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St. Rita branches out | cincinnati.com | Cincinnati.Com
At 18 months old, Phoebe Krause's silence was telling.
The West Chester toddler did not babble. There were no "Mama's" or "Dada's," just silence and screams.
Her mother, Stacy Krause, was worried. A pediatrician thought the problem was socialization and recommended putting Phoebe in day care.
But at day care, Krause said, "Phoebe was withdrawing further and was constantly laying in a corner, clutching her stuffed pig and trying to soothe herself."
Phoebe, now 4, was diagnosed at age 2 with childhood apraxia of speech, a neurological disorder that affects the motor skills that result in speech.
Phoebe knew what she wanted to say, but not how to say it. She would need intensive speech therapy. Speech therapists at Nationwide Children's Hospital in Columbus estimate that 1 to 10 children in 1,000 may suffer from apraxia of speech.
Krause learned at a parents group that St. Rita School for the Deaf in Evendale has one of the nation's few programs educating apraxic children.
The 95-year-old school best known for working with deaf children has expanded into other communications disorders.
In addition to its 65 deaf and hard-of-hearing students in its K-12 classes, it also helps about 45 students who can hear but have apraxia. In addition, the school's growing preschool includes deaf, hearing and apraxic students.
St. Rita's apraxia program, called Sign n' Say, teaches students sign language to give them another way to communicate while they build a language base and keep up with peers academically and socially.
"Sign language uses a different part of our brain than spoken English does," said Angela Frith, a spokeswoman. "It's giving them opportunities to socialize and build up self-esteem."
'Given My Daughter A Voice'
Ellen Brigger, a lead teacher in the program, combines Montessori techniques with others she has learned that boost communications. Speech therapists are embedded in classrooms and computer programs demonstrate sounds and signs of each letter to help students.
At a recent kindergarten class, a teacher read "The Polar Express." Some children fidgeted and looked away, losing interest.
When she silently "signed" the story, the fidgeters stopped. Students paid attention to each hand movement and facial expression. When she read the book aloud again, emphasizing certain words by signing the sounds and using her voice, the students tried to emulate her.
Brigger said apraxic students' reading comprehension on tests "goes way up" after they've seen a passage signed, even though they can hear it being read. That is because apraxic chidren's brains have difficulty hearing and understanding the order of sounds and sentences, she said.
"They'll hear what you're saying but the individual phonemes get mixed up," she said.
Their brains can be taught the order of sounds, she said, but it takes longer than with typical kids, up to three years longer.
Students in the program learn to read, write and say words in myriad ways. They may sound out words by touching a finger for each sound, or they may manipulate plastic letters on a slate to build a word. To build a sentence, some line up colored blocks in an order representing word types and function in a sentence.
In kindergarten, students have daily "meetings," informal conversations to use their voice in a relaxed fashion.
Older kids may learn a phonics song and dance. And older, deaf students are called in as mentors.
St. Rita's K-12 grade classes are small. A fifth-grade class has three boys; the kindergarten had eight children and several teachers and assistants.
Most parents don't pay St. Rita's $29,500 annual tuition. Public schools contract with St. Rita with the expectation that most students will attend regular classes later. Most parents paying tuition are charged on a sliding scale and get financial aid.
Recently St. Rita launched a non-profit to spread its knowledge about teaching despite communication difficulties. Brigger and other teachers are gathering lessons and curricula to publish online for other educators and parents. The school plans to videotape parts of the curricula and develop iPad applications and workshops.
Meanwhile, Phoebe Krause is blossoming, her mother said.
"St. Rita has given my daughter a voice - with her hands and in speaking."
At 18 months old, Phoebe Krause's silence was telling.
The West Chester toddler did not babble. There were no "Mama's" or "Dada's," just silence and screams.
Her mother, Stacy Krause, was worried. A pediatrician thought the problem was socialization and recommended putting Phoebe in day care.
But at day care, Krause said, "Phoebe was withdrawing further and was constantly laying in a corner, clutching her stuffed pig and trying to soothe herself."
Phoebe, now 4, was diagnosed at age 2 with childhood apraxia of speech, a neurological disorder that affects the motor skills that result in speech.
Phoebe knew what she wanted to say, but not how to say it. She would need intensive speech therapy. Speech therapists at Nationwide Children's Hospital in Columbus estimate that 1 to 10 children in 1,000 may suffer from apraxia of speech.
Krause learned at a parents group that St. Rita School for the Deaf in Evendale has one of the nation's few programs educating apraxic children.
The 95-year-old school best known for working with deaf children has expanded into other communications disorders.
In addition to its 65 deaf and hard-of-hearing students in its K-12 classes, it also helps about 45 students who can hear but have apraxia. In addition, the school's growing preschool includes deaf, hearing and apraxic students.
St. Rita's apraxia program, called Sign n' Say, teaches students sign language to give them another way to communicate while they build a language base and keep up with peers academically and socially.
"Sign language uses a different part of our brain than spoken English does," said Angela Frith, a spokeswoman. "It's giving them opportunities to socialize and build up self-esteem."
'Given My Daughter A Voice'
Ellen Brigger, a lead teacher in the program, combines Montessori techniques with others she has learned that boost communications. Speech therapists are embedded in classrooms and computer programs demonstrate sounds and signs of each letter to help students.
At a recent kindergarten class, a teacher read "The Polar Express." Some children fidgeted and looked away, losing interest.
When she silently "signed" the story, the fidgeters stopped. Students paid attention to each hand movement and facial expression. When she read the book aloud again, emphasizing certain words by signing the sounds and using her voice, the students tried to emulate her.
Brigger said apraxic students' reading comprehension on tests "goes way up" after they've seen a passage signed, even though they can hear it being read. That is because apraxic chidren's brains have difficulty hearing and understanding the order of sounds and sentences, she said.
"They'll hear what you're saying but the individual phonemes get mixed up," she said.
Their brains can be taught the order of sounds, she said, but it takes longer than with typical kids, up to three years longer.
Students in the program learn to read, write and say words in myriad ways. They may sound out words by touching a finger for each sound, or they may manipulate plastic letters on a slate to build a word. To build a sentence, some line up colored blocks in an order representing word types and function in a sentence.
In kindergarten, students have daily "meetings," informal conversations to use their voice in a relaxed fashion.
Older kids may learn a phonics song and dance. And older, deaf students are called in as mentors.
St. Rita's K-12 grade classes are small. A fifth-grade class has three boys; the kindergarten had eight children and several teachers and assistants.
Most parents don't pay St. Rita's $29,500 annual tuition. Public schools contract with St. Rita with the expectation that most students will attend regular classes later. Most parents paying tuition are charged on a sliding scale and get financial aid.
Recently St. Rita launched a non-profit to spread its knowledge about teaching despite communication difficulties. Brigger and other teachers are gathering lessons and curricula to publish online for other educators and parents. The school plans to videotape parts of the curricula and develop iPad applications and workshops.
Meanwhile, Phoebe Krause is blossoming, her mother said.
"St. Rita has given my daughter a voice - with her hands and in speaking."
