OK, so bad anology then. That was basicly the closest thing I could come up with. But yeah you guys are right......a lot of group homes are basicly the "new Willowbrooks"
I think the closest analogy might be akin to a cabin at a really good overnight summer camp.
You know.....a big group of kids are togehter, and learn and grow as a family, over the years under the supervision of a residental life counselor/dorm parent. While that sort of set up isn't as good as a traditional emotionally healthy two parent family, it can still be a really bonding living sitution. As a teen, (young for my age due to learning disabilties and having been mainstreamed to the max in a VERY snotty suburb.) I attended an over night summer camp for a month for about three years..(age range served was 8-16)..and the experiance was amazing. I still have a connection I can't describe with it. (and many other camp friends do too...finding my camp buddies on FB was like finding a long lost family member) It taught me about living with other people and about relationships and just all kinds of stuff. It was home....the people there were my family. Granted, not all dorm set ups are like that.....but they can be. The kids (in the dorms) are actively taught "independent living skills" and get a lot of exposure to the community. It is NOT like they are warehoused or a repeat of Willowbrook or the other state schools or totally and completely segregated from the outside world. As a matter of fact, at some state schools for the Deaf, there are independant living programs for teens!
I repeat, I really don't think most little kids should go off and live at school, unless there are really bad extenuating circumstances. Idealsticly, I think most little kids should attend a day program, until they are old enough to do overnights. Like maybe third or fourth grade. Exactly the same as for going off and doing overnight summer camp. I do agree with you guys.....when a friend told me that there were some four year olds as dorm kids at her res school, I was horrified. But all I was saying is that there might be SOME extunatating circumstances where it might be a good idea for a little kid to live at school. Say for example, they lived in the middle of no where (like say Alaska or in a very hyper rural area) in a state where special ed was really crappy, and there wasn't even a headstart/general early intervention program available. Or say they lived in Camden NJ (a city that has the most drive by shootings in the US) or a really bad First Nations/Aboringal/ Native American reservation. (ie really horrifying poverty like where kids are eating Lysol sandwiches and huffing gasoline) I do think that might really help get kids into a stable sitution, and away from REALLY horrifying poverty.
Or say.....the kids were living in a motel and the parents were really really struggling. Make sense? Living at school might provide stabilty for kids who may be at risk for really horrfiying effects of poverty, or who may live in very dangerous cities. Heck, a lot of HEARING inner city kids are trying to get out of the public schools and are trying to get out of dangerous neighborhoods. Yes, there are a lot of kids from poor families that simply fall into a particular income bracket. They have involved parents and all. But there are some families where a dhh kid might be better off growing up at a school....and just to add, it does seem like those types of families can and do exist in all income brackets..Need I mention those upper class families where the raising of kids is left to nannies? Or the drug addicted ones or otherwise dysfunctional families?.
That in turn might lessen the need for places like
Cathedral Home for Children - Laramie, Wyoming or
National Deaf Academy Homepage
I do think older kids can handle living away at school. NOT "Oh rah rah rah.....send them away Res schools rock!" But I do think it can be and is a viable option for some kids, even little kids.
Not to mention that some kids may have multiple disabilties (not nessarily severely multihandicapped/fragile...but say mild mental handicap or autism) which may not be able to be served well in even programs for the Dhh