Anyone with small children that are deaf/HOH?

[deafdyke]

Why would you say that? How is that a good thing? According to the OP, the child has incredibly limited communication skills- not just spoken language delays. Minimal communication skills in a three year old child is not a good thing.

Um, you're twisting my words. I would never say that languge issues were a good thing. He is in the process of learning ASL......a lot of dhh toddlers are still aquirring language, both signed and spoken. Besides, from what the OP has said the spoken language issues may be due more to familial history, rather then something like apraxia, autistm etc........He communicates with the sign as well as other alterntive issues....there's no meltdowns or anyting.....He's not a Clarke School five year old with a handful of spoken words......
I was simply saying that although it sucks that he has complex langague issues, the fact that he DOES have those will most likely play a positive role in placing him at PDSD..... like b/c of the issues he'll be more likely to be at the top of the list for placement. It sucks that he has those....but placement at the PDSD will most likely get him to catch up wicked fast.....

 

[justagirl]

That doesn't make sense at all. Did the woman from the school district try to assess him and wasn't able to? They have an obligation to provide him
With a Free and Appropriate Public Education (FAPE) regardless of anything.

I feel like there are pieces missing from the story...

If they did in fact say that, you should be filing a compliance complaint, mediation, or Due Process.

Your son is deaf and needs to be in an accessible educational environment so that he doesn't have significant delays and challenges when he gets to elementary school and on...

I will try to answer your question to the best of my ability. So we went the the pediatrician and told him about what we suspected and what was going on. He evaluated him to the best of his ability and referred us to an audiologist and a developmental pediatrician. Our insurance denied the development pediatrician and the audiologist as well. So our doctor actually wrote up a detailed report sent it off and spoke to them on the phone. Our insurance company came back...saying they would not approve the developmental pediatrician until the audiologist report and hearing test came back. In the mean time we called our insurance company about other opts we could do as well as the pediatrician. The insurance company referred us to Easter Seal..(why I have no clue) Our pediatrician our school district until he could come up with some other resources. So our insurance gave us the number to our local Easter Seal's we called, they called us back. Talk to my husband on the phone made any appt to come out and offered a hearing test at home. We explained that our son is frighten of new people and hates his ears being messed with so it might take time for him to feel comfortable. (we told this same thing to the school district.) They come over takes forever, we get our son warmed up to this new cool idea of having things in his ears. Well...he didn't like at all...he screamed when she put them in and tried. We tried for a bit...but I told her that was enough, we were not going to torture him for something she wasn't going to be able to get an accurate account of.

So then we talked with the school district as well...they offered the same test we explained what had happen the time before and it was going to work. The lady that my husband spoke with told him that being that he just turned 3 and school was about to start that he wouldn't qualify for any other testing/placement. And that all the other testing for kids with development issues had been done earlier in the spring/summer and that we would have to wait until next year. My husband asked her several times why? And she told him that was the way it is. That *please what I am about to say do not take it as racist I am just relaying what the lady told my husband* the Hispanic and underprivileged kids get first priority. *like I said, don't bash me for relaying what was said, I am just trying to give a full account to the best of my ability* My husband argued with her until she said, "That's the way it is." and hung up on him.

We didn't waste any more time on that and we said screw the insurance company and went and paid out of pocket for the developmental pediatrician. They were really patience and did some testing...our son tested fine on everything except hearing/communication. They had a hard time getting his attention and asking him questions...as he could not hear...part of the whole process. Then we went to the audiologist, they did a booth test while I held him and did the sound and lights test. (I remember this one from when I was a kid) then we schedule a time for the ABR to get an accurate account as after a bit my son had enough and started getting very nervous and I told them that was enough, he was done. So we got the ABR everything was confirmed to what I ALREADY knew. Deaf in left ear severe hard of hearing in right.

And that is where we are. I also wanted to add that in between the time with the public school system and what they told us and the audiologist I've had 3 major surgeries due to complications from giving birth 3 mos ago...and I haven't been able to fully investigate about what the school district told us. (or rather the lady my husband spoke to)

I hope that answered your question...If I left anything out, I apologize. If you have information or someone I need to report to about the school district then by all means I will do so.

Oh and we did have one other person come out to our house as well...I think I posted about it in another thread....or maybe it was this one, I am not sure. She also did some other type of testing. We are just really trying here to get our son the help he needs. We are willing to do anything and we want what is best for him. Hearing people kind of freak him out, except his dad, and grandma and grandpa and a couple of our close friends (but they also try and sign with him). He just can't understand what they are saying and I think sometimes he thinks they are yelling at him or something. It's horrible to see your son cry because he can't understand and thinks other people are yelling or getting mad at him. It doesn't help that he is super shy either.

 

[justagirl]

According to Justagirl, they are signing with him (see post 13).

To the OP: Do you think that there may have been a miscommunication? Perhaps they weren't doing anything because it was summer? I would contact your school
District again.

CSign you may be correct. I'm hoping that, that woman just either was lazy and didn't feel like doing her job or she was honestly just misinformed. We do plan to contact the school again...but this time we are not call we are going up there. If we get the same answer again, I am going to find some else to talk too and keep going to we get some real answers.

I am just now getting back to my normal routines in life since the surgeries. Does anyone know someone in particular at the school I should talk to? Other than just trying to find the correct person.

 

[CSign]

CSign you may be correct. I'm hoping that, that woman just either was lazy and didn't feel like doing her job or she was honestly just misinformed. We do plan to contact the school again...but this time we are not call we are going up there. If we get the same answer again, I am going to find some else to talk too and keep going to we get some real answers.

I am just now getting back to my normal routines in life since the surgeries. Does anyone know someone in particular at the school I should talk to? Other than just trying to find the correct person.

You need to contact your districts program specialist or special Ed director to get the ball rolling. It is not out of the ordinary for them to assess your child. They need to get a snapshot of where he's at academically and socially in order to formulate appropriate goals for him. A student's goals drive placement, so I'd encourage you to make sure his language goals include sign in addition to spoken language to make it easier to drive placement at the school for the deaf.

 

[CSign]

Um, you're twisting my words. I would never say that languge issues were a good thing. He is in the process of learning ASL......a lot of dhh toddlers are still aquirring language, both signed and spoken. Besides, from what the OP has said the spoken language issues may be due more to familial history, rather then something like apraxia, autistm etc........He communicates with the sign as well as other alterntive issues....there's no meltdowns or anyting.....He's not a Clarke School five year old with a handful of spoken words......
I was simply saying that although it sucks that he has complex langague issues, the fact that he DOES have those will most likely play a positive role in placing him at PDSD..... like b/c of the issues he'll be more likely to be at the top of the list for placement. It sucks that he has those....but placement at the PDSD will most likely get him to catch up wicked fast.....

I quoted you exactly, and didn't twist your words. As an outside person reading your comment, that is how I (and I presume others) perceived it.

DD, can I ask where your fascination with Clarke stems from? You seem to mention that school regularly...

 

[justagirl]

You need to contact your districts program specialist or special Ed director to get the ball rolling. It is not out of the ordinary for them to assess your child. They need to get a snapshot of where he's at academically and socially in order to formulate appropriate goals for him. A student's goals drive placement, so I'd encourage you to make sure his language goals include sign in addition to spoken language to make it easier to drive placement at the school for the deaf.

Thank you CSign.

 

[BecLak]

Wirelessly posted

Sign language stick with it. He will pick up the written form of English soon enough and have a excellent grasp of it as long as he continues with sign language. From a formal oral-deafie take my advice: forget the speech therapy. You will lessen his quality of life. Let him live and love life to the fullest having confidence in himself just the way he is. Speech therapy will give him the exact opposite. A life of struggling and frustration and a lack of confidence because he will be trying to be someone he could never be.

 

[Bottesini]

I didn't learn to talk until age five. And I did enjoy the speech therapy, and certainly use what I learned every day.

It was fun a lot of the time too.

 

[justagirl]

That is really good to know Bott.

 

[CSign]

I didn't learn to talk until age five. And I did enjoy the speech therapy, and certainly use what I learned every day.

It was fun a lot of the time too.

My son has always enjoyed speech therapy. It's never been an extensive amount of time per week. The early years are crucial for a child developing speech and language. The earlier they gain support and services, often times the better off they are. Of course there are always late talkers, but if anything I would say that increases the need for appropriate speech therapy rather than decreasing it. My position is to provide them with every opportunity when they are young, so that they will be better prepared for the future.

 

[justagirl]

My son has always enjoyed speech therapy. It's never been an extensive amount of time per week. The early years are crucial for a child developing speech and language. The earlier they gain support and services, often times the better off they are. Of course there are always late talkers, but if anything I would say that increases the need for appropriate speech therapy rather than decreasing it. My position is to provide them with every opportunity when they are young, so that they will be better prepared for the future.

I do have to agree with you and Bott...i want him to have every chance he can.

 

[deafdyke]

I do have to agree with you and Bott...i want him to have every chance he can.

Agreed, and it's important that kids get appropreate intervention/accomondations etc. CSign, I do think that the emphasis on Early As Possible Intervention, failed to remember that as recently as 15 years ago kids were still being idetified late,(compared to today) and they still caught up/ developed both spoken and signed language abilities. Heck, didn't start talking until I was three. He's not got sophisticated language no, and that's definitly a worry.....but it's due to lack of exposure. If things were reversed and she had chosen oral only, and he only had limited spoken language, like in the old days (or even now) people would be saying "give it time"
I don't know justagirl's son,but I do think from what she has shared that while he isn't up on par with language, as soon as he gets proper services, he should REALLY do well.....Hell, maybe this just is a matter of a kid who didn't get the proper early intervention services......and what I meant is that, while it sucks that her son has delays, that also means that he'll be first in line for specialized schooling oppertunties. Unfortunatly in our country, the way things go is that the best educational setting is Inclusion....they just love trying to get away with giving minimal accomondations to kids with relatively mild issues. If justagirl's son had realtively mild delays, theywould bsicly put him in an early intervention preschool, and mainstream him with minimal accomondatons. With the presense of the delays, he can go to PDSD, get proper teaching/interventons and services, and catch up really fast!