California - education options for UHL?

kazuko19 said:
I just want to give him all of the tools necessary to succeed. I don't think his hearing ear is classified as a progressive loss, but he does get ear infections sooo often and he loses so much of his hearing during that time.

I know that we are in this little window right now where learning full on ASL would come naturally to him. He loves to sign what he can now, and we supplement most common words with some ASL signs and some SEE signs, especially in noisy environments. I worry about the effect the FM system will have on his one hearing ear since his audiologist is hesitant to put in a hearing aid because he wants to preserve his hearing in that ear as much as possible (which I totally get), but how is that different than an FM system?

Maybe I'm just over thinking it, but I just feel like he might learn better in a School for the Deaf where his UHL is not seen as a disability. I feel like even in preschool, his teachers have treated him differently because of his UHL, like he is a slow learner (which he is not). And while they nod their heads and say they understand about keeping background noise to a minimum, making sure his hearing ear is facing them, and keeping him close to them, they don't seem to actually put it into practice. So, for preschool/pre-k is that really a big deal? No. I have a pretty good handle on those concepts :) so I reinforce the lessons at home. But, that will not always be the case.

I will remember to mention his frequent ear infections and my genuine desire for him to further develop his sign skills and then I will cross my fingers that they would accept him. Then there are all of the other red tape hurdles to get there if they will, but I would hate to go through all of that just to find that they won't take him anyway.

Thanks for the advice!
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There is no "little window". Expose him to the language prior to age 8 and he will acquire it simulatneously with any other language he is expossed to and will be truly bilingual. Bilingualism has many cognitive advantages for any one.
 
shel90 said:
I would rather get my information from people who actually work there. What is said on paper is not always true.
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In education, what is said on paper is generally not completely true. That is why it is important to talk to those who actually spend their days in the field. Anything else is the perspective being on the outside looking in, the same as a hearing person attempting to judge what is best for a deaf person without consulting the deaf person themselves.
 
CSign said:
In order to attend one of the California Schools for the Deaf, one of the requirements is that the student use ASL as their primary mode of communication, and that they would not benefit from programs available in their area. There are other eligibility requirements, but given that this student doesn't use ASL as his primary mode of communication he wouldn't meet the eligibility requirements.
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You might want to check into how that is actually interpreted and applied in practice.:cool2:
 
I DO know the unofficial policy in Austin's deaf school is that they do not accept kids w uhl ...there are a few kids who managed to get accepted because their parents had...ahem, influence.
 
deafbajagal said:
As a former teacher there...I can say for sure that's untrue.
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CSign...there you go. Pls do not make statements about Deaf schools to new parents if you have no direct experience with them. That's how misinformation gets out about Deaf schools. Thank you.
 
shel90 said:
CSign...there you go. Pls do not make statements about Deaf schools to new parents if you have no direct experience with them. That's how misinformation gets out about Deaf schools. Thank you.
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Didn't Tousi spend many years employed by CSD, as well?
 
Good thing the school doesn't follow that "paper" ...it wouldn't have any students!!!
 
shel90 said:
FYI..many Deaf schools have magnet programs for AP classes. How do you know if CSDF offers that or not? Always best to ask before making assumptions.
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it is generally known information for california residents, the area you live in dictates the programs offered at the school. It is not assumed, it happens in mainstream schools too. Like in socal for example, mainstreams such as inglewood, hemet high school districts don't offer the higher up courses that are available at others. Parents usually relocate to another city where education is their top concern. I would know this because I grew up next to Whitney high, which is considered the number one HS in california and top in the nation.

I do admit that I don't know much information regarding the magnet programs, it would be great if you could shed more light on that.
 
naisho said:
it is generally known information for california residents, the area you live in dictates the programs offered at the school. It is not assumed, it happens in mainstream schools too. Like in socal for example, mainstreams such as inglewood, hemet high school districts don't offer the higher up courses that are available at others. Parents usually relocate to another city where education is their top concern. I would know this because I grew up next to Whitney high, which is considered the number one HS in california and top in the nation.

I do admit that I don't know much information regarding the magnet programs, it would be great if you could shed more light on that.
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That happens everywhere.
 
CSDR was willing to accept my child w uhl in a heartbeat. CSD wasn't clear...so that's why I suggested the OP to meet with them. I'm currently trying to gather research to show why uhl may benefit in deaf schools...I really wish we could pour resources together for that. My kid is doing ok so far in public schools because its an awesome school...but what if we move and that school doesn't work? Or if we find that her needs change? I want to be well informed w data and research...it's a process. Parents w uhl kids have challenges of proving that uhl impacts educational progress and language development as well...
 
deafbajagal said:
CSDR was willing to accept my child w uhl in a heartbeat. CSD wasn't clear...so that's why I suggested the OP to meet with them. I'm currently trying to gather research to show why uhl may benefit in deaf schools...I really wish we could pour resources together for that. My kid is doing ok so far in public schools because its an awesome school...but what if we move and that school doesn't work? Or if we find that her needs change? I want to be well informed w data and research...it's a process. Parents w uhl kids have challenges of proving that uhl impacts educational progress and language development as well...
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I will be on the lookout for anything I can find. It makes sense that UHL would impact language and academics. The child is still not hearing many things, and often cannot tell which direction what she/he is hearing is coming from, and therefore, does not know which way to look to use visuals.
 
deafbajagal said:
CSDR was willing to accept my child w uhl in a heartbeat. CSD wasn't clear...so that's why I suggested the OP to meet with them. I'm currently trying to gather research to show why uhl may benefit in deaf schools...I really wish we could pour resources together for that. My kid is doing ok so far in public schools because its an awesome school...but what if we move and that school doesn't work? Or if we find that her needs change? I want to be well informed w data and research...it's a process. Parents w uhl kids have challenges of proving that uhl impacts educational progress and language development as well...
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yeah, it does. I have similar prognosis as she originally posted about her son, being severely profound in one and 20-30db (normal) in the other while growing up unilateral in elementary. It wasn't for me until 10+ years later things started to progress downhill in terms of being able to hear, and I needed accomodations more, and I had trouble in certain courses like CP/AP chemistry - we had a combined program, so it was completely audial based teaching.

I was around finishing HS when the severity kicked in, so fortunately I didn't catch the bus for language/developmental delays. But my circumstances were situational and different in everyone's case, being hard to predict. A deaf school will always offer the best social reinforcement possible in the event something happens, like a 'backup' in the event the 'horrible' happens.

It's always tough since social and education is always a top in any parent's concern for their kids, sometimes you just can't have everything.
 
In my honest opinion, the reality is unilateral kids are the hardest to project the outcomes for. Mainly because of the diversity in the frequency of the hearing loss, the variety of backgrounds are what makes it hard to do a proper study on. Age of onset hearing loss, first language, chain of education attained, progressive loss are all going to be independent variables that will have to be examined to do it correctly.

It doesn't help that unilateral deafness is not a common occurence either, in comparison to severe-profound deaf individuals - that alone makes the study between hearing and deaf easier to conduct.
 
naisho said:
In my honest opinion, the reality is unilateral kids are the hardest to project the outcomes for. Mainly because of the diversity in the frequency of the hearing loss, the variety of backgrounds are what makes it hard to do a proper study on. Age of onset hearing loss, first language, chain of education attained, progressive loss are all going to be independent variables that will have to be examined to do it correctly.

It doesn't help that unilateral deafness is not a common occurence either, in comparison to severe-profound deaf individuals - that alone makes the study between hearing and deaf easier to conduct.
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Given the criteria used by most to determine successful outcome, I'd say the predictive value for any of these methods is next to nothing.
 
jillio said:
Given the criteria used by most to determine successful outcome, I'd say the predictive value for any of these methods is next to nothing.
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I wasn't implying successful projections, I never said if they will be successful. I was referring to the actual outcome of the data sample as to whether they do well or are seen to have developmental delays in contrast to the subjects they're being compared with.

It's definitely going to be hard to see a reasonable outcome, hands down no question...
 
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