are the easier it is to pick up a new language

 

[RoseLS]

See it this way Rose, if your kid went to a French speaking school, would you expect her to speak English there?

That's actually the same you are asking from this Deaf school. Which does not mean she can not also still speak at home.

Why would they admit HoH kids then? They should really have them in separate classrooms from the profoundly deaf children and let the HoH kids use their voices and speak and sign.

 

[Mieke]

Why would they admit HoH kids then? They should really have them in separate classrooms from the profoundly deaf children and let the HoH kids use their voices and speak and sign.

Because for someone who is HoH, trying to understand spoken language is always going to be hard. Once your daughter understands ASL, she would not have to struggle to talk to her classmates.

 

[RoseLS]

Since she is verbal, and hears pretty well with her right ear, should I Just wait it out until her hearing loss becomes more severe? She may be a little sad going into an environment of children who only sign and have no verbal communication. I wish I could talk to someone who went through this as a child. I only want what will make her successful but also will psychologically make her normal too.

 

[whatdidyousay!]

Do you think it is easy for an English kid in a French environment? I'm not implying it would be easy, but the fastest way to learn a language and take classes in it is to be really surrounded by it.

I'm fluent in 3 languages, but trying to speak 2 of them through eachother usually only geld the person I'm talking to confused even when they also speak both languages. But specially when still learning one, will only make it harder.

And the younger kids are the easier it is to pick up a new language

I know younger kids can learn new language easy but to tell a child they can't talk at all seem harsh to me . What happen if a child did talk are they punish ??

 

[Barbaro]

My 8 yr old daughter has progressive unilateral hearing loss. She qualifies for a reputable deaf school. Our local mainstream school provides her with only 20 min a week of HHS and said they won't give her any more until she starts failing or goes 100% deaf. There are 1600 students in her school(overcrowded k-8) and no other HoH kids in the school. She wears a hearing aid and the teacher uses an FM system. Is this enough? Or should I consider the school for the deaf as a day student? When I visited the school for the deaf the student ratio was 1:6 which was great but the only downside was that the HoH kids were not aloud to speak. Only ASL was aloud in school. My daughter has excellent speech. Why would prohibiting speech be a good thing? Also about 80% of the kids had severe hearing loss or were 100% deaf. I am very stressed about what I should do.

You have to ask your daughter how she feels about a deaf school or mainstream school. It's so vital. Trust me. if your daughter is fluent in ASL, then it should be fine. Your daughter's case and mine are different. I was born deaf due to ototoxic drug. I'm profoundly deaf and wear my hearing aids all my life.

I grew up in regular school, mainstream schools and private school (out of country). My 2nd grade class and I didn't sign at all. All of us were in range from profoundly deaf to HOH. We communicated by using oral. That's right. No ASL at all. Some of us had to talk to each other by FACING each other, so I can know which one talks to me. I can hear someone behind me call my name.

My mother wanted me to learn ASL, so I learned it when I was in 3rd grade. It was awkward at first, because I couldn't understand their ASL at the time. My teacher taught me ASL and I interacted with deaf students on the playground and played with them by learning ASL daily and it helped me learn quick. I love it. I strongly urge you learn ASL if your daughter wants to learn ASL. It'll help her learn quick.

I had plenty of private speech therapy outside of schools for eight years. If your daughter's speech is good, that's fine. Many deaf students I know attended deaf schools can talk. No big deal.