Deaf child adoption

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coco

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Hi, I was hoping to get a little info and help. My sister is in the process of adopting a 4yr old girl (My soon to be niece) and we have recently found out the she has profound hearing loss in both ears. We were shocked by this news because the adoption process is well under way and this has not been told to us. We dont know much else than that except that she does use some ASL (not sure how much) She is not in this country but is being raised by americans where she is so she is learning english/ASL. Anyways I was wondering if anyone could tell me of some schools for the deaf/hoh in the San Antonio, TX area. The only one we can find so far is Sunshine cottage. We just want to do our research on schools because sunshine cottage does not allow the use of signing (not sure why) and we know she already signs. My sister, her husband, myself, and other family members will be taking asl courses soon too. Any other info on even where to begin with a new child would be greatly appreciated. Thanks
 
What about the regional day school for the Deaf? If you contact the deaf organization in San Antonio, they should be able to help you.
 
First of all, :welcome: and congrats on your adoption! Second of all, kudos to all of you for taking ASL classes..that's just wonderful. Ok, try contacting Texas School for the Deaf (it is one of the biggest deaf schools in the nation)...Welcome to the Texas School for the Deaf
 
Yeah, too bad you're not in Austin....that school rocks! They do have a regional day school for the Deaf. One of my friends went to dhh classes in San Antonio while growing up. Sunshine Cottage might be a good idea for supplementary speech services. Not too sure how good the speech services are through the regional day school for the deaf.
 
Austin is a very real possibility for us. San Antonio is only about 1hr away depending on how deep into Austin the school is. I guess we will see. We don't know how much education she is receiving at this time. We just want to prepare as best as possible and have already done as much research on schools as we can before she arrives. Not sure if we are going for an oral-learning approach or mainstreaming or what at this point. Sorry I don't know alot of the abreviations on here yet but I am reading lots of post and trying to learn as much as possible about the deaf community and deaf culture. It seems like most deafies (is that an ok term?) would rather not do mainstreaming. Maybe a mixture of both? I dunno yet. It is kind of hard to find the deaf community when you don't really know where to start.
 
What a wonderful family this little girl will be a part of. God Luck with all your research. Yor off to a good start.
 
I wouldn't put her in sunshine cottage if she's not accustomed to speaking English.

Let her keep on using ASL and provide her with speech therapy if she has the capacity for speech.

Hope she'll be happy with your family, and loving the school she will attend, wherever that is.

Texas School for the Deaf is a good choice. They'll have all the resources a child will need.

Good luck with learning ASL and all that. :)
 
adoption

Please learn as much ASL as you can before she comes home. You will need to know as much as you can so that you can comfort her when she arrives....and if she already knows ASL she will be comforted to know that you have the same language.

You are very lucky/blessed to have her already learning ASL. We just adopted a 5 year old who is profoundly deaf and he had no sign language.

As far as schooling, I hope you find a wonderful school. We are still searching. We have our child in a public school deaf and hard of hearing program. They speak and use sign 100% of the time....but it is not ASL it is SEE sign. So we will see if this ends up a good fit. Our child will know both ASL and SEE.

Beware you may have well meaning family and friends...but once the ASL road gets rough and the newness wears off ..... they trickle away and no longer learn ASL. They are too busy or not understanding it. It is difficult...I have heard this from many families.

Whether you pursue hearing aids, cochlear implants or neither....please learn ASL so you child always has a way to communicate with you.

Congratulations! It is an amazing journey.
 
coco said:
Austin is a very real possibility for us. San Antonio is only about 1hr away depending on how deep into Austin the school is. I guess we will see. We don't know how much education she is receiving at this time. We just want to prepare as best as possible and have already done as much research on schools as we can before she arrives. Not sure if we are going for an oral-learning approach or mainstreaming or what at this point. Sorry I don't know alot of the abreviations on here yet but I am reading lots of post and trying to learn as much as possible about the deaf community and deaf culture. It seems like most deafies (is that an ok term?) would rather not do mainstreaming. Maybe a mixture of both? I dunno yet. It is kind of hard to find the deaf community when you don't really know where to start.
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If you have access to Austin, and thus the deaf school, TAKE IT! Texas School has oral training available....in fact it's got a heavy mix of kids, from voice off to very oral but signs and everything and anything in between. MHO, if I had a deaf (or a blind) kid I would send them to a deaf school for preschool/kindergarten/ and early grades, so they could have the foundation for sucessful mainstreaming. Then I would slowly introduce mainstreaming if needed/wanted . I would mainstream at a magnet school (one of those schools where dhh kids attend) I would also remember that middle and high school is really tough and keep open deaf school placement for middle and high school.
 
Thanks everyone for all the advice and input. We are expecting the adoption to be finalized in about 6 to 8 months. We will be diligently trying to learn ASL in the mean time. My sister, my self and a few other family members are already signs up for a community education begginers ASL course that will start in March. We have already asked if the class continues to ASL 2 or advanced courses and they said that if there is enough interest than they will do another course but usually the next course doesn't make. What are the best books or DVD's that have the most accurate signs? I have looked on Amazon and there are quite a few choices to choose from. I already have 'The joy of signing' and also a workbook that goes with it, but somebody told me that it is not accurate, so any info will help. Thanks.
 
My two cents

San Antonio College is one of the best places to learn sign language. Books only help so much. You have one of the books I think is good. Another possible place is ASLpro.com this site is based in Texas so it has the sign that most often are used in Texas schools. Sunshine cottage is an oral only school because they belief that is the best way to teach students to be a part of a hearing society. I would also suggest the parents get the book "raising and educating deaf children" by Marsachak (not sure on spelling) this gives you a good overview about the issues deaf children face. There are regional schools for the deaf in most of the school districts in San Antonio.
 
Wirelessly posted (Blackberry Bold )

Another vote for the aslpro.com website - it's one of the best out there for vocabulary.


Also, contact the school in Austin and ask if they can put you in touch with other parents/relatives as well as begin introducing you to the Deaf Community in general. Between these resources you'll hopefully get several suggestions re places to take take ASL (Austin likely even has a ASL summer program for families).


I'd Skip the Joy of Signing book - it's ancient and most of the signs are out of date.

The Random House dictionary (th complete hardcopy, not the softcover version) is a good "paper reference" to have.
 
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For home learning, an ASL teacher, recommended these:

It's pricey at this web site, but you might check Amazon, too, for used copies as well as new:

Signing Naturally 1-6 Student Set

There are also 2 more levels after this one.

We lucked out and our DD took ASL at her community college, and had the older edition + the vhs tape, so my DH & I are using that at home, while we wait for the deaf advocacy to offer the next segment of Beginning ASL in the fall.
 
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