Parents of a deaf student plan to sue SAU 16 for not providing an adequate education

The school is Homepage I have read many reviews about it and have met with their dean or director or whatever you call it and he is a pleasant man. I usually judge people based on my kids reactions, and Calyx (my oldest) was excited to meet him he has a thing for old men with white fluffy hair. Usually around strangers he does the whole scared and clingy but he seemed real open with him. Well that and he loves people who use sign :) He starts showing off his skills every time he meets someone who uses it, which his skills are that of a 3 year old they go as far as colors clothing and animals but you get what I mean. If the entire staff is as genuine as this man was then hopefully it will go over well. We still plan on doing the summer camps up there next year so I am looking forward to that.
 
blondon704 said:
The school is Homepage I have read many reviews about it and have met with their dean or director or whatever you call it and he is a pleasant man. I usually judge people based on my kids reactions, and Calyx (my oldest) was excited to meet him he has a thing for old men with white fluffy hair. Usually around strangers he does the whole scared and clingy but he seemed real open with him. Well that and he loves people who use sign :) He starts showing off his skills every time he meets someone who uses it, which his skills are that of a 3 year old they go as far as colors clothing and animals but you get what I mean. If the entire staff is as genuine as this man was then hopefully it will go over well. We still plan on doing the summer camps up there next year so I am looking forward to that.
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He is not just showing off his skills. He is showing joy at being able to communicate and have contact with another person who is like him.
 
Jillio, I first I was asking how old the child was that you said had went to your sons school and also are you serious? I am saying I don't want to send my son across the state. That doesn't sound like a mother wanting something for her own needs it sounds like a mother wanting to care for her children. I see nothing wrong with him enrolling in the school at a time when he is old enough to understand that mommy isn't leaving him with complete strangers. you do realize my son is three right?
 
I don't think you quite understand me when I am trying to express things that I am saying.

eta I was just trying to show how happy it makes me to watch him sign with other people. I don't know how you took it but maybe you should re read it.
 
blondon704 said:
Jillio, I first I was asking how old the child was that you said had went to your sons school and also are you serious? I am saying I don't want to send my son across the state. That doesn't sound like a mother wanting something for her own needs it sounds like a mother wanting to care for her children. I see nothing wrong with him enrolling in the school at a time when he is old enough to understand that mommy isn't leaving him with complete strangers. you do realize my son is three right?
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Why don't you want to send your son across state? Because YOU will miss out on what YOU think is the opportunity for YOU to care for him. Of course it is about what YOU feel.

I don't know of a deaf school that takes resident students at the age of 3. He is still in EI. So what is the issue then? He is no where near close enough to enrolling as a residential student to even be worrying about it now.

There were many students that attended that school on a residential week day basis and went home on the week-ends. They ranged in age from grammar school to high school.
 
jillio said:
Why don't you want to send your son across state? Because YOU will miss out on what YOU think is the opportunity for YOU to care for him. Of course it is about what YOU feel.

I don't know of a deaf school that takes resident students at the age of 3. He is still in EI. So what is the issue then? He is no where near close enough to enrolling as a residential student to even be worrying about it now.

There were many students that attended that school on a residential week day basis and went home on the week-ends. They ranged in age from grammar school to high school.
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Have you been reading any of the other posts? I specifically said it was really early for me to be thinking about this anyways so I was just trying to get the opinions of my driving him to and from a school that is 4 hours away. That is all.
 
blondon704 said:
Have you been reading any of the other posts? I specifically said it was really early for me to be thinking about this anyways so I was just trying to get the opinions of my driving him to and from a school that is 4 hours away. That is all.
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I will admit that I haven't read all of the posts, but I have kept up with the topics.

Driving him 4 hours would be a good investment of your time.
 
Blondon, are you by any chance near another state's border? I know right now West Virginia Schools for the Deaf and Blind isn't that awesome academicly. It is in the midst of an upgrade, so may be a bit better by the time your son is old enough to go to school. If you're near another state's border then you could send him to another state's Deaf school. Or even Model Secondary School for the Deaf. Of course, WVSDB might be one of those "sounds worse on paper then they actually are" schools. You still have a very long time to wait for things to get better and to hear about what the school is like. Definitly send him to camp there when he's old enough.....
 
jillio said:
Why don't you want to send your son across state? Because YOU will miss out on what YOU think is the opportunity for YOU to care for him. Of course it is about what YOU feel.

I don't know of a deaf school that takes resident students at the age of 3. He is still in EI. So what is the issue then? He is no where near close enough to enrolling as a residential student to even be worrying about it now.

There were many students that attended that school on a residential week day basis and went home on the week-ends. They ranged in age from grammar school to high school.
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I thought that in the old days, deaf schools did take three year olds. I know my friends who attended res schools said that there were always four or five year olds in the dorms. (Florida School for the Deaf and Blind and one of the California Schools) I know it's pretty rare for little kids to attend as res students at deaf schools now, and it's even rarer for lower elementary kids to be res students right?
 
blondon704 said:
But then I do that whole I am a terrible mom not being close. That's why I am finding this to be a difficult situation I want to be around for all of my kids when they need me if they need me and while they need me (i know that won't last forever) but I feel like unless I get a clone that will never happen lol.
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I don't know if the deaf school have VP (visual phone) that they will let the students use to call home. If they do, get the VP (free from Sorenson) and he can call you from school during the week.
 
deafdyke said:
I thought that in the old days, deaf schools did take three year olds. I know my friends who attended res schools said that there were always four or five year olds in the dorms. (Florida School for the Deaf and Blind and one of the California Schools) I know it's pretty rare for little kids to attend as res students at deaf schools now, and it's even rarer for lower elementary kids to be res students right?
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Right. The liability of taking toddlers as residential students is tremendous. Most deaf schools couldn't afford the insurance.
 
So it's basicly liabilty insurance issues why most Deaf Schools don't have a huge population of residental little kids? Why wasn't that a problem in the old days? Heck, Clarke used to have five year olds in the dorms?!?!
 
deafdyke said:
So it's basicly liabilty insurance issues why most Deaf Schools don't have a huge population of residental little kids? Why wasn't that a problem in the old days? Heck, Clarke used to have five year olds in the dorms?!?!
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Not such an awareness of abuse issues and people were not so lawsuit crazy.
 
As I recall, bikes were not allowed at VSDB in Staunton. I think they wanted to avoid the the possibility of lawsuits as it's quite hilly there and crashes would've been devasting.
 
deafdyke said:
Blondon, are you by any chance near another state's border? I know right now West Virginia Schools for the Deaf and Blind isn't that awesome academicly. It is in the midst of an upgrade, so may be a bit better by the time your son is old enough to go to school. If you're near another state's border then you could send him to another state's Deaf school. Or even Model Secondary School for the Deaf. Of course, WVSDB might be one of those "sounds worse on paper then they actually are" schools. You still have a very long time to wait for things to get better and to hear about what the school is like. Definitly send him to camp there when he's old enough.....
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We border Virginia by 45 minutes. I don't know anything about their schools though. We do have a really long time until anything permanent is established, just interested in options :) If driving is the option 2 hours to Staunton isn't far
 
blondon704 said:
We border Virginia by 45 minutes. I don't know anything about their schools though. We do have a really long time until anything permanent is established, just interested in options :) If driving is the option 2 hours to Staunton isn't far
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YAY! Yes, I think almost everyone would say " investigate ALL options" Maybe also see if Staunton offers camps etc. I think VSDB is a bit more academic then WVSDB. Then again, things might improve in the years ahead. I think too MSSD might be a good option too. Again, I'm super psyched that you're so open to sending your kid to live at school....and I think that's basicly how dhh (and blind low vision and other low incidence) kids should be educated......self contained or regional dhh program for elementary, so they can take advantage of training in dhh skills as well as TODs etc, and then they should have the option of going off to Deaf School for middle and high school.
 
jillo, would you agree that this is one family that we don't have to worry about? Just wish we could encourage parents of oral kids and other maisntreamed kids to look into deaf schools...........I really do think a lot of parents would be AMAZED at the difference!
 
deafdyke said:
So it's basicly liabilty insurance issues why most Deaf Schools don't have a huge population of residental little kids? Why wasn't that a problem in the old days? Heck, Clarke used to have five year olds in the dorms?!?!
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Same reason that there were no seat belt usage back then.
 
deafdyke said:
YAY! Yes, I think almost everyone would say " investigate ALL options" Maybe also see if Staunton offers camps etc. I think VSDB is a bit more academic then WVSDB. Then again, things might improve in the years ahead. I think too MSSD might be a good option too. Again, I'm super psyched that you're so open to sending your kid to live at school....and I think that's basicly how dhh (and blind low vision and other low incidence) kids should be educated......self contained or regional dhh program for elementary, so they can take advantage of training in dhh skills as well as TODs etc, and then they should have the option of going off to Deaf School for middle and high school.
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Thank you deafdyke, your answers have been informative and helpful. I truly appreciate it. MSSD is not bad either and since I always wanted to move back to MD maybe it would be a way I can get hubs to listen to me and get us out of this hole lol :)
 
deafdyke said:
jillo, would you agree that this is one family that we don't have to worry about? Just wish we could encourage parents of oral kids and other maisntreamed kids to look into deaf schools...........I really do think a lot of parents would be AMAZED at the difference!
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It would appear that way.
 
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