Background and Educational Characteristics of Prelingually Deaf Children

[Cloggy]

Background and Educational Characteristics of Prelingually Deaf Children Implanted by Five Years of Age.

Article
Ear & Hearing. 24(1) Supplement:2S-14S, February 2003.
Geers, Ann; Brenner, Chris

Abstract:
Purpose: This study documents child, family and educational characteristics of a large representative sample of 8- to 9-yr-old prelingually deaf children who received a cochlear implant by 5 yr of age. Because pre-existing factors such as the child's gender, family characteristics, additional handicaps, age at onset of deafness and at implant, may affect postimplant outcomes, these variables must be accounted for before the impact of educational factors on performance with an implant can be adequately determined. Classroom variables that may affect postimplant outcomes include placement in public or private, mainstream or special education, oral or total communication environments. Other intervention variables include type and amount of individual therapy, experience of the therapist and parent participation in therapy. Documenting these characteristics for a large representative sample of implanted children can provide clinicians and researchers with insight regarding the types of families who sought early cochlear implantation for their children and the types of educational programs in which they placed their children after implantation. It is important to undertake studies that control for as many of these factors as possible so that the relative benefits of specific educational approaches for helping children to get the most benefit from their cochlear implant can be identified.

Method: Over a 4-yr period, 181 children from across the US and Canada, accompanied by a parent, attended a cochlear implant research camp. Parents completed questionnaires in which they reported the child's medical and educational history, characteristics of the family, and their participation in the child's therapy. The parent listed names and addresses of clinicians who had provided individual speech/language therapy to the child and signed permission for these clinicians to complete questionnaires describing this therapy.

Results: To the extent that this sample is representative of those families seeking a cochlear implant for their child, especially during the initial period of device availability, this population can be characterized as follows. Most parents had normal hearing, were of majority (white) ethnicity and had more education and higher incomes than the general population. The families tended to be intact with both a mother and a father who involved their hearing-impaired child in family activities on a regular basis. The children were enrolled in the full range of educational placements available across the United States and Canada. Fairly even distributions of children from public and private schools, special education and mainstream classes and oral and total communication methodologies were represented. Educational placement changed as children gained increased experience with a cochlear implant. They received an increased emphasis on speech and auditory skills in their classroom settings and tended to move from private school and special education settings to public school and mainstream programs. These data support the position that early cochlear implantation is a cost effective procedure that allows deaf children to participate in a normal school environment with hearing age mates.

(C) 2003 Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, Inc.

 

[deafdyke]

These data support the position that early cochlear implantation is a cost effective procedure that allows deaf children to participate in a normal school environment with hearing age mates

. Not quite Cloggy.
Even at the mainstream level there is a continum of placements.
Notice that they didn't elaborate on the type of mainstream placement seen.
A mainstream placement can range from self contained classroom, to "regular classes but dhh "magnet program" with a specialized resource room.
It also doesn't mean that they are performing on grade level.
What percentage of mainstreamed students are on grade level with minimal accomondations?

 

[loml]

. Not quite Cloggy.
Even at the mainstream level there is a continum of placements.
Notice that they didn't elaborate on the type of mainstream placement seen.
A mainstream placement can range from self contained classroom, to "regular classes but dhh "magnet program" with a specialized resource room.
It also doesn't mean that they are performing on grade level.
What percentage of mainstreamed students are on grade level with minimal accomondations?

deafdyke - I disagree with with your definition of mainstream. For myself, from an educational perpective, the placements you have described I would define as inclusive.

 

[jillio]

deafdyke - I disagree with with your definition of mainstream. For myself, from an educational perpective, the placements you have described I would define as inclusive.

That is incorrect. Inclusion is identified only as the mainstream classroom with minimal accommodations. Self contained classrooms and the use of resource rooms int he public system is not inclusion, but simply mainstream placement.

 

[deafdyke]

Loml,
Notice that the people in the study are being purposely vague as to what consistutes mainstream placement. They are using "mainstream" as a "catchall" term and not really elaborating on the types of placements and accomondations.
Oh and I just noticed that one of the people who conducted the study is a VERY extreme pro-oralist, Ann Geers.

 

[shel90]

That is incorrect. Inclusion is identified only as the mainstream classroom with minimal accommodations. Self contained classrooms and the use of resource rooms int he public system is not inclusion, but simply mainstream placement.

Yep, I was put in an inclusive classroom with no accodmmations. Which would have been better for me..being in a class full of signers including the teacher and being able to catch everything that was being said without missing a beat and being able to participate in any discussions therefore using my ideas or being in a class where I work hard trying to catch a few phrases here and there or at times I am just like a fly on the wall during any classroom discussions unable to participate using my ideas even if I tried? Did I have the same rights as my hearing peers? Nope, I dont think so. \

Some children with CIs are experiencing the same thing..why do u think they need the CART systems? If they are lucky enough to get the CART systems.

Is that right for deaf children to be put in situations like that in an educational setting?

 

[vallee]

What accommations does Maryland provide? If a child needs an FM system they get it. Do students with HA or CI gets accommations?

 

[loml]

Loml,
Notice that the people in the study are being purposely vague as to what consistutes mainstream placement. They are using "mainstream" as a "catchall" term and not really elaborating on the types of placements and accomondations.

deafdyke - There are some terms used to define programmes in deaf education that are inaccurate. Having said that, I still disagree with you definition of mainstream. It would appear Canada does things differently.

 

[jillio]

Yep, I was put in an inclusive classroom with no accodmmations. Which would have been better for me..being in a class full of signers including the teacher and being able to catch everything that was being said without missing a beat and being able to participate in any discussions therefore using my ideas or being in a class where I work hard trying to catch a few phrases here and there or at times I am just like a fly on the wall during any classroom discussions unable to participate using my ideas even if I tried? Did I have the same rights as my hearing peers? Nope, I dont think so. \

Some children with CIs are experiencing the same thing..why do u think they need the CART systems? If they are lucky enough to get the CART systems.

Is that right for deaf children to be put in situations like that in an educational setting?

No, it abosolutely is not right, and it is the reasonthat deaf students fall behind their hearing peers in achievement. It isn't that they can't learn; it's that they are being planced in an environment where they are not taught.

 

[jillio]

What accommations does Maryland provide? If a child needs an FM system they get it. Do students with HA or CI gets accommations?

If they don't get accommodations,the school system is in violation of the law.
FM systems have limited value in an educational setting. Only a very select populationd erives any benefit at all from an FM system when used in the classroom.

 

[vallee]

If they don't get accommodations,the school system is in violation of the law.
FM systems have limited value in an educational setting. Only a very select populationd erives any benefit at all from an FM system when used in the classroom.

Yes if a student needs an accommodation then by law they have to provide them. Not all students or families ask for accommodations. In our school system a deaf/hoh student can have the following placments:

1. full inclusion - with out accommodations
2. inclusion with accommodations (504 or Iep)
3. special education services either pull out, resource, inclusion
4. Deaf/Hoh classroom placement (we have three in elementary) and those placements are either pull out, resource, or inclusion
5. Tennessee School for the Deaf - 3 hours away.

 

[jillio]

Yes if a student needs an accommodation then by law they have to provide them. Not all students or families ask for accommodations. In our school system a deaf/hoh student can have the following placments:

1. full inclusion - with out accommodations
2. inclusion with accommodations (504 or Iep)
3. special education services either pull out, resource, inclusion
4. Deaf/Hoh classroom placement (we have three in elementary) and those placements are either pull out, resource, or inclusion
5. Tennessee School for the Deaf - 3 hours away.

I am well aware of the accommodations available in TN., and if you will check my post from the thread that Cheri started about full disclosure of pros and cons, you will see why I am very familiar with the resources available. I took a school system in TN to due process for not providing a terp for my son.

Deaf education, in its proper form, is not indicative of a need for special education services. Language delys created my a resticted oral environment cause the delays that neccessitate the use of resource classrooms and special education services.

 

[vallee]

I am well aware of the accommodations available in TN., and if you will check my post from the thread that Cheri started about full disclosure of pros and cons, you will see why I am very familiar with the resources available. I took a school system in TN to due process for not providing a terp for my son.

Deaf education, in its proper form, is not indicative of a need for special education services. Language delys created my a resticted oral environment cause the delays that neccessitate the use of resource classrooms and special education services.

That is why we have full inclusion or regular education classroom without accomdations or a 504 plan. Just because a child is deaf/hoh they do not neccessary qualify for special education.

 

[jillio]

That is why we have full inclusion or regular education classroom without accomdations or a 504 plan. Just because a child is deaf/hoh they do not neccessary qualify for special education.

No,they don't. But does full inclusion without accommodation, or mainstream palcement with minimal accommodation truly address the linguistic, social, psychological and educational needs of deaf children. For example, how is inclusion beneficial to a deaf child who is the only deaf child in that particular system who is unable to communciate with teachers and peers?

 

[vallee]

No,they don't. But does full inclusion without accommodation, or mainstream palcement with minimal accommodation truly address the linguistic, social, psychological and educational needs of deaf children. For example, how is inclusion beneficial to a deaf child who is the only deaf child in that particular system who is unable to communciate with teachers and peers?

Your right not all needs can be met in the education system. Maybe volunteers should assist students. Maybe mentors from the community. Big brother big sister? Since you are an advocatic in the deaf community maybe you can assist the local school system in mentoring a child or working with parents on different choices. We had a group offer sign language to teachers in a school so they can communicate with students.

I do know that as an educator, I do my best to provide the best possible setting in my school. I mentor a hoh student in my school.

 

[jillio]

Your right not all needs can be met in the education system. Maybe volunteers should assist students. Maybe mentors from the community. Big brother big sister? Since you are an advocatic in the deaf community maybe you can assist the local school system in mentoring a child or working with parents on different choices. We had a group offer sign language to teachers in a school so they can communicate with students.

I do know that as an educator, I do my best to provide the best possible setting in my school. I mentor a hoh student in my school.[/QUOTE

I don't doubt that you do the best to provide the best possible setting in your school. But you are limited in what you can provide, based on the very fact that it is a mainstream setting, and the deaf child in a mainstream setting is not in daily contact with fluent signers nor with successful members of the Deaf community. Therefore, they have no realistic role models on which to base their self expectations, nor do they receive instruction in a manner that allows for cognitive development. That is not a reflection on you or the way inwhich you conduct your classroom. It is simply a sad statemnt of the fact of the educational atmosphere that many deaf students are forced to endure.

If a parent does not want a child to have exposure to the Deaf Community, and if a parent has the attitude that signing will only make their child's deafness more visable, and therefore, restricts them to mainstrem placement because they believe that is the situation that will most fully enable them to succeed in the hearing world, they will not be receptive to any kind of service offered in the mianstrem environment that will facilitate that child's development as a deaf individual. Unfortunately, it is the parent that determines placement.

Likewise, we have many professionalized hearing educators of the deaf that have no contact with, and only a minimal understanding of the educational needs of deaf children. Deaf adults have been speaking out about this situation for eons. Hearing adminsitrators refuse to listen due to thier ethnocentric perspective of deafness.

 

[shel90]

Your right not all needs can be met in the education system. Maybe volunteers should assist students. Maybe mentors from the community. Big brother big sister? Since you are an advocatic in the deaf community maybe you can assist the local school system in mentoring a child or working with parents on different choices. We had a group offer sign language to teachers in a school so they can communicate with students.

I do know that as an educator, I do my best to provide the best possible setting in my school. I mentor a hoh student in my school.[/QUOTE

I don't doubt that you do the best to provide the best possible setting in your school. But you are limited in what you can provide, based on the very fact that it is a mainstream setting, and the deaf child in a mainstream setting is not in daily contact with fluent signers nor with successful members of the Deaf community. Therefore, they have no realistic role models on which to base their self expectations, nor do they receive instruction in a manner that allows for cognitive development. That is not a reflection on you or the way inwhich you conduct your classroom. It is simply a sad statemnt of the fact of the educational atmosphere that many deaf students are forced to endure.

If a parent does not want a child to have exposure to the Deaf Community, and if a parent has the attitude that signing will only make their child's deafness more visable, and therefore, restricts them to mainstrem placement because they believe that is the situation that will most fully enable them to succeed in the hearing world, they will not be receptive to any kind of service offered in the mianstrem environment that will facilitate that child's development as a deaf individual. Unfortunately, it is the parent that determines placement.

Likewise, we have many professionalized hearing educators of the deaf that have no contact with, and only a minimal understanding of the educational needs of deaf children. Deaf adults have been speaking out about this situation for eons. Hearing adminsitrators refuse to listen due to thier ethnocentric perspective of deafness.

Exactly...my brother was exposed to the Deaf community and ASL but I wasnt because my mom believed the experts that I was too smart for ASL. Even when I showed an interest in it around the 6th grade, I was told that I didnt need it and I believed the experts and my mom. I am sure there were so many resources available for me but my mom chose not to use them for me cuz she believed the experts that I needed to be as "normal" as I could be. As a result, I put in an environment that was extremely restrictive for me giving me less opportunities to really grow both socially and academically.

That is still happening to many deaf children today.

 

[jillio]

Exactly...my brother was exposed to the Deaf community and ASL but I wasnt because my mom believed the experts that I was too smart for ASL. Even when I showed an interest in it around the 6th grade, I was told that I didnt need it and I believed the experts and my mom. I am sure there were so many resources available for me but my mom chose not to use them for me cuz she believed the experts that I needed to be as "normal" as I could be. As a result, I put in an environment that was extremely restrictive for me giving me less opportunities to really grow both socially and academically.

That is still happening to many deaf children today.

Yep, history is repeating itself. Seems we've made advances in technology, but the same old communication philosophies and educational philosophies are still widely used. Maybe we need to slow down on technological advancement, and update thinking, instead?

 

[Kaitin]

Exactly...my brother was exposed to the Deaf community and ASL but I wasnt because my mom believed the experts that I was too smart for ASL. Even when I showed an interest in it around the 6th grade, I was told that I didnt need it and I believed the experts and my mom. I am sure there were so many resources available for me but my mom chose not to use them for me cuz she believed the experts that I needed to be as "normal" as I could be. As a result, I put in an environment that was extremely restrictive for me giving me less opportunities to really grow both socially and academically.

That is still happening to many deaf children today.

Experts say "too smart for ASL"??? :jaw:

 

[shel90]

Experts say "too smart for ASL"??? :jaw:

That was 30 years ago..I dont know if they still say stuff like that now. Growing up, my intelligence was always equated to my speech skills. It caused me to have a disorted view on what intelligence mean. It made me paranoid about making sure my speech was perfect at all times. Too stressful on a child, if u ask me. My opinion of this view that it is just f*&cked up.