Preschool opens doors to deaf kids ...

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Preschool opens doors to deaf kids ...

PALMYRA — South Jersey preschool options for most 3-or 4-year-old children are plentiful between public and private facilities, but Jacob Murphy had just two school choices this year, said his mother, Carolyn Murphy -- Trenton or home-school specialists.

Jacob, 3, is severely hard of hearing and needs sign language or specialized auditory classroom technology for his education. Every school district is required by law to provide the least restrictive educational setting for students with disabilities, but few New Jersey schools have preschool programs equipped to handle pediatric auditory demands of the deaf or partially deaf students. The closest to the Murphys is the Trenton-based New Jersey School for the Deaf, referred to as Katzenbach.

Despite Katzenbach's excellent facilities, Murphy was concerned her youngest of four boys would have to ride a bus three hours a day for his education. But before she had to make this decision, Palmyra School District agreed to fill the void for Jacob, and for a dozen other students and their families in similar situations.

Starting in less than three weeks, the tri-county region will have a new preschool program for the hearing disabled with a teacher of the deaf at the Delaware Avenue School. The program will feature full auditory enhancement technology and regular visits from hearing and occupational therapists. The program is expected to accept children from the region, and several families have already visited the school, officials said.

"We believe we can meet this need," said Palmyra School District Superintendent Richard Perry. "There is no program like this anywhere in South Jersey."

Several school districts have programs for the deaf and partially deaf, including Moorestown and Gloucester County's Special Services School District. Moorestown, however, begins its services for kindergarten students. Gloucester County's school is an option for auditory handicapped children as well, but it typically enrolls only students with multiple disabilities, said Michael Dicken, the district's assistant superintendent.

More New Jersey children are being diagnosed with hearing loss at an early age because state legislation passed in 2002 requires all children to be screened at birth for hearing loss, said Therese Sheehan, a state Education Department's coordinator of special education programs.

As of 2005, the most recent statistics available from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, about 110,000 babies were screened for hearing loss, or 98.5 percent of all babies born that year. Nearly three out of every 1,000 children in the United States are born deaf or hard of hearing, according to the National Institute on Deafness and other Communication Disorders.

The first New Jersey newborns mandated for the testing are now of preschool and kindergarten age, and with the testing, the demand for specialized hearing programs has grown. But there are gaps for preschool facilities, Sheehan said.

"We're very excited about (Palmyra's program)," Sheehan said. "There is a need."

Palmyra's concept would serve students outside Palmyra. For providing these services, the district would receive tuition (from sending school districts) starting at around $12,400 a year, but increased needs and support requires additional cash. Perry said the goal is to enroll six students by the end of January and expand to 10 or 12 by the start of the 2009-10 year.

"We're confident that tuition revenues will cover the program in itself and beyond," he said. "We actually think we're going to make a little money, and also put money in a fund balance for the future expansion of the program."

The district isn't going to expand a program faster than a school can handle, but the vision includes goals to integrate the students into Palmyra's schools. By law, the school district can't make a profit, only cover costs, Sheehan said.

"We would like to have them move up in a cohort and become part of our school district," said Robert Pupchik, Palmyra's Director of Special Services. "We're going to start this one class in January, but we've gotten so much feedback that we're going to expand the program to more than one class."

Nearby in Moorestown, Cynthia Moskalow, the district supervisor of Special Education, said she's happy with Palmyra's initiation, and doesn't have a problem with another school serving the auditory disabled population.

"I don't think of it as competition. If another school is able to that, that is fantastic," Moskalow said. "It's so important for districts to have relationships in their home district."

Moorestown, which started its program for the deaf and partially deaf in 1969,is the longest running in the tri-county region. It has kept in operation because of dedicated staff and a long-running community, Moskalow said. Despite statewide budget woes, she said has kept 13 interpreters and additional paraprofessionals on staff to handle its 24 students this year. She said this is not an operation a school would go into to make money. It's purposeful.

"We have dedicated staff. They are not only teachers and interpreters who come to work everyday, but this is their life," Moskalow said. "They are immersed in the deaf culture and community."

Back in Palmyra, Carolyn Murphy couldn't be more pleased.

"When they said they were thinking about this, I was just ecstatic," she said. "We already know the teachers, and I'm confident in the program they already had. When I found out it was going though, I was just in tears."

Reference with pictures and you can leave a comment: Courier Post Online News Article