Miss-Delectable
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http://web.dailytimes.com/story.lasso?ewcd=3283865dc7f6efd0
While most area students eagerly are anticipating the end of the school year, the deaf students in the Kerrville Independent School District don’t know if they will have a program to come back to for the 2006-07 school year.
“The situation is, we’re down to three kids, and we’re looking at other kinds of options,” said Director of Special Education Ronald Chew. “I’m not saying that we’re not going to be able to serve those kids next year as we phase it out, but we just think, with deaf kids, they need a better group of deaf peers.”
Cheryl Blevins’ daughter, Amber, is in KISD’s program for the deaf. She said that while having deaf peers for her daughter is beneficial, she also has to learn how to live in a hearing world.
“I don’t expect everyone to cater to her, but something just as basic as communication, I mean come on,” she said.
Chew took back his original generalization and said whether deaf students need to be around other deaf students really depends on the level of their disability.
“That’s a really detailed question that you have to talk about on an individual basis,” he said. “If you are a hard-of-hearing child, then you want to stay as close (to the hearing world) as you can. If you are a totally deaf child and depend on sign language for a communication system because you don’t hear anything, then the deaf culture and the deaf world is something they should be exposed to. It’s very individualized per child, and I would never make a generalized statement that that is what every deaf child needs.”
Blevins said she’s frustrated to be finding out about the possible program changes.
“They waited so long into the school year to tell us that they weren’t going to fund the program next year,” she said. “I feel like at the beginning of the year they, should have looked into some other options.”
Blevins found out about the program’s instability during her daughter’s Individualized Education Program meeting on April 4.
While Chew was not clear on when the district decided to look at possibly closing the program, he said it is difficult to plan a program for just three students.
“It becomes very difficult to program for kids with such a wide age span,” Chew said. “That’s one of the things that we’re looking at and that we’re weighing. Once again, I would say, for the most part right now, services are going to continue in Kerrville for next year.”
However, parents could soon find that there is not a program for their children to attend in KISD, he said.
“We are trying to work on that as quickly as possible,” Chew said.
That uncertainty is what made the Blevins’ decide to sell their dream home and move out of Kerrville.
“We’re in the process of putting our beautiful home on the market and leaving it, because we moved here five years ago with the expectation and the thought that we would be able to live here forever, and our deaf kid would have an education. And that’s just not the case,” Blevins said.
She said her family wants to be in a district where the program is stable and not up in the air every year.
“This program is not stable, and I don’t want to have this fight again next year,” Blevins said. “I don’t want to have this fight again the following year. If this is something we’re going to have to battle out every year, it’s just exhausting.”
While Chew said he would not discourage parents with deaf students from moving to Kerrville, he would tell them the program is volatile.
“I would be honest with them,” he said. “I would tell them that with hearing-impaired kids, how we program for them is up in the air right now.”
While most area students eagerly are anticipating the end of the school year, the deaf students in the Kerrville Independent School District don’t know if they will have a program to come back to for the 2006-07 school year.
“The situation is, we’re down to three kids, and we’re looking at other kinds of options,” said Director of Special Education Ronald Chew. “I’m not saying that we’re not going to be able to serve those kids next year as we phase it out, but we just think, with deaf kids, they need a better group of deaf peers.”
Cheryl Blevins’ daughter, Amber, is in KISD’s program for the deaf. She said that while having deaf peers for her daughter is beneficial, she also has to learn how to live in a hearing world.
“I don’t expect everyone to cater to her, but something just as basic as communication, I mean come on,” she said.
Chew took back his original generalization and said whether deaf students need to be around other deaf students really depends on the level of their disability.
“That’s a really detailed question that you have to talk about on an individual basis,” he said. “If you are a hard-of-hearing child, then you want to stay as close (to the hearing world) as you can. If you are a totally deaf child and depend on sign language for a communication system because you don’t hear anything, then the deaf culture and the deaf world is something they should be exposed to. It’s very individualized per child, and I would never make a generalized statement that that is what every deaf child needs.”
Blevins said she’s frustrated to be finding out about the possible program changes.
“They waited so long into the school year to tell us that they weren’t going to fund the program next year,” she said. “I feel like at the beginning of the year they, should have looked into some other options.”
Blevins found out about the program’s instability during her daughter’s Individualized Education Program meeting on April 4.
While Chew was not clear on when the district decided to look at possibly closing the program, he said it is difficult to plan a program for just three students.
“It becomes very difficult to program for kids with such a wide age span,” Chew said. “That’s one of the things that we’re looking at and that we’re weighing. Once again, I would say, for the most part right now, services are going to continue in Kerrville for next year.”
However, parents could soon find that there is not a program for their children to attend in KISD, he said.
“We are trying to work on that as quickly as possible,” Chew said.
That uncertainty is what made the Blevins’ decide to sell their dream home and move out of Kerrville.
“We’re in the process of putting our beautiful home on the market and leaving it, because we moved here five years ago with the expectation and the thought that we would be able to live here forever, and our deaf kid would have an education. And that’s just not the case,” Blevins said.
She said her family wants to be in a district where the program is stable and not up in the air every year.
“This program is not stable, and I don’t want to have this fight again next year,” Blevins said. “I don’t want to have this fight again the following year. If this is something we’re going to have to battle out every year, it’s just exhausting.”
While Chew said he would not discourage parents with deaf students from moving to Kerrville, he would tell them the program is volatile.
“I would be honest with them,” he said. “I would tell them that with hearing-impaired kids, how we program for them is up in the air right now.”