Question about ARC meeting and (possibly) over-riding the decision

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wenharas

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Hi, everyone. I posted earlier about moving our child from a public school HI program to a residential school for the Deaf. This is her choice and we fully support it. We see the social-emotional need and her desire to develop ASL in addition to her spoken language skills.

The district has already indicated their opposition based on the fact that she has a CI and has been in oral placements. If the ARC committee decides to deny our change if placement, does anyone know if we can override? We can pull her from the district by saying she will go to private school or that we intend to homeschool but neither of those are actually appropriate. Does anyone know which section of IDEA might apply?:hmm:
 
Have you argued that her needs have changed? She's as good as she's going to get with speech.....you don't need to worry about speech any more....She needs fluency in ASL...You could argue that she now needs to learn how to function WITHOUT her aids,and that she would ALSO strongly benifit socially.....Are her social issues significent? That's a BIGGIE, as social skills are really the biggest determinent about getting a job. If it was purely about how smart/educated you are, the Asperger's/ high functioning autism community would have zero employment. Also by attending a Deaf school, she'll be able to take advantage of the Deaf community for networking for jobs.
Someone suggested Have them contact the outreach department of the school they choose........I hope desperately you can appeal......this will be an amazing oppertunity for your daughter.....
 
Contact your State Dept of Education and ask for Parent Advocate. Also contact the Deaf school and ask for help as well and tips.

Do not SIGN anything on the IEP. If they drag their feed, demand (IN WRITING) that you want a MEETing within 2 weeks, you want their rationale for supporting/denying your child's move to the Deaf school.

CI and Oral only program does not fit everyone's needs (and when it does - it tends to end around 4th grade cuz that's when the class instruction moves to lecture rather than collective hands-on method of teaching).

You can fight it - just contact the State Dept of Ed and the Sp. Ed department - Ask for a PARENT ADVOCATE>
 
Thanks for reminding me about contacting the state dept. of education. I'll keep that in my back pocket.

We have the meeting scheduled to discuss changing her placement. We have already talked about the fact that her needs have changed and the fact that she needs and wants ASL. Our argument is strong and based in her social-emotional development but our district does not like to let go of kids - ever! I've spoken to the person who will be facilitating the meeting and she was very condescending.

It bothers me that one or two people who have never met my daughter can have the power to stop us from doing what we feel is right for her.


Sarah, hearing mom to Deaf teen (CI, pretty good spoken language user, enthusiastic ASL student)

Sent from my iPhone using AllDeaf
 
here's a bunch of advice from various and sundry people...number one, a parent of a Deaf son.. I would keep going back to the IDEA's definition of "deafness"...it is something like a severe hearing disabiblity that impairs linguistic info with or without amplification, that affects a student's ability to learn. They need to look up the actual definition, but the "with amplication" part is important
number two (from a Deaf activist who is involved in her state's Association of the Deaf) he needs to get a lawyer. No district has the right to determine what's appropriate for a student, and they are just stalling and expecting her to not know her rights.
Have you tried Hands and Voices?
Also,I would suggest sending her to Deaf camp this summer.....that will help a LOT....There is a member here, who was in the exact sitution your daughter is in....Grew up oral,but with HAs and with inclusion, rather then being in an oral dhh program.....She went to camp at her state's Deaf School....LOVED it...and it REALLY helped her...she's now at the Deaf School and THRIVING in ways she didn't in the mainstream......
 
Wenharas, the school district is in NO place to nor does it have the right to dictate your child's education whatsoever. As other users have mentioned, you can do the following: (1) speak to the Department of Education in your own state and ask for a Parent Advocate; (2) refer to the IDEA and ADA acts; (3) obtain a lawyer - you could do this pro bono; and (4) look into a statewide parent advocacy network. You can also obtain written letters of support from local Deaf psychologists, social workers and other professionals who agree with your daughter's decision to go to a state residential school for the deaf. Talk with representatives and officials at the state residential school for the deaf - I'm pretty positive they have dealt with this kind of situation before and just may have tools for you. All the best of luck!
 
We had our ARC meeting yesterday and got our daughter's placement changed. She is officially attending out state school in the fall!

Right now she is there for the summer school program. She loved it last year and couldn't wait to go back.

Thanks for the encouragement! :)


Sarah, hearing mom to Deaf teen (CI, pretty good spoken language user, enthusiastic ASL student)

Sent from my iPhone using AllDeaf
 
wenharas said:
We had our ARC meeting yesterday and got our daughter's placement changed. She is officially attending out state school in the fall!

Right now she is there for the summer school program. She loved it last year and couldn't wait to go back.

Thanks for the encouragement! :)


Sarah, hearing mom to Deaf teen (CI, pretty good spoken language user, enthusiastic ASL student)

Sent from my iPhone using AllDeaf
Click to expand...
WOOHOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!! SO excited for her! I do think while res/deaf school isn't for everyone, it can ALSO be a VERY important piece of the puzzle for many formally oral/mainstream kids. Circumstances change a heck of a lot as kids get older. ..Not talking to anyone specificly, but there DOES seem to be this mentality in raising oral kids that "oh get the kid oral and they can just magically assimulate into the mainstream." Like they think that oral skills are a bigger piece of the puzzle to sucess, then they actually ARE. People who push that mentality seem to have this weird fanasty that the mainstream is "gosharootie, let's go out for a malted with Our Special Friend right before the BIG GAME!" They really don't understand/remember how tough social life is in the mainstream....They also seem to not understand that the mainstream is NOT universally good..Yes, in some cases, dhh kids do well academicly and socially,when the right pieces of the puzzle are there....Sadly often they AREN'T there!...I do think you're going to see a transformation of your daughter.....It'll be hard to only see her on weekends/vacations but, I think that it will be AMAZING for her...she'll become ASL fluent,develop amazing close friendships, become independent etc etc.....And with the right pieces of the puzzle.....she could do so well that she might become valectorian and be an acheiver,instead of doggy paddling in a mainstream/oral sitution.
 
Oh, and for the lurkers,who think we're crazy applauding an oral student's going to res school.........Yes, there are crappy Deaf Schools...There are ALSO good Deaf Schools.....Just the same as there are crappy hearing schools and good hearing schools. Just b/c there may be REALLY bad deaf schools, that doesn't automaticly mean that if your child is enrolled in a hearing school that they will get a good education. I found out just the other day that there are dhh kids at Illnois School for the Deaf who take a mix of classes, and do so well, they are taking AP classes at the local mainstream school! These are kids who Sign! (according to current A-O thinking that's a methodology that automaticly causes low education/acheivement levels?!?!!?) Then there are oral/mainstreamed kids (no other problems) who "graduate" from a hearing school with a certificate of attendance!?!?! The cracks in the mainstream are HUGE.I know a HOH mainstreamed/oral 25 year old whom I had to explain the difference between past and future tense....she said she had trouble with that area....and I was horrified to put it VERY mildly.......A good education actually is a LOT more then learning to read and write. There's incidental learning and social skills as well...Even most A/O kids who do well academicly still struggle with stuff like social skills, and identity and fitting in.....that's VERY hard to do in a mainstream hearing school.....issues in those areas are still very very common....including with kids whose parents are so positive they are doing SO WELL! My friend worked with dhh students for decades and had college students who were oral/mainstreamed who didn't know how to count by 2s and 4s and didn't know how to alphabetize stuff?!?!!?....There are a lot of dhh (and other disabled) kids who were mainstreamed and have OK academic skills....but they are doggy paddling in the ways that REALLY count....heck, many of them are doggy paddling academicly...........there are many many different pieces to the puzzle for sucess...........
 
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BTW Sarah, someone on FB wanted to know how you managed to override the decision......Would love to hear how you did it...may help others.
 
We didn't have to override the decision. Thankfully! But we did make a very detailed case, citing both academic and social/emotional reasons why we wanted to change her placement. Being prepared and laying out our reasons clearly with detail was the key.


Sarah, hearing mom to Deaf teen (CI, pretty good spoken language user, enthusiastic ASL student)

Sent from my iPhone using AllDeaf
 
Deafdyke, your comments about cracks in the system are right on the money. Each parent has to evaluate the options available to them and really know their child's needs. What is good for for one student may not work for another, deaf or hearing, gifted or delayed.


Sarah, hearing mom to Deaf teen (CI, pretty good spoken language user, enthusiastic ASL student)

Sent from my iPhone using AllDeaf
 
wenharas said:
Deafdyke, your comments about cracks in the system are right on the money. Each parent has to evaluate the options available to them and really know their child's needs. What is good for for one student may not work for another, deaf or hearing, gifted or delayed.


Sarah, hearing mom to Deaf teen (CI, pretty good spoken language user, enthusiastic ASL student)

Sent from my iPhone using AllDeaf
Click to expand...

:) Yeah....the problem is that there's an idealization of the auditory-verbal style of academic functioning (ie hearing school with minimal accomondations)
Do you wish you'd had a heads up about the issues that can (and do) crop up? Do you wish that you'd known it wasn't an either/or thing when it comes to education/language etc? Do you wish you'd known more about the Deaf School option?
 
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