Re: survey: degree of loss/mainstream

[Guest guest]

My daughter is 6. She received her CI in May after wearing HAs since 19 mo. She

went to an oral school for the hearing impaired until Kindergarten. She is now

retaking kindergarten in mainstream in our neighborhood. The teacher is great.

She wears an FM. She gets 1/2 hr speech a day and 40 min/day of TOD. I also

take her to 2 private AVTs during the week.

Yet, she is still behind and while all the teachers love her and we get lots of

support, education will always be hard for her. She is redoing Kindergarten so

that she can be with language peers. She is happy, made some friends. I know

she struggles.

I don't know when it will become easier for her. I would not want her to be in

the school for the deaf still. I think that as long as I keep on top of the

teachers and stay informed I can assist her.

I have all the concerns you do, especially socially. We are, so far, ok with our

decision and cautiously optimistic.

Diane

survey: degree of loss/mainstream

Hi Ladies. I'm perplexed and would like some help.

To catch you up, (4.5) started to lose his hearing at 2.9. At

3.4 he was aided and said to have a mod-severe loss and has

progressively gotten worse. His last check he had a 20 dc loss in

both ears and is now severe-profound.

Here is the problem. I have some people telling me he'll be fine in

a " regular " school. He'll get a CI if needed, therapy and extra

equipment in a classroom. It'll be challenging and he'll have to

work hard but he should be just fine. Especially since he had 2.5

years of hearing and language (he talks with clear speech, mostly).

Then I have others...specifically a lady who works at a special lab

school at the university with deaf/hoh kids. She is telling me that

he is going to have a very tough time because he is a deaf kid in a

hearing school. He's going to miss so much and have a terrible

time.

We've always wanted him in the neighborhood school. A. I taught at

that school and know everybody. B. Our neighborhood is full of kids

and I want him to be at school with them. C. in Jr. and Senior High

School if he grew up with these kids than I'm hoping the teasing

stuff won't be so bad because all the kids are used to him. D.

We've got a fairly supportive school district and I know what buttons

to push.

Now granted the lab school is supposed to be great and there are all

sorts of kids there.....regular/blind/wheelchair/deaf/2nd language/

all that stuff. I know many parents who try to get their kid in that

school and are denied. But....it's not the neighborhood school.

What do you guys think?

Where do your kids go and why? What type of loss do they have?

Thanks.

Mom to 4.5 severe-profound progressive since 2.9

2.5 hearing and teasing

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_____

[Guest guest]

Hi,

My son went deaf in Kindergarten in his right ear and then in 4th grade his

left ear went an he is now profound in the right and moderate to profound in

the left. He has always gone to the neighboorhod school and sees himself as

hearing. Since 4th grde he has been aided and as his loss has progressed he has

found a good FM system and real time transcription services to be invaluable

academically and sociallly. He will be going to High School next year and he

would have to go to a new school without the kids he has grown up with and we

have decided to move. Unfortuantely, the district we hava an interdistrict

transfer with is not accepting interdistrict transfers of Special Ed. students

so

our son would have to go to a new high school, 3900 kids, and no one he

knows.

So, that is the caution I Would put out - try to make sure that your child

is in the right " regular school " . The real struggle has been getting the

needed services in place and keeping them there. Looking back I would not have

done it differently. He has excelled and flourished in the hearing world and

has

learned how to manage it as best he can. Of course each situation is

different. Please feel free to e mail me if you have questions.

[Guest guest]

,

You have a tough decision to make. You have people on two totally different

ends of the educational system who both have very strong opinions. All I

can say neither one is right or wrong. Every child is different. If you

want him in a regular school then you need to get all the information about

what sort of difficulties he is expected to have. It is not going to be

peaches and cream for him. He will be a deaf child with a CI which does not

correct deafness it only helps it. he will be able to hear sound granted,

and probably understand quite a bit. An FM system in my opinion would be

necessary for him to get optimal benefit, because there is still an issue

with clarity as well as background noise. There is lots of info on the

difficulties of deaf children in a normal classroom. If a child understands

a lot people tend to forget that he still has difficulties, and sometimes he

can get left behind. Sometimes he doesn't know that he misunderstood, that

sort of thing. But they are right he may very well do wonderfully in a

mainstreamed school, with some hard work.

On the other hand a school for the Deaf might just be a good idea, they have

programs that focus on communication and you can guarentee he won't get left

behind, signing and speaking is wonderful, he has access to specialized

therapists and things aren't quite as hard for him so he is able to focus

more on learning. Now on the other hand as you mentioned you know the

people at the other school, he has lots of friends in his neiborhood that he

wants to be with and he would sort of be isolated from them. He may feel

left out in his community.

So what I suggest is that you visit both schools, and find out just what

they plan on doing, make sure the mainstreamed school understands the

spacific of a deaf child with a CI and that they are still deaf and have a

hard time. Find out what type of programs the Deaf school has. You might

find that the Deaf school has programs to get children ready for being

mainstreamed. It might be a good idea depending on what their programs are

that he go there for a year to get used to the CI and intensive therapy and

then mainstream him. I don't know I am just trying to throw out all options

The best thing you can do though is get a ton of info, info on

difficulties of children with CI's and how it isn't normal hearing. info on

the schools, and the pro's and con's of both, and then visit both schools

and talk with your son and find out where he wants to go. Bring him with

you to both schools.

These are really tough decisions, and you have a lot of info from both sides

but remember both sides are biased, so you have to be the one to un do that

and make a decision. Neither side is right or wrong, they are both right,

it just depends on your individual needs and which one can fit them better.

-- survey: degree of loss/mainstream

Hi Ladies. I'm perplexed and would like some help.

To catch you up, (4.5) started to lose his hearing at 2.9. At

3.4 he was aided and said to have a mod-severe loss and has

progressively gotten worse. His last check he had a 20 dc loss in

both ears and is now severe-profound.

Here is the problem. I have some people telling me he'll be fine in

a " regular " school. He'll get a CI if needed, therapy and extra

equipment in a classroom. It'll be challenging and he'll have to

work hard but he should be just fine. Especially since he had 2.5

years of hearing and language (he talks with clear speech, mostly).

Then I have others...specifically a lady who works at a special lab

school at the university with deaf/hoh kids. She is telling me that

he is going to have a very tough time because he is a deaf kid in a

hearing school. He's going to miss so much and have a terrible

time.

We've always wanted him in the neighborhood school. A. I taught at

that school and know everybody. B. Our neighborhood is full of kids

and I want him to be at school with them. C. in Jr. and Senior High

School if he grew up with these kids than I'm hoping the teasing

stuff won't be so bad because all the kids are used to him. D.

We've got a fairly supportive school district and I know what buttons

to push.

Now granted the lab school is supposed to be great and there are all

sorts of kids there.....regular/blind/wheelchair/deaf/2nd language/

all that stuff. I know many parents who try to get their kid in that

school and are denied. But....it's not the neighborhood school.

What do you guys think?

Where do your kids go and why? What type of loss do they have?

Thanks.

Mom to 4.5 severe-profound progressive since 2.9

2.5 hearing and teasing

All messages posted to this list are private and confidential. Each post is

the intellectual property of the author and therefore subject to copyright

restrictions.

[Guest guest]

--- You wrote:

Here is the problem. I have some people telling me he'll be fine in

a " regular " school. He'll get a CI if needed, therapy and extra

equipment in a classroom. It'll be challenging and he'll have to

work hard but he should be just fine. Especially since he had 2.5

years of hearing and language (he talks with clear speech, mostly).

Then I have others...specifically a lady who works at a special lab

school at the university with deaf/hoh kids. She is telling me that

he is going to have a very tough time because he is a deaf kid in a

hearing school. He's going to miss so much and have a terrible

time.

--- end of quote ---

Hi - my older son, Tom is 11 years old, in 5th grade and has always been

mainstreamed with services (he used to receive speech and special ed; he now

gets just special ed). Tom has a severe loss. My younger son, Sam is 9 and in

third grade with a profound loss. He tested out of special ed about 1-1/2 years

ago and receives accommodations but not services. He's also been mainstreamed

since the beginning. I think every child is different - Tom and Sam for the

most part have done well in school. Tommy's hearing loss was diagnosed late (at

3-1/4 years) so we played catch-up with him and had him repeat first grade (best

thing we ever did - he was young for his grade, also a boy). He also has the

additional challenges of ADHD and a really high IQ so is really a moving target.

We're fortunate that our school is part of the Schools Attuned program - they

work hard to understand that every child learns differently and accommodate

those differences. Both boys' teachers this year have been excellent matches

for them as well.

I would say since you seem to have an " in " at the school and presumably teachers

are willing to learn is the basis of a really good start. I can't tell you what

to do - maybe others on the list can be of more help. I do know that my boys

love their school - not only have they done well academically but they fit in

socially - and they have so far not had a " terrible time " .

Good luck!

Barbara

[Guest guest]

It all depends on the school. My son had mild hearing loss when he started

out and he was brutalized by teachers, the administration and as a result,

thekids. The schools even went after us when we fought for his rights. He

was then privately tutored by the school system because they had gotten

themselves in so much trouble. He now has lost almost all of his hearing

and is mainstreamed at the local middle school...actually we picked one out

of his district...and he has quite a few friends and the teachers can't do

enough for him! It's a dream school that truly cares, they don't allow any

child to pick on another one and it is one of the most ethnically and

economically diverse schools in the area. This and the school

administration have instilled tolerance in the children and they will allow

no intolerance to rear its ugly head, so the children are accepting and work

well together. still struggles in his relationships due to inability

to hear in a crowd, but he has friends, and in small settings does very

well. He has always considered himself hearing and despite numerous

attempts on our part to immerse him in a bicultural environment which

included signing as well, he has been uncomfortable in the deaf world. He

is an auditory learner who can't hear. He did learn cued speech at age 7

which taught him how to lipread and he is incredible at it now whereas he

had no ability at all to lipread until he was specifically taught how and

started to use cued speech. Your child will show you what he/she is

comfortable with.

Re: survey: degree of loss/mainstream

> --- You wrote:

> Here is the problem. I have some people telling me he'll be fine in

> a " regular " school. He'll get a CI if needed, therapy and extra

> equipment in a classroom. It'll be challenging and he'll have to

> work hard but he should be just fine. Especially since he had 2.5

> years of hearing and language (he talks with clear speech, mostly).

> Then I have others...specifically a lady who works at a special lab

> school at the university with deaf/hoh kids. She is telling me that

> he is going to have a very tough time because he is a deaf kid in a

> hearing school. He's going to miss so much and have a terrible

> time.

> --- end of quote ---

> Hi - my older son, Tom is 11 years old, in 5th grade and has always been

> mainstreamed with services (he used to receive speech and special ed; he

now

> gets just special ed). Tom has a severe loss. My younger son, Sam is 9

and in

> third grade with a profound loss. He tested out of special ed about 1-1/2

years

> ago and receives accommodations but not services. He's also been

mainstreamed

> since the beginning. I think every child is different - Tom and Sam for

the

> most part have done well in school. Tommy's hearing loss was diagnosed

late (at

> 3-1/4 years) so we played catch-up with him and had him repeat first grade

(best

> thing we ever did - he was young for his grade, also a boy). He also has

the

> additional challenges of ADHD and a really high IQ so is really a moving

target.

>

> We're fortunate that our school is part of the Schools Attuned program -

they

> work hard to understand that every child learns differently and

accommodate

> those differences. Both boys' teachers this year have been excellent

matches

> for them as well.

>

> I would say since you seem to have an " in " at the school and presumably

teachers

> are willing to learn is the basis of a really good start. I can't tell

you what

> to do - maybe others on the list can be of more help. I do know that my

boys

> love their school - not only have they done well academically but they fit

in

> socially - and they have so far not had a " terrible time " .

>

> Good luck!

>

> Barbara

>

> All messages posted to this list are private and confidential. Each post

is the intellectual property of the author and therefore subject to

copyright restrictions.

>

>

[Guest guest]

It all depends on the school. My son had mild hearing loss when he started

out and he was brutalized by teachers, the administration and as a result,

thekids. The schools even went after us when we fought for his rights. He

was then privately tutored by the school system because they had gotten

themselves in so much trouble. He now has lost almost all of his hearing

and is mainstreamed at the local middle school...actually we picked one out

of his district...and he has quite a few friends and the teachers can't do

enough for him! It's a dream school that truly cares, they don't allow any

child to pick on another one and it is one of the most ethnically and

economically diverse schools in the area. This and the school

administration have instilled tolerance in the children and they will allow

no intolerance to rear its ugly head, so the children are accepting and work

well together. still struggles in his relationships due to inability

to hear in a crowd, but he has friends, and in small settings does very

well. He has always considered himself hearing and despite numerous

attempts on our part to immerse him in a bicultural environment which

included signing as well, he has been uncomfortable in the deaf world. He

is an auditory learner who can't hear. He did learn cued speech at age 7

which taught him how to lipread and he is incredible at it now whereas he

had no ability at all to lipread until he was specifically taught how and

started to use cued speech. Your child will show you what he/she is

comfortable with.

Re: survey: degree of loss/mainstream

> --- You wrote:

> Here is the problem. I have some people telling me he'll be fine in

> a " regular " school. He'll get a CI if needed, therapy and extra

> equipment in a classroom. It'll be challenging and he'll have to

> work hard but he should be just fine. Especially since he had 2.5

> years of hearing and language (he talks with clear speech, mostly).

> Then I have others...specifically a lady who works at a special lab

> school at the university with deaf/hoh kids. She is telling me that

> he is going to have a very tough time because he is a deaf kid in a

> hearing school. He's going to miss so much and have a terrible

> time.

> --- end of quote ---

> Hi - my older son, Tom is 11 years old, in 5th grade and has always been

> mainstreamed with services (he used to receive speech and special ed; he

now

> gets just special ed). Tom has a severe loss. My younger son, Sam is 9

and in

> third grade with a profound loss. He tested out of special ed about 1-1/2

years

> ago and receives accommodations but not services. He's also been

mainstreamed

> since the beginning. I think every child is different - Tom and Sam for

the

> most part have done well in school. Tommy's hearing loss was diagnosed

late (at

> 3-1/4 years) so we played catch-up with him and had him repeat first grade

(best

> thing we ever did - he was young for his grade, also a boy). He also has

the

> additional challenges of ADHD and a really high IQ so is really a moving

target.

>

> We're fortunate that our school is part of the Schools Attuned program -

they

> work hard to understand that every child learns differently and

accommodate

> those differences. Both boys' teachers this year have been excellent

matches

> for them as well.

>

> I would say since you seem to have an " in " at the school and presumably

teachers

> are willing to learn is the basis of a really good start. I can't tell

you what

> to do - maybe others on the list can be of more help. I do know that my

boys

> love their school - not only have they done well academically but they fit

in

> socially - and they have so far not had a " terrible time " .

>

> Good luck!

>

> Barbara

>

> All messages posted to this list are private and confidential. Each post

is the intellectual property of the author and therefore subject to

copyright restrictions.

>

>

[Guest guest]

I agree that it depends on the school. Some schools just do not have the time or

staff or patience -- and, despite the fact that they should accomodate, they

make everything a battle.

Fortunately, we are now in an excellent school.... Demi is 11 (5th grade),

mainstreamed in local school district and always has been mainstreamed. She

started with a mild sloping to moderate loss (Kindergarten) and is now moderate

sloping to profound. She is aided bilaterally and uses an FM system in school.

Her grades are all As and Bs.

Pam

[Guest guest]

I agree that it depends on the school. Some schools just do not have the time or

staff or patience -- and, despite the fact that they should accomodate, they

make everything a battle.

Fortunately, we are now in an excellent school.... Demi is 11 (5th grade),

mainstreamed in local school district and always has been mainstreamed. She

started with a mild sloping to moderate loss (Kindergarten) and is now moderate

sloping to profound. She is aided bilaterally and uses an FM system in school.

Her grades are all As and Bs.

Pam

[Guest guest]

Hi ,

It is such a tough decesion. My daughter was born with no hearing

in her left ear and normal in her rt ear. That was until she was 7, than a

progressive loss and was implanted in Feb at the age of 9. She is doing great

with the implant and is mainstreamed in the 5th grade and does well. Our school

system has given me everything I have asked for. She recieves 1 hour 3x week of

auditory therapy for the CI, they just purchased the microlink system for her

ci and ha, and she also recieves c-print (simillar to cart).

Now all that being said I have thought of looking at a school with

a special program for deaf/hoh only because I worry about jr high and hs, but

if our town school continues to provide all these services I really don't want

to send her on an hour bus ride each way every day.

Socially she sometimes has a tough time at school, but I have seen

an improvement this year with the ci working so well. I just have to add

this as far as how well she does with it. She has always loved singing dancing

and acting, and has been in musical theater since she was 5 (with normal

hearing in 1 ear). Last year was very tough for her as she rapidly lost the rest

of

her hearing, and it took a few months for her to get any benefit from the ci.

This weekend she auditioned for Godspell at her theater school. It

included a singing and improv audition. She was cast in the childrens chorus. I

was

in tears when they accepted her to realize how far she has come in 9 months

post turn-on.

These kids can do anything!

Good luck with your decesion,

[Guest guest]

In a message dated 12/20/2003 1:51:55 PM Eastern Standard Time,

weehoo8@... writes:

> Where do your kids go and why? What type of loss do they have?

>

>

Our son Ian is now 13 and in 8th grade. He has always been mainstreamed in

the neighborhood schools because we did not discover his hearing loss until

second grade. At that point we had no clue, but he had obviously been losing his

hearing for quite a while since he was lip reading very successfully. He was

initially diagnosed with ADD and that was how his " zoning out " was explained, it

was actually due to losing track of what was going on in class, and being a

quiet kid, he did not act out and disrupt class, he simply amused himself.

Being an HOH kid in a regular school is hard ... but being different in any

way is hard, kids can be mean. They can also be marvelous. I've told this story

before but ... in our neighborhood elementary school there seemed to be a

rule about not picking on the " special " kids, it is considered bad form. You

could be teased for having the wrong sneakers or a dumb hat, but no picking on

kids with actual handicaps. Ian's hearnig aides somehow placed him in the

protected group even though he was not special ed in any other way. Once they're

in

Junior High, this rule expires. But by then our Ian could have handled himself

and no one has ever teased him.

Well, that's not exactly true. One very tall bully-type called him a " shrimp "

every day in the lunch-line, so Ian started calling him the Jolly-mean-giant.

The name calling became a battle of wits and they became friends. And a girl

once threatened to beat him up if he wouldn't be her boyfriend. But none of

that had anything to do with hearing loss.

Ian considers himself hard-of-hearing not Deaf. Now that he has lost enough

hearing, he qualifies for admission into the deaf schools near us but he wants

to attend " regular " high school next year. Our choice was to keep him in the

neighborhood schools and fight until he had appropriate services for the same

reasons you list. He has known some of these kids since he was 3, and he is

comfortable with the social structure. He has learned how to cope and how he is

comfortable interacting.

Ian has a TOD every day who has worked with him on many things, from language

(idioms) and writing skills to coping skills (note taking and pacing

teachers) He has an FM system that all his teachers are trained to use, and

specialized testing adaptions for oral exams.

Being in the neigborhood schools is not easy. Ian works much harder on things

than his friends do, he spends more time at home studing and learning the

details that he misses in class. We spent his 4th and 5th grade years

practically

home-schooling him, what with all the work we did in the evenings. But once

his services were established, everything fell into place for him. He still

works harder than any of his friends, but it is where he is happiest and he is

succeeding.

Every kid is different, and I don't think any of our choices was " the easy

way. " We had to find our way based on what we thought was best for our son ...

the only thing I would have done differently would be to have contacted the

lawyer sooner. The school placement was right, it was the school district that

was out of step. Ian is the only maintreamed child in the district who receives

the services of a TOD

Best -- Jill

[Guest guest]

My daughter Caitlin has a moderate to sever hearing loss and was diagnosed

and got hearing aids at age 3.5

She has been in a special ed., total communication, hearing impaired class

for preK, K and 1 and has been doing really well. Her speech is getting

clearer and more fluent and her reading is above grade level.

She is currently mainstreaming in the hearing first grade about an hour per

day for math (plus recess and lunch) and she has several good friends form

that class.

We have been torn between having her spend more time mainstreaming vs. time

in the special ed class because she is getting so much from the special ed

class and so much individual attention.

This year, due to financial " problems " in California, she has no interpreter

for her daily math class in the hearing classroom. This has been an

emotional challenge as she really missed the support she had before, but

after making a connection with the teacher, all is well now. (Unfortunately,

the other children in her class who really needed the interpreter have

stopped mainstreaming.)

The elementary school goes to fifth grade. We hope to get her into the same

school as her twin brother at that time. We have had encouraging

conversations with the schools admissions officer about her attending. The

school doesn't have experience with hearing impaired kids, but is very open

to it. We just don't know how much support she will need in five years.