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Magnolia Elementary educates North County's deaf students - North County Times - Coastal -
For more than 30 years, Magnolia Elementary School has served as a regional education center for deaf and hard-of-hearing elementary students from more than a dozen North County school districts.
Students who attend the school have moderate to complete hearing loss, said Julia Hall, a special education teacher of 22 years. The regional center educates students from 14 school districts that belong to the North Coastal Consortium for Special Education.
Some of the 27 students in the program are mainstreamed into regular education classes with a single teacher. Others require the one-on-one attention of an aide or interpreter.
Working in pairs Thursday, Stephen and his third-grade classmates flipped pages in their science books, searching for the names of animals. Stephen wore twin hearing aids as he worked with a partner equipped with a microphone. Stephen, who has been mainstreamed, eagerly raised his hand with answers.
In a nearby classroom, aide Allison Camm worked with Anthony on subtraction using play money. Camm spoke with her hands in American Sign Language as she said her words aloud. Anthony clearly struggled with the concept, as she prompted him with pointed questions that led him to solutions.
At the front of the room, sign language interpreter Rachael Sudhalter worked with Naomi, who has a cochlear implant. Unlike hearing aids, which amplify sound that can be detected by damaged ears, cochlear implants bypass damaged portions of the ear and directly stimulate the auditory nerve, which relays signals to the brain. The devices are surgically implanted.
Only those with severe or complete hearing loss are candidates for the implant. According to the Food and Drug Administration's 2005 data, nearly 100,000 people worldwide have received implants. In the United States, roughly 22,000 adults and nearly 15,000 children have received them.
With or without hearing aids and implants, translation between American Sign Language and English is tricky, Sudhalter said, because the two languages operate in completely different structures. Many of the words ---- adjectives and adverbs, for example ---- do not exist as words in sign language, and are communicated through facial expression and body language. In sign language, raised eyebrows and a forward tilt to the head indicate that the hand signs constitute a question, Sudhalter said.
The program takes three different approaches to teaching hearing-impaired students, explained Michelle McArthur, who holds a master's degree in American Sign Language and a deaf specialist credential from the state.
Students with moderate hearing loss ---- perhaps augmented with hearing aids ---- are taught with spoken English.
Another teaching approach is the total communication model, McArthur said. Students speak English all the time, and the messages are augmented by a kind of sign language that more closely approximates the structures of English.
The third approach ---- a dual language model ---- is for the profoundly deaf who have little access to hearing or speech, said McArthur. The teachers use the student's native American Sign Language to build bridges to written English.
The school also offers classes in American Sign Language to the parents of hearing-impaired students.
Among the 17 professionals who work in the Deaf and Hard of Hearing center at Magnolia are interpreters, aides, teachers, speech specialists and an audiologist. The center has an auditory testing lab to help assess hearing ability.
To qualify for the program, students must have a significant hearing loss and be within the normal cognition range for children of their age.
Hall said the mainstream teachers welcome her hearing-impaired students into their classes. And students in the school are accustomed to deaf students and don't bat an eye anymore, Hall said.
For more than 30 years, Magnolia Elementary School has served as a regional education center for deaf and hard-of-hearing elementary students from more than a dozen North County school districts.
Students who attend the school have moderate to complete hearing loss, said Julia Hall, a special education teacher of 22 years. The regional center educates students from 14 school districts that belong to the North Coastal Consortium for Special Education.
Some of the 27 students in the program are mainstreamed into regular education classes with a single teacher. Others require the one-on-one attention of an aide or interpreter.
Working in pairs Thursday, Stephen and his third-grade classmates flipped pages in their science books, searching for the names of animals. Stephen wore twin hearing aids as he worked with a partner equipped with a microphone. Stephen, who has been mainstreamed, eagerly raised his hand with answers.
In a nearby classroom, aide Allison Camm worked with Anthony on subtraction using play money. Camm spoke with her hands in American Sign Language as she said her words aloud. Anthony clearly struggled with the concept, as she prompted him with pointed questions that led him to solutions.
At the front of the room, sign language interpreter Rachael Sudhalter worked with Naomi, who has a cochlear implant. Unlike hearing aids, which amplify sound that can be detected by damaged ears, cochlear implants bypass damaged portions of the ear and directly stimulate the auditory nerve, which relays signals to the brain. The devices are surgically implanted.
Only those with severe or complete hearing loss are candidates for the implant. According to the Food and Drug Administration's 2005 data, nearly 100,000 people worldwide have received implants. In the United States, roughly 22,000 adults and nearly 15,000 children have received them.
With or without hearing aids and implants, translation between American Sign Language and English is tricky, Sudhalter said, because the two languages operate in completely different structures. Many of the words ---- adjectives and adverbs, for example ---- do not exist as words in sign language, and are communicated through facial expression and body language. In sign language, raised eyebrows and a forward tilt to the head indicate that the hand signs constitute a question, Sudhalter said.
The program takes three different approaches to teaching hearing-impaired students, explained Michelle McArthur, who holds a master's degree in American Sign Language and a deaf specialist credential from the state.
Students with moderate hearing loss ---- perhaps augmented with hearing aids ---- are taught with spoken English.
Another teaching approach is the total communication model, McArthur said. Students speak English all the time, and the messages are augmented by a kind of sign language that more closely approximates the structures of English.
The third approach ---- a dual language model ---- is for the profoundly deaf who have little access to hearing or speech, said McArthur. The teachers use the student's native American Sign Language to build bridges to written English.
The school also offers classes in American Sign Language to the parents of hearing-impaired students.
Among the 17 professionals who work in the Deaf and Hard of Hearing center at Magnolia are interpreters, aides, teachers, speech specialists and an audiologist. The center has an auditory testing lab to help assess hearing ability.
To qualify for the program, students must have a significant hearing loss and be within the normal cognition range for children of their age.
Hall said the mainstream teachers welcome her hearing-impaired students into their classes. And students in the school are accustomed to deaf students and don't bat an eye anymore, Hall said.
