Enrolling KODAs in a State Deaf School's PreSchool Program?

Wirelessly posted

FSDB allowed my two go into the deaf preschool program since they are CODA. I guess it depends on the schools and fundings.
 
Babyblue said:
Wirelessly posted

FSDB allowed my two go into the deaf preschool program since they are CODA. I guess it depends on the schools and fundings.
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That is really awesome! From what I have seen of FSDB so far, they really try hard to integrate ASL and spoken language and I think that is very beneficial for both d/hh children and CODA's. I can't wait to see what this school year holds for my daughter's ASL development (although part of me is nervous that her skills will surpass mine and I wont' know what the heck she is signing half the time :giggle:)!

Aquaman-
Thanks for popping back in and keeping us updated. I, too, have not been around much lately (I check in on posts and such, but have not felt that I had anything to contribute to discussions lately). I hope you are able to find a suitable program for your kids, as it definitely sounds like they are experiencing some sort of delays (is this possibly contributed to them being triplets- I know that the more children born in a "multiple" birth the more a chance for premature birth and developmental delays?). It's frustrating that we have to struggle so hard to find good education for our children (all our children, deaf/hearing/CODAs). You guys are in my thoughts and I hope that the best possible situation comes from all your hard work. Your children are very lucky to have a father who is fighting so hard to ensure they have a good education. :)
 
That's great about FSDB!

There's also a deaf school in Utah that does, or did this as well. I'm looking more into it this week.

JadeSkye said:
I hope you are able to find a suitable program for your kids, as it definitely sounds like they are experiencing some sort of delays (is this possibly contributed to them being triplets- I know that the more children born in a "multiple" birth the more a chance for premature birth and developmental delays?).
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Yup, they have three strikes against them compared to a normal kid as I see it based on my research.

1. Preemies typically are developmentally delayed. Coming out of mom too early is not good for them.
2. Multiples typically are delayed as well. Many reasons/theories abound as to why this is. Some off the top of my head are: They do not focus on their adult models as readily as a single child would due to distractions by each other. Parents attention is divided amongst them. Nutritionally in the womb, it's theorized that they get less as while they develop. And so forth.
3. Kodas - They don't get the phonics advantage exposure that a hearing child does for picking up the English language. I only recently learned that the "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star" song actually is a tool for helping a kid learn the alphabet. I never would have guessed. :shock: Now we play it every night at bedtime before story time!

Btw, when I met with the school admin about my kids enrolling into her school, she seemed to be more open to the possibility than I expected which impressed me. However, I still have the big Department of Education "They are hearing so no they don't qualify for an IEP" hurdle coming up. Even if they somehow clear that one, the admin at the school also said that she didn't think the school was ready to incorporate KODAS into the program partly due to trying out a new curriculum this year but she wanted more information on how the other schools were doing it so we will see.

-Aquaman
 
another option...

I know that this post is a little old, but there is another option for your Kodas.

When your children start school and you fill out your home language survey... do not be afraid to put ASL on it. Most states recognize ASL as a language and the school will have to offer ESL (English Second Language) program to your children.

They will first test them to see how their - Speaking/Listening (plus Reading & Writing for older ELLs) of English is. Depending on their level they could get pulled out for services at school. While they may not be around other ASL speakers, they are around other English L2s at or around their level.

The ESL program not only make sure that your Kodas get their language acquisition but also speak as advocates for them in the classroom.

I would check around at your local school district and see what they do for ELL's (English Language Learners).

Good luck!

(Sorry, I missed the part on "losing them in the hearing world"... while I know ESL may not be your ideal option, you could always have them in regular school and then meet up groups for Kodas so the can still get their L1 development :D)
 
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This thread isn't tool "old" yet.

We are in full swing of all the tests and assessments by the Department of Education.

IEP eligibility meeting will be in 3 weeks.

ESLTeacher, Regarding English as a Second Language... If our kids get labeled as ESL kids, they automatically are not eligible for an IEP in this state so I am trying to keep that from happening.

Right now according to the rumors going around DOE (isn't it great that I'm somewhat privvy to this information as a SPED teacher in this system) is that my boys probably have a shot at being eligible for an IEP while my daughter is testing much too high. I also hear that there's no way in hell I'll be able to get them into the deaf school here.

Testing is ongoing and the actual meeting to determine eligibility and then figure out placement if any of them are eligible still has to happen though...

I'm going to take them surfing. Ta-da! :cool2:

-Aquaman
 
FINAL RESULTS

Our triplets didn't qualify for anything.

Evaluation results showed that they were indeed extremely delayed with their verbal language skills (estimated 50 verbal words on average when they should be approaching nearly 900 now) and evaluation results stated that they should either be placed into a DOE preschool program specializing in language services, or at the very least, receive speech/language services.

There were several requirements that they had to meet to qualify for services under the delayed language category - the only category they had a shot at. They met all but the last requirement which was that they had to have a certain amount of difficulty or lack of skill in producing specific sounds. Apparently they were able to mimic enough sounds during the tests for the Department of Education to say that they had disqualified themselves on those grounds.

We tried our best.

What's next?

Somebody is putting us in touch with a lawyer that specializes in cases where a child clearly showed a need, but was automatically disqualified by the DOE because of their guidelines. I'm not holding my breath though.

I met with somebody from DOE who gave me a list of speech/language specific apps to use with my kids (they have their own kindles - not sure how many of those IOS apps are availble on the new kindle tho) - however, apps aren't a subsitute for a real, live speaking person.

We are also looking at loans/financing to put them in a private pre-school school that has a heavy emphasis in speech and phonics work (Hawaii does not provide any public or free preschools in this state - Kindergarden does not start until 6 here). I don't want to wait until they are 6 before they start getting formal oral language support - the language window will be closing rapidly at that point.

Obviously I will continue to maximize ASL exposure and sign like a madman with them as planned regardless of whether they qualified or not. I'm sure they will turn out okay in the end, but am feeling dejected at the moment. We had such high hopes that we would have somehow prevailed.

-Aquaman
 
My guess is that by not going to the deaf school- they will become more attached to the hearing world and perhaps more disconnected from their parents. This is basically the state coming between a parent and their children.

Kids have plenty of time to catch up with a second language.
 
Kid #C started preschool on Monday. Kid #B starts next month. Kid #A starts in 2 months. The school did not want to take in all three at once and wanted to stagger them each a month apart. That was not something I agreed with, but since it's a private school, they get to make their own rules. If I don't like it, I'm welcome to take my kids somewhere else. Such is life. They supposedly have the best phonics-focused program on this island and phonics is something that they don't get at home so I think my kids need this school... I just have to suck it up (and pay up).

Costing us $2,000+ a month...

Who knew that being Deaf parents to hearing kids was going to be so expensive? Now I'm seeing things a bit better from a hearing parent's (with a deaf child) perspective. :shock:

-Aquaman
 
I think KODA's should go to deaf school because I can see how the family can grow apart when kids don't go to the same school and don;t speak the same language. Eventually the child who is deaf, his/her asl will soon surpass the asl skills of his/her siblings and when they are grownups, the relationship will be difficult if they cant speak to each other. That is what happened to my deaf friend. He is the only one in the family deaf and sent off to deaf school and now as an adult cannot communicate with his sibling because sibling doesn't know ASL very well. The situation is sad and heartbreaking. Now I have one child who signs (he is not deaf just nonvocal) and I want to be sure he has a good relationship with his siblings forever and wish they could all go to school together and learn the same language ASL.
 
There's also a deaf school in Utah that does, or did this as well. I'm looking more into it this week.
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Aquaman, I thought the Deaf School in Utah was very heavily auditory oral?
 
Aquaman, did you ever use the state's childfind program?
Hearing kids' IEP often includes speech therapy and they won't be tracked. Often KODA are in gifted programs since they are receptive.
Put them in sports and scouting too.
 
This has been very informative, I thought I had an idea, but now understand more completely, a Deaf couple had a hearing baby and were disappointed, my friend (who has a deaf grand child) couldn't understand why, I should direct her to this, keep up the good
 
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