She got accepted to FSDB!!

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JadeSkye

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Just had to come on here and post that yesterday we had our meeting with FSDB for assessments and consideration for schooling for our 3 year-old daughter in their Early Learning Center. It was a very long day with many assessments (some of which they said she didn't really want to do- she is very headstrong and knows what she likes to do and what she doesn't). In the end, though, it was so worth it to hear them say that she met criteria for school there and ask us when we wanted her to start school!!

I almost cried when they said that they were determining her d/hh for schooling purposes from that point forward. It's a strange feeling to be both happy and sad about something at the same time- it's hard to explain. I was a little sad because I worry about what stigma she might get throughout her life by being labeled "ESE" and having IEPs and all that comes along with having a "disability" (I hate that word, especially in reference to deafness/hearing loss but that is how many people view it). But I was mostly happy because this meant that she could go to FSDB and be in an environment with people who truly understand how to teach her to the best of her abilities and recognize the "limitations" that sometimes come with deafness/hearing loss! We do not have anyone in our school district who works with d/hh kids and I was very worried about how she would be educated if she had to go to one of our local schools, so I am now breathing a little easier knowing that she will be going there. Oh, and she gets to start next Tuesday, even though they only have about a month left of school, we are going to let her start so she can get use to the idea and be ready for it in the fall full time!! AND she has her first field trip on Thursday which I will be going on with her so I will get to meet some other parents of d/hh kids!!! YAY!!! :D
 
Thats great. will she ride the bus back and forth to home to school? Iam sure that your kid will feel open her eyes wide and see everything and understand whats going on.

Congrats.
 
Wirelessly posted

Congrats!! I have graduated from FSD! It is a good school.
 
Frisky Feline said:
will she ride the bus back and forth to home to school?
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Yes, she will be riding a bus back and forth. We live in one of the surrounding counties and our school district provides a bus for the kids that live here and go to FSDB (there are a few). We showed her the bus when we were there because she has never really seen one and she wanted to get right on it, so I think she will do fine with it.
 
JadeSkye said:
Yes, she will be riding a bus back and forth. We live in one of the surrounding counties and our school district provides a bus for the kids that live here and go to FSDB (there are a few). We showed her the bus when we were there because she has never really seen one and she wanted to get right on it, so I think she will do fine with it.
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That is so great!!!! When i was a kid, and used to ride the bus back and forth to the deaf school as well. I liked this way so i can be with my hearing family and be with deaf friends at school in two different worlds. I adjust it very well with both worlds. Now i have hearing kids. :lol:
 
That is SO incredible!!!!!!! I really think you're going to be BLOWN AWAY with the quality of early childhood Deaf Ed at a large Deaf school. The main thing is as you said, this enviroment SPECIALIZES in dhh kids. She will get EVERYTHING....HOH kids tend to really really thrive in Deaf ed settings. Heck, at a public school she would prolly get a speech therapist who maybe might have seen two or three dhh students in their entire career, and a teacher who prolly only briefly studied the manual vs oral debate.
If she was blind instead of Deaf I would have said the same, and also encouraged placement at the Blind School for preschool. Low incidence kids need specialized educational placements especially for early childhood. Most public schools won't offer the specialized offerings that a low incidence school can. I know a lot of people here know this, but am just posting for the lurkers.Heck even one of those "one room schoolhouse" set ups where special needs kids of all stripes (ie Down's, severe LD, CP, autism) are grouped togehter aren't as good as a specialized preschool setting.
Another really awesome plus is that she'll have dhh PEERS....kids just like her...kids who also wear hearing aids....she can feel a part of a group and a gang
And that's awesome that she gets to ride the bus.....I know that some Deaf /blind/ other specialized schools offer daily bus service up to two hours away......
 
It would be interesting for you to know this for the future when your child became older.

FSDB also has gifted program and mainstream program where the child can goes to St. Augustine public school for part of the day with interpreter and notetaker provided. :D

By the way, don't you agree FSDB is very beautiful campus?
 
Stargazer Lilies said:
It would be interesting for you to know this for the future when your child became older.

FSDB also has gifted program and mainstream program where the child can goes to St. Augustine public school for part of the day with interpreter and notetaker provided. :D

By the way, don't you agree FSDB is very beautiful campus?
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It has a gifted program? Now that's REALLY interesting! I knew FSDB is large and also has a significent subpopulation of academic kids. I thought most if not all Deaf Schools offer a partial mainstreaming program. (where kids mainstream out of a Deaf School into local schools which tend to be more experianced with Dhh students)
 
I'm also an alumni of FSD. I had also attend mainstream high school nearby and rode buses with other Deaf who attend nearby schools whether its a Technical school or mainstreamed at middle school as well. :)

Opportunites for Deaf are so much better at Deaf schools especially if wanting to get involved with sports & clubs to have it on transcripts for colleges after graduation.

I had recently visit FSD last summer during parent weekend and touring around FSD a bit. I would say its changed A LOT since I was a student there. :) So I'm hoping that it continues to get better and better as I may possible see a future generation going there too. :)
 
Stargazer Lilies said:
By the way, don't you agree FSDB is very beautiful campus?
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It is really amazing! At the moment they have a lot of construction going on because they just got the money (can't remember if it was grant or state or how they got it) to redo ALL the piping (I think water pipes) at the school, so there are little fenced off areas between lots of building where they are working on pipes. But it is still a beautiful place, even with the construction. I love how many of the buildings fit in with the "look" of the old St.Augustine area, too. It's really quiet and peaceful there, too (it was a little strange to tour the classrooms and have them be so silent :lol: but it was nice too). They have a lot of benefactors so it seems they are constantly working on things and keeping it nice there.
 
sunsetlover said:
I'm also an alumni of FSD. I had also attend mainstream high school nearby and rode buses with other Deaf who attend nearby schools whether its a Technical school or mainstreamed at middle school as well. :)

Opportunites for Deaf are so much better at Deaf schools especially if wanting to get involved with sports & clubs to have it on transcripts for colleges after graduation.

:)
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Now THAT is an issue that a lot of parents may forget or gloss over. Deaf schools/ programs give their students leadership oppertunties that simply cannot be found at a hearing school. Deaf Schools/programs offer a lot of intangible benefits, that nevertheless REALLY benefit kids, and that can REALLY set the pace for life achievement. Yes, a kid needs to have basic literatcy and school needs to educate a dhh kid to their highest level......but I mean a kid who has AP gym isn't nessarily going to do better.....Heck, if life success was dependent on how smart you were, you wouldn't have a very high unemployment rate with Asperger's and high functioning autistics.
There's so much more to life success then simply attending a mainstream school......Deaf specific education (whether magnet, res school, regional dhh program ) can very often offer those intagliable benefits...
 
deafdyke said:
Now THAT is an issue that a lot of parents may forget or gloss over. Deaf schools/ programs give their students leadership oppertunties that simply cannot be found at a hearing school. Deaf Schools/programs offer a lot of intangible benefits, that nevertheless REALLY benefit kids, and that can REALLY set the pace for life achievement. Yes, a kid needs to have basic literatcy and school needs to educate a dhh kid to their highest level......but I mean a kid who has AP gym isn't nessarily going to do better.....Heck, if life success was dependent on how smart you were, you wouldn't have a very high unemployment rate with Asperger's and high functioning autistics.
There's so much more to life success then simply attending a mainstream school......Deaf specific education (whether magnet, res school, regional dhh program ) can very often offer those intagliable benefits...
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Some residential deaf school are so sheltering of deaf students that deaf students never develop independent skills, let alone advocate for themselves.
 
Stargazer Lilies said:
Some residential deaf school are so sheltering of deaf students that deaf students never develop independent skills, let alone advocate for themselves.
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I can happily say that FSDB is not like this, from all I have seen it looks like they highly encourage students to learn how to work in the "real" world. They have programs to expose the students to independent life (one is for those who just graduated, I think- and those who are staying in the dorms are all taught living skills). If our daughter continues at this school (when she gets older, I will gladly give her the choice of what school she would want to go to, because then she can understand the pros and cons herself) I would consider letting her stay at the dorms for a year or two when she is a junior or senior, even though we live close enough for her to commute. I think that it can teach her some great life skills!
 
JadeSkye said:
I can happily say that FSDB is not like this, from all I have seen it looks like they highly encourage students to learn how to work in the "real" world. They have programs to expose the students to independent life (one is for those who just graduated, I think- and those who are staying in the dorms are all taught living skills). If our daughter continues at this school (when she gets older, I will gladly give her the choice of what school she would want to go to, because then she can understand the pros and cons herself) I would consider letting her stay at the dorms for a year or two when she is a junior or senior, even though we live close enough for her to commute. I think that it can teach her some great life skills!
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*sitting here nodding* That's awesome that FSDB sees its dorm program as a way to prep its students for independance in the real world. Also BEYOND COOL that you'd be open to her maybe living in the dorms as a high schooler! Some res school programs may shelter dhh kids.....but on the other hand, a LOT more hearing parents tend to REALLY shelter their dhh kid.
And I mean REALLY shelter them..God, even hearing kids don't always have the best life skills training..
 
FSDB is a great school. Some of my friends graduated from the school and has done well in real life. A few of them went thru their gifted program.

Yes their campus was beautiful when I went there for a visit and homecoming football game in 1990 or 1991. After the game, we went to Deaf social event in theater which was not far from the campus.
 
JadeSkye said:
I can happily say that FSDB is not like this, from all I have seen it looks like they highly encourage students to learn how to work in the "real" world. They have programs to expose the students to independent life (one is for those who just graduated, I think- and those who are staying in the dorms are all taught living skills). If our daughter continues at this school (when she gets older, I will gladly give her the choice of what school she would want to go to, because then she can understand the pros and cons herself) I would consider letting her stay at the dorms for a year or two when she is a junior or senior, even though we live close enough for her to commute. I think that it can teach her some great life skills!
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It's so nice to see a parent doing what is best for their child. :)

I grew up mainstreamed then I made the decision to go to a deaf school when I was a Freshman. Just pay attention to the contents that they taught in school, sometimes deaf schools are hard to keep up... like there would be a class with one teacher and the students are at different level.. it's VERY common in deaf schools... the teacher would end up having a one on one session with one student who is behind and that leaves the smart kid in class to clown around. I went to MSSD (model secondary school for the deaf) and they had some AP classes and they let us take few classes at Gallaudet. Most parents take their deaf children out of deaf schools when they noticed that they're not making any progress in education and send them to hearing schools so they can keep up. So, like i said, just pay attention to her homeworks, her classwork, performances in classes, etc. Being around deaf classmates is GREAt, i LOVE it. im just glad that you're flexible and is willing to have your daughter to make the decision later when necessary.
 
Moelza said:
It's so nice to see a parent doing what is best for their child. :)

I grew up mainstreamed then I made the decision to go to a deaf school when I was a Freshman. Just pay attention to the contents that they taught in school, sometimes deaf schools are hard to keep up... like there would be a class with one teacher and the students are at different level.. it's VERY common in deaf schools... the teacher would end up having a one on one session with one student who is behind and that leaves the smart kid in class to clown around. I went to MSSD (model secondary school for the deaf) and they had some AP classes and they let us take few classes at Gallaudet. Most parents take their deaf children out of deaf schools when they noticed that they're not making any progress in education and send them to hearing schools so they can keep up. So, like i said, just pay attention to her homeworks, her classwork, performances in classes, etc. Being around deaf classmates is GREAt, i LOVE it. im just glad that you're flexible and is willing to have your daughter to make the decision later when necessary.
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Exactly.......Be child centered.....But,the good thing is that early childhood at deaf schools tends to have kids who are on par or not too far behind.....and she's getting a good foundation for her later education,whatever that may be.
She may spend her entire educational career at a Deaf School, (even thou that's really rare even for DODAs)or she may spend some time in a regioal program or inclusion style mainstreaming........I think my best advice for parents of dhh or other special needs kids is to be flexiable and openminded,and to realize that the eductioal needs of dhh children CHANGE......
 
And the thing is.......even after only a few years of attendance at a deaf school,she'll have the advantage of a huge Deaf social commuity.....Kids who are mainstreamed seem to do best when they have a lot of extra academic dhh resources/events.
 
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