My wonderful son needs support of the deaf community! Help!

TFShanahan

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Please help my son and sign the petition below (see link) We are trying to stop the discrimination against Deaf and hard of hearing students and grant live captioning technology (C-Print, Typewell or CART) and Closed Captioning to Ben C. (my son) and other students requesting similar services in his school district and others. I cannot believe this even has to be a fight! Please please please sign and explain to his district why this is so important!


http://petitions.moveon.org/sign/stop-discriminating-against-6.fb51?source=c.fb&r_by=11460752
 
http://www.ada.gov/


Did you try calling ADA Office? Schools have provide deaf and hoh students CART or some other ways to know what is going in school . If the school is not able to teach your son your city has to pay to send your child to a school that can teach him. You should find a lawyer that can help you .
 
The school district is trying to hide behind IDEA laws and don't seem to think that the ADA laws apply to them. I was told by the Executive Director of Special Education that he was not "really deaf" because he still has a "some hearing left." I explained that there was his audiologist and CI surgeon that would disagree, as would my son. We have hired lawyers and have also filed an ADA complaint. But, as many on this site may know....even though we are 100% sure we are right, they are going to fight us and every other family coming behind every step of the way. They will drag this out for the next 7 school years if they think they can get away with it.
There are no schools in our area that are equipped for Ben. He did attend the Regional Day School for the Deaf for one year, and it was a disaster. Horrible facility, staff and education. Very sad.
 
Your son need close captioned or subtitle for the video viewing for topic like science (example). That should be recommended even if it is in the 21st century. Also he can have CART to read what the teacher and students talk about in the classroom. CART is not always perfect but it is better than trying to lipread. He can speak orally if he can use ASL interpreters. With ASL interpreters, he can held his hand up to speak in oral for the answer. The interpreters would not have to speak for him if he choose to speak orally only. If he does not know ASL, then he is really lost not knowing what is being said as the same for lipreading is not accurate. He can only make out and guess what the speaker is saying.

I don't know what you are trying to say that your son's school does not provide these accommodations. Was he in the Special Education program? Deaf Education program? If not, then he is in the wrong school. I am from the old schools back in my days in the middle of 1950 to 1960 where they don't allow accommodations except allow for lipreading and oral-only methods (Special Education program). Things have changed when 1972 came around and provided ASL interpreters and maybe some accommodations for the Deaf an Hard Of Hearing (Deaf Education program). So what you might do is move to another mainstream school where there are deaf and hard of hearing children. They might have accommodations for your son.

I don't know about technologies that would help your son. I don't know anything about C-Print or Typewell. I am familiar with CART. I can not sign the petition until I know what is going on in that school that don't provide accommodations for your son. You need more to go on and explain what you are trying to say. Your son is deaf and should be able to attend ASL class, even in mainstream school so that he can have ASL interpreters to help him understand what is being said in the classroom.
 
The school district is trying to hide behind IDEA laws and don't seem to think that the ADA laws apply to them. I was told by the Executive Director of Special Education that he was not "really deaf" because he still has a "some hearing left." I explained that there was his audiologist and CI surgeon that would disagree, as would my son. We have hired lawyers and have also filed an ADA complaint. But, as many on this site may know....even though we are 100% sure we are right, they are going to fight us and every other family coming behind every step of the way. They will drag this out for the next 7 school years if they think they can get away with it.
There are no schools in our area that are equipped for Ben. He did attend the Regional Day School for the Deaf for one year, and it was a disaster. Horrible facility, staff and education. Very sad.

What a bummer and disturbing to hear people still have such negative attitudes toward deaf and hoh students . :(
 
The school district is trying to hide behind IDEA laws and don't seem to think that the ADA laws apply to them. I was told by the Executive Director of Special Education that he was not "really deaf" because he still has a "some hearing left." I explained that there was his audiologist and CI surgeon that would disagree, as would my son. We have hired lawyers and have also filed an ADA complaint. But, as many on this site may know....even though we are 100% sure we are right, they are going to fight us and every other family coming behind every step of the way. They will drag this out for the next 7 school years if they think they can get away with it.
There are no schools in our area that are equipped for Ben. He did attend the Regional Day School for the Deaf for one year, and it was a disaster. Horrible facility, staff and education. Very sad.
How far away from TSD are you?
http://www.tsd.state.tx.us/ I would contact their outreach and see if they could help. That sucks that the regional day school for the Deaf was such a bad experience.......however in states where mainstream deaf/special ed is bad, deaf schools are often better. I do know that TSD is getting really good....like it has over 700 students, this semester, and its becoming one of those schools that people move for......
 
I was told by the Executive Director of Special Education that he was not "really deaf" because he still has a "some hearing left."

This isn't a IDEA issue. IDEA includes ADA as would IEP if an individual is eligible.

This is an issue of eligibility. It sounds like your child has been declared legally deaf by his doctor. While there really is no legal standard for deafness, there is a point at which insurance will pay(no small matter). I'm not sure how Texas law works, but here, you would be eligible for a range of things such as handicap plate, etc. I would first seek out political help on this. Talk to your town/city representatives.
 
Wow. I'm glad you're fighting back. Don't give up. The Executive Director of Special Education has no clue at all. I bet He/She has no Deaf background. If I were you, I would send your son to TXD, but unfortunately you live in north of Dallas. You said you tried Regional Day for the Deaf program. Are you referred to Denton? If so, you could try other schools like Plano or Dallas, but their programs are Total Communication.

There is something else you all guys should understand about Dallas and it's full of musicians, engineers, scientists and physicists. The music and science culture is very strong there. Dallas is one of the top CI research labs in the US. If you hang out longer in Dallas, you will see quite several people with CI implants there. There are students with CI who grew up orally and were never taught with ASL. Just saying.
 
Wow. I'm glad you're fighting back. Don't give up. The Executive Director of Special Education has no clue at all. I bet He/She has no Deaf background. If I were you, I would send your son to TXD, but unfortunately you live in north of Dallas. You said you tried Regional Day for the Deaf program. Are you referred to Denton? If so, you could try other schools like Plano or Dallas, but their programs are Total Communication.

There is something else you all guys should understand about Dallas and it's full of musicians, engineers, scientists and physicists. The music and science culture is very strong there. Dallas is one of the top CI research labs in the US. If you hang out longer in Dallas, you will see quite several people with CI implants there. There are students with CI who grew up orally and were never taught with ASL. Just saying.


Oh, that is bad. It sound similar like in St. Louis, Missouri. They seem to want oral-only method and listening. Dang, I hate that. Geeze. :(
 
Oh, that is bad. It sound similar like in St. Louis, Missouri. They seem to want oral-only method and listening. Dang, I hate that. Geeze. :(

Actually, one of the oral schools pretty much closed(St Joseph's.....it's now an early intervention outreach program) and Moog and CID are ghosts of their former self......The Special School district (which uses ASL) IS booming, which is good!
 
Wow. I'm glad you're fighting back. Don't give up. The Executive Director of Special Education has no clue at all. I bet He/She has no Deaf background. If I were you, I would send your son to TXD, but unfortunately you live in north of Dallas. You said you tried Regional Day for the Deaf program. Are you referred to Denton? If so, you could try other schools like Plano or Dallas, but their programs are Total Communication.

There is something else you all guys should understand about Dallas and it's full of musicians, engineers, scientists and physicists. The music and science culture is very strong there. Dallas is one of the top CI research labs in the US. If you hang out longer in Dallas, you will see quite several people with CI implants there. There are students with CI who grew up orally and were never taught with ASL. Just saying.
Well TC programs can be modified for more ASL or more speech.......But I would totally move to take advantage of Texas School for the Deaf........it sucks so badly that hearing admins think that a dhh kid isn't really deaf b/c they have some hearing.......
 
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