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Alle-Kiski Valley deaf children ready to 'mainstream' - Pittsburgh Tribune-Review
Eric Macurdy never really thought he was different.
Since he was 2 years old, he would wake up before sunrise, catch a van outside his rural home and ride up to an hour-and-a-half -- sometimes the only student on board -- to get to school in Pittsburgh's Shadyside neighborhood. After a long day of classes, he'd get back in the van and do it all over again.
Aside from a few neighborhood friends, everyone else Eric knew had a similar routine.
Because almost everyone else he knew was just like him: deaf.
Diagnosed with profound bilateral hearing loss when he was 13 months old, he spent most of his life wearing hearing aids until -- like most deaf children these days -- he received one cochlear implant in 2008, and a second the following year.
Now 14 and able to hear almost as well as any other kid, Eric is set to leave the nurturing specialized school he's attended for 12 years -- DePaul School for Hearing and Speech -- to be a freshman at Freeport Area High School, which happens to be right down the street.
"I'm not really nervous," he says. "We had classes (at DePaul) where they told us what it'll be like, and I feel like I'm ready. I also spent one day a week there at the end of last (school) year."
His mom, Kathleen Macurdy, who, like her husband and daughter is not deaf, has the utmost confidence in her son. For the most part, Eric is a typical teenage boy who loves hunting, fishing, farming and working on his ATV. He hopes to get into heating and air conditioning repair. Kathleen believes the transition to Freeport Area will likely be more difficult for her.
"High school is so big, and so rushed," she says. "I'm afraid he could get lost in the cracks. Freeport has been great about getting him set up with special equipment to hear and extra study halls so he can catch up on anything he struggles with, But I know he's more ready for it than I am."
That could be because DePaul trains students differently than most schools for the deaf.
Instead of teaching sign language, the school focuses on spoken language skills and helping children adapt to everyday life in a hearing society.
It's a process called "mainstreaming," and Eric is one of 11 students making the switch from DePaul to public schools closer to home this fall.
The transition is typically more difficult for older students who might have been diagnosed or treated late. As more developments are made in treating hearing-impaired children, it's increasingly common for students to mainstream by early elementary age -- like 8 year-old Alexianna "Lexi" Mims of Rural Valley, Armstrong County, who will be attending third grade this fall at Shannock Valley Elementary School in the Armstrong School District.
Born seven weeks premature, she has a rare genetic disorder called Treacher-Collins syndrome, which brought moderate to severe hearing loss in both ears. She's worn a bone-anchored hearing aid on a soft band around her head since she was 2 months old.
But to see Lexi bound around, make silly faces and repeatedly beg her mom for a pool, you'd never know she has trouble hearing.
The 52-mile trip to DePaul often left her a little worn-down and prone to illness.
But Lexi says it'll take more than the sniffles to keep her away from her new school -- especially its "awesome" playground.
"I'm going every single day," she says. "Even if I'm sick."
Her mom, Mary Zaczyk, laughs and shakes her head.
"I don't think the other students would like that," she says.
The decreased travel distance will be a welcome weight off her mind, but public school brings new apprehension.
"When she was going to DePaul, I was nervous about the drive, but once she was there, I didn't worry," Zaczyk says. "Now, she'll be three minutes from our house, but I'll worry all day about what's happening at school."
Although Lexi will be outfitted with a special amplifying device that will help her hear in class, and Freeport Area is giving Eric a high-tech FM receiver so he'll hear what teachers say directly in his ear, it's normal for parents in this situation to worry.
Dave Williams, administrative director at DePaul, says students who mainstream typically perform as well as or better in their studies than their hearing peers.
But sometimes they can become isolated or afraid to stand up for themselves when they need help.
"When our students mainstream, all of them need a certain level of additional support, at least initially," Williams says. "It's wonderful for them to do well academically, but they really need to be a part of the student body and fit in. Just last summer, we started a social skills and self-advocacy program to help them build the skills they'll need to interact with teachers and other students, and we think it's been very successful."
In the cases of Eric and Lexi -- who became like brother and sister on their long rides to DePaul -- Williams is confident they'll have no trouble with the transition.
"Eric is one of the most interesting students I've met," says Williams. "He's so mature, and has such focus about what he wants to do with his life.
"And Lexi had a difficult time with the long rides back and forth, and I know it left her exhausted and unable to do a lot of activities," he said.
"Now, it's time for her to finally be a typical child."
Eric Macurdy never really thought he was different.
Since he was 2 years old, he would wake up before sunrise, catch a van outside his rural home and ride up to an hour-and-a-half -- sometimes the only student on board -- to get to school in Pittsburgh's Shadyside neighborhood. After a long day of classes, he'd get back in the van and do it all over again.
Aside from a few neighborhood friends, everyone else Eric knew had a similar routine.
Because almost everyone else he knew was just like him: deaf.
Diagnosed with profound bilateral hearing loss when he was 13 months old, he spent most of his life wearing hearing aids until -- like most deaf children these days -- he received one cochlear implant in 2008, and a second the following year.
Now 14 and able to hear almost as well as any other kid, Eric is set to leave the nurturing specialized school he's attended for 12 years -- DePaul School for Hearing and Speech -- to be a freshman at Freeport Area High School, which happens to be right down the street.
"I'm not really nervous," he says. "We had classes (at DePaul) where they told us what it'll be like, and I feel like I'm ready. I also spent one day a week there at the end of last (school) year."
His mom, Kathleen Macurdy, who, like her husband and daughter is not deaf, has the utmost confidence in her son. For the most part, Eric is a typical teenage boy who loves hunting, fishing, farming and working on his ATV. He hopes to get into heating and air conditioning repair. Kathleen believes the transition to Freeport Area will likely be more difficult for her.
"High school is so big, and so rushed," she says. "I'm afraid he could get lost in the cracks. Freeport has been great about getting him set up with special equipment to hear and extra study halls so he can catch up on anything he struggles with, But I know he's more ready for it than I am."
That could be because DePaul trains students differently than most schools for the deaf.
Instead of teaching sign language, the school focuses on spoken language skills and helping children adapt to everyday life in a hearing society.
It's a process called "mainstreaming," and Eric is one of 11 students making the switch from DePaul to public schools closer to home this fall.
The transition is typically more difficult for older students who might have been diagnosed or treated late. As more developments are made in treating hearing-impaired children, it's increasingly common for students to mainstream by early elementary age -- like 8 year-old Alexianna "Lexi" Mims of Rural Valley, Armstrong County, who will be attending third grade this fall at Shannock Valley Elementary School in the Armstrong School District.
Born seven weeks premature, she has a rare genetic disorder called Treacher-Collins syndrome, which brought moderate to severe hearing loss in both ears. She's worn a bone-anchored hearing aid on a soft band around her head since she was 2 months old.
But to see Lexi bound around, make silly faces and repeatedly beg her mom for a pool, you'd never know she has trouble hearing.
The 52-mile trip to DePaul often left her a little worn-down and prone to illness.
But Lexi says it'll take more than the sniffles to keep her away from her new school -- especially its "awesome" playground.
"I'm going every single day," she says. "Even if I'm sick."
Her mom, Mary Zaczyk, laughs and shakes her head.
"I don't think the other students would like that," she says.
The decreased travel distance will be a welcome weight off her mind, but public school brings new apprehension.
"When she was going to DePaul, I was nervous about the drive, but once she was there, I didn't worry," Zaczyk says. "Now, she'll be three minutes from our house, but I'll worry all day about what's happening at school."
Although Lexi will be outfitted with a special amplifying device that will help her hear in class, and Freeport Area is giving Eric a high-tech FM receiver so he'll hear what teachers say directly in his ear, it's normal for parents in this situation to worry.
Dave Williams, administrative director at DePaul, says students who mainstream typically perform as well as or better in their studies than their hearing peers.
But sometimes they can become isolated or afraid to stand up for themselves when they need help.
"When our students mainstream, all of them need a certain level of additional support, at least initially," Williams says. "It's wonderful for them to do well academically, but they really need to be a part of the student body and fit in. Just last summer, we started a social skills and self-advocacy program to help them build the skills they'll need to interact with teachers and other students, and we think it's been very successful."
In the cases of Eric and Lexi -- who became like brother and sister on their long rides to DePaul -- Williams is confident they'll have no trouble with the transition.
"Eric is one of the most interesting students I've met," says Williams. "He's so mature, and has such focus about what he wants to do with his life.
"And Lexi had a difficult time with the long rides back and forth, and I know it left her exhausted and unable to do a lot of activities," he said.
"Now, it's time for her to finally be a typical child."
