I need advice

I am interested in reading your letter that you wrote it to michelle obama. dont you mind to post it here??
 
Hello, my name is Sara. I am a mother to two wonderful children that have a sever hearing loss. Austin, my son who is five years old, and Emma-Leigh, my daughter who is three years old. I currently live in Martinsburg, WV and I had just moved here because I was evicted out of my home in Hagerstown, MD. Before moving to WV I had discovered a way for Austin to communicate that was through Sign Language, he had an interpreter that taught him the language in school ,that was great however I noticed my son did not have one child at the school to socialize with. So I had fought to get him into Maryland School for the deaf in Fredrick, MD so Austin could benefit from his new found language and use it to make friends and learn since he does not talk. It took from November 2010 to April 2011 for me to finally win that battle. But I lost it by not being able to afford my home and had to sell my vehicle to find a new place to live. I was lucky and found my place in Martinsburg and moved in the next day after staying in a hotel homeless. And now I am blessed and have an opportunity to buy this place in a rent to own situation through my landlord and be able to own my place in six years and have a stable environment for my children to be raised at.
Now I am faced with a difficult situation that I do not find fair for a parent of a deaf child to have to make. In West Virginia there is only one school for the deaf and that is in Romney, West Virginia , which is an hour and a half from my house. Since it is so far they only provide transportation to and from school once a week which means I’d have to board my children at the school. I feel boarding a five and three year old is ridiculous! I want to be able to take care of my own children and tuck them into bed every night after, reading them a story or even give them a bath and have a sit down family dinner. I do not want someone to raise my children for me. I called an advocate to help me possibly fight West Virginia to pay out of state tuition and it is expensive ($ 100,000) and I see why they can not afford it. The advocate told me that she could not help me that I was left with three choices, Move back to Maryland, I can not afford to do that, Put them in public school, which my problem would go back to square one the lack of socialization which helps your child develop or board them in West Virginia school for the deaf, which is out of the picture because I want to raise my own children not have some stranger raise them for me.
So this brings me to why I am writing you the “ No Child Left Behind Act” needs to be adjusted to make it easier for even the deaf to benefit from it. It took me three years to find a way for my son to communicate and now he has the tools to communicate he needs the community that can help him see that he is not the only person in the world that uses this tool. I need for him to be as normal as any child. I want him to be able to have a friend and guidance to help him in life itself. It shouldn’t be so hard to fight for your child to receive the help that they need. Or even go to a school that you know will benefit them. Maybe even if the states had more than one school for the deaf like Maryland has (Fredrick and Columbia) or the county pays for some of the transportation to and from the further schools that they need. Something has to be done. I have no one else to turn to. I need help to provide my son and daughter with the education that they deserve. Please help me.
Sincerely,
Sara
 
Last edited:
Great letter!!

can you please edit your full name, just first name for your safety.
 
LOL i copied and pasted it didnt think of much good eye thanks so what do you think?
 
Very good letter, hopefully they can figure something out. I do think that boarding your children is out of the question... they are far too young for that.
 
And I agree 100% with you about public school. Unless a public school has a dhh program, they generally can't provide the level of services that a regional dhh program can.
I am very surprised that WV does not have regional dhh programs for preschool at least. But then again, there's also the fact that your son has additional significent special needs. He would not get served at a regional dhh program very well, since most run of the mill deaf ed teachers, don't tend to have a lot of training with multiple disabilties. He's not severely multihandicapped, (meaning the type of kid who would be served in a severe handicap program) but he would still benifit from a program where teachers knew how to teach him, and where he would have peers with other disabilties. One of my friends has her daughter who is Hoh and mildly mentally handicapped in a dhh program, and she is the only one in the program who is mentally handicapped.
You know, I wonder if you could do a compromise.....a dhh regional program for your daughter (which can be a decent compromise. She would be in a public school, BUT also get the advantage of a dhh program ) and send your son to MSD. You do have to argue that.....your son is too too young to board at WVSDB. They also don't have a special needs program. Even if he was just dhh, he would be too young....and same with your daughter.
I agree 100% that unless there are extenouating circumstances, most little kids (8 and younger) need to live at home. Dorm parents and dorm life can be amazing....but I think that it needs to be reserved for older kids and teens.
 
You need to contact your school district representative and call an IEP meeting. If the last IEP recommended placement in a school for the deaf, you're in good shape. Your son will likely have to take a taxi or bus to school, which would be entirely the school districts responsibility.

They cannot force you to board your children, and they also cannot make you pay for transportation.

Was it documented in an IEP at your current district that they would only pay for transportation once a week? If it is, you are golden.

Have your request documented either through email, or on the IEP notes that you want your son to attend the school for the deaf and that he will remain at home with you. If they say they can only provide transportation once a week, make sure that's documented in the IEP notes.

At that point you can file a compliance complaint, and I guarantee you they will be found out of compliance. When and if that happens, the DOE will order them to provide your child with transportation.

If that school has a program for 3-5 year olds, you'll have a lot to back you to get your daughter placement as well.

They are required to provide your children with an education that is accessible to them. Your children are also entitled to instruction in their primary mode of communication, which is ASL.

You have the law on your side, so stand strong and don't let them pressure you into signing anything.
 
You really need to connect on a more local level though, to make any major headway in the near future.
 
Great letter.

Email/write/call every politicans in WV, and see what transpires from that

Good luck!
 
It's great to write the politicians to raise awareness and push for a change. However, they are not directly involved with your children and likely won't be able to institute any immediate changes for you or the system.

You need to contact the Special Education director, and maybe the Superintendant if you want things to happen in the near future.
 
P.S. I'm really sorry you had to go through that rough patch. I'm glad things are looking up for you.
 
I wrote both supertendaints to WVSDAB and MSD and WVSDAB wrote me back telling me they could not help me!!! I am confused?!?!? Any suggestions?
 
You need to connect with the Educational Agency that is responsible for providing your children with a FAPE. That would be whatever school district you are in. You need to connect with the Sp Ed director of that district. They are the ones responsible.

Have you been able to check out Wrightslaw or the other link yet? Great information and resources are available.
 
AandEMomma said:
I wrote both supertendaints to WVSDAB and MSD and WVSDAB wrote me back telling me they could not help me!!! I am confused?!?!? Any suggestions?
Click to expand...

At this point, WVSDB is not under any obligation to provide your children with an education. They likely need a referral which would come from the school district.
 
When your state has a deaf school, I don't think it is an option to get them to pay tuition to another state's deaf school.
 
AandEMomma said:
UPDATE:

I called an advocate today someone will reach me in a few days for further info (so they say)

I emailed some of the gov officials the same letter I wrote to Michelle Obama (if anyone wants to read my letter I can post it) but I email the Governor, A Delegate, the Cabinet secretary for Dept. of Education and the State Superintendant.

Can anyone think of anyone else??
Click to expand...

Carbon copy those letters to the local Deaf organization and the NAD. Always good to let them know that you are fighting a battle for a deaf child. They will often get behind you and offer help.
 
shel90 said:
Hi..I tried contacting my friends who live in West VA...no reply. I hadnt talked to them in years so maybe they changed email addys. I wish I could be mroe of help regarding to the Deaf Education system in W. Va.

If MSD is out of the question, what about Kendall in Washington, D.C.? They accept out of state students.
Click to expand...

From all over the USA or just the nearby states? I was under the impression that Kendall is a day school. I have to admit that I never attended Kendall even though I could see the school everyday on the way to the MSSD caferia while I was a student there.
 
CSign said:
You need to connect with the Educational Agency that is responsible for providing your children with a FAPE. That would be whatever school district you are in. You need to connect with the Sp Ed director of that district. They are the ones responsible.

Have you been able to check out Wrightslaw or the other link yet? Great information and resources are available.
Click to expand...

That contact will occur during the IEP meeting. She can request the presence of a representative to any agency/dept. she desires.
 
Back
Top