faire_jour

A good friend of mine wrote this paper. I thought it could explain some of the educational issues that have been misunderstood by some people here.

http://www.uad.org/DeafEd/utah_deafe...0in%20Utah.pdf

It explains the USDB policy for mainstreaming and the laws that govern IEPs and the fact that a child with a hearing loss must have a delay to retain placement at the school for the Deaf.

Deafness

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shel90

Siegel (2002) states, “Failed communication leads to failed education, then failed
education leads to a failed adulthood. Failed communication affects all aspect of life” As
90
a result, deaf and hard of hearing adults have a higher rate of mental illness and have
more concurrent health difficulties than their hearing counterparts (p.10).

quoted from the paper...

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Shel~

"A child educated only at school is an uneducated child." -George Santayana

shel90

When discussing a deaf
student’s appropriate placement in the IEP meeting, there is no established legal
requirement that this student be assessed for communication and language proficiency or
provided services needed to ensure access to instruction (Siegel, 2005, p.7).

That's the problem

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Shel~

"A child educated only at school is an uneducated child." -George Santayana

shel90

For years, deaf and hard of hearing students have repeatedly been denied access to the
programs and communication available to all other children. Moreover, they deal with
failure to provide a qualified interpreter or access to a state school for the deaf. Most
importantly, deaf children are denied to what all other children take for granted: access to
the academic, social and linguistic components of an education (Siegel, 2005).

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Shel~

"A child educated only at school is an uneducated child." -George Santayana

shel90

Families in Utah encounter many roadblocks when trying to have their child
enrolled in a special school because most districts have policies or practices that inhibit
such placements, using IDEA as justification. In the case of a deaf and hard of hearing
child such a practice is potentially harmful because of their unique language and
communication needs.

Was that the failure model u were referring to, FJ? Just wanted to make sure that I am understanding your point of view with this issue...

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Shel~

"A child educated only at school is an uneducated child." -George Santayana

shel90

It provides full language and communication
access in ASL and English on campus. The approach at JMS brought to a full circle the
bilingual approach that was used at schools for deaf children in the 19th century.

For those who made inccorect claims that BiBi was a new approach when it wasnt.

It was used at the schools for deaf children in the 1800s but wasnt called "BiBi" but the practices are exactly the same.

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Shel~

"A child educated only at school is an uneducated child." -George Santayana

shel90

Moreover, when
Melissa asked about JMS, she was actually told, "No, you don't want her [her daughter]
to go there! Don't you want her sent to TC? It has everything you could want." Moreover,
she was erroneously told that it was against JMS policy and philosophy to provide speech
services, and that children with cochlear implants were not allowed at JMS. Melissa was
told that her daughter could succeed in an oral classroom and that if she didn't then they
could consider moving her to a signing class. Melissa asked if the teacher would
understand the signs her daughter already had and was told that everybody at USD could
understand a little but they would never sign back and that within a short time, the
daughter would stop signing. Melissa was also told that if her daughter didn't learn to talk
by the time she was 3 or 4 she would never be able to learn (Jensen, 2007, personal
communication, name used with permission). This story, which happened in 2006, is
reflective of the history of bias that USD has, and of the continued bias currently still at
USD as a result of the history.


Tsk Tsk Tsk...

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Shel~

"A child educated only at school is an uneducated child." -George Santayana

jillio

Exactly. And if they don't assessed for proficiency, they don't get information regarding the delays, either.

jillio

Bingo! How many times have we said it in the Deaf Ed threads?

jillio

While this is a reasonably complete paper, if one is truly interested in the history of deaf ed., I will be glad to refer to several published books that go into great detail.

jillio

Actually, the author mentions using IDEA as justification for not placing in special programs. That has nothing to do with delays or anything remotely resembling a "failure model", but is a reference to the LRE. We have discussed many times on this forum how the LRE is generally interpreted as meaning the home school district, and how that interpretation has a negative impact for the deaf child.

shel90

Yea, I understand that but I am trying to understand where FJ is coming from with this issue. Are people calling the LRE a failure model?

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Shel~

"A child educated only at school is an uneducated child." -George Santayana

jillio

I don't know. I'm still not getting where that comes from, since it isn't a theory of education. The LRE is based on civil rights, not educational theory.

Lighthouse77

Helen Keller started out in ASL, didn't she?

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Good thing about standards is that there are so many of them to choose from.

jillio

Kind of. She started out with fingerspelling, but it was the ASL alphabet.

Lighthouse77

oh, whatever it was, it was her first language before she learned to speak. and she turned out pretty good.

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Good thing about standards is that there are so many of them to choose from.

faire_jour

I am telling you that in Utah, services are NOT given until a child is delayed and as soon as they become age appropriate, the services are pulled and they are mainstreamed. The law is in the process of being fought, so that kids can get services.

Lighthouse77

what type of service are you talking about ?

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Good thing about standards is that there are so many of them to choose from.

shel90

Nobody is saying that you are lying but just that this is new stuff. That's a shame if Utah does that.

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Shel~

"A child educated only at school is an uneducated child." -George Santayana

faire_jour

You can't be at the School for the Deaf if you are not delayed. They pull the IEP and then you have to be mainstreamed. You can have a 504, and accomadations, but not Teacher of the Deaf services or a placement at the Deaf school.

Lighthouse77

oh ok.. So basically they don't let the parents decide what best for their deaf kids. They do the deciding because it is their tax money. One time I did not want to be in English LD class. I told my mom that I rather fail than be in that class (but honestly, it was my horrible English teacher who mumbled so much and refused to help me..and then demand that I'm better off in LD. It became a "contract" that I had to stay til 9th or 10th grade). they told my mom they did not want me to fail at all and forced us to be in that class rather I liked it or not.

and guess what, I quit trying. I just didn't care

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Good thing about standards is that there are so many of them to choose from.

jillio

There you go!

jillio

And I'm telling you if that is true, they are in violation of several Federal laws. There is nothing to fight in regard to the law. The Federal law is already on the books. Federal law over rides state law. The state law does not need to be changed. The Federal law is already in place to over ride the state law. If parents are allowing the state of Utah to engage in this practice, they are in need of some decent advocates that know what they are talking about and how to get things done.

jillio

Its a shame if the parents are allowing them to break Federal law. I am absolutely amazed that no one has taken them to court before now. They get away with it because the parents are allowing them to get away with it.

jillio

A 504 does not provide for accommodations. Only an IEP provides for accommodations.

Federal law states that unless the mainstream school can provide the accommodations as needed for the particular disability, they must send the child to a school that can provide the accommodation. Deafness is the only qualification necessary to get provision of services for the deaf. Delays are not necessary to provide for accommodation. Delays are necessary to have remediation as an accommodation only.

jillio

Unfortunately, many kids in the mainstream quit trying and stop caring because they aren't getting what they need. It is truly very sad.

jillio

The statement about the incidence of mental illness in the deaf population concerns me a bit. There has been much research done on this topic by well respected psychologists and psychiatrists, and the general consensus is that deaf people do not have a higher rate of mental illness than hearing people. They are misdiagnosed with mental illness more often, however, because the communication differences create a situation where what is a normal response for them is seen as symptomology because the professional doing the assessment did not take cultural and linguistic factors into account. However , that statement suggests that deaf people are more likely to be mentally ill just because they are deaf. That is a very innacurrate message to give.

It has been found that deaf adolescents have adjustment disorders at a higher rate than their hearing peers, but that doesn't have so much to do with their deafness as it does to the environment they are in. Deaf students with access to deaf peers and role models do not have as great a rate of adjustment disorders as do those that are mainstreamed without the psycho-social support they need. Situational depression and anxiety are also a bit greater in the adolescent/young adult deaf population for the same reason. However, the rates of clinical depression are about the same in the hearing population and the deaf population.

These are just more reasons why it is important to make sure that a deaf child has the appropriate educational placement. A placement that does not provide the psycho-social support a child needs puts them at greater risk for adjustment problems and depression and anxiety. It is not the deafness that is responsible; it is the environment.

Lighthouse77

I think deaf people have a harder time getting help if they do have a mental illness. Lack of communication never help them.

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Good thing about standards is that there are so many of them to choose from.

jillio

I will certainly agree with that. I would love to see more therapists and counselors becoming fluent in ASL.

LakeTahoe

I went to USD for about 4 years and I don't remember the strike was going on. I was like 5 to 9 years old when I was there.

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