Tulare schools at center of county's efforts

[Alex]

By Anita Stackhouse-Hite
Staff writer

Romulado Cebellos, a deaf fourth-grader at Frank Kohn School in Tulare, doesn't like going to class with hearing students.

His explanation is straightforward.

"[It's] because they're too slow," he said through Leslie Thomas, his teacher and interpreter.

Cebellos uses American sign language to talk with his hands -- quickly. On one recent schoolday, his dark eyes sparkled and widened as he looked from his hearing classmates to the six deaf and hard-of-hearing students who shared his table.

It's easier to share and learn when not everything has to go through a translator, he said.

"We do more fun things in summer school, when only deaf kids are there," he said, smiling now. "That's because we sign together a lot."

When it comes to educating the deaf and hard-of-hearing, myths abound. If you think all hearing-impaired students are self-conscious, or that they consider themselves to be at a disadvantage, talk to Cebellos.

Or talk to Kohn School Principal Mark Jensen.

About 25 deaf and hard-of-hearing students come from all over Tulare County to attend Kohn and Live Oak elementary schools. There, Jensen said, such students get no special treatment when it comes to academic accountability or discipline.

Nor do they want it, he said.

"They don't expect to be treated differently," he said, noting that it's parents who, in some cases, expect more "leniency." "Aside from hearing, these kids are normal in every way. And I treat them that way."

Among the myths regarding the hearing-impaired:

All want to learn with hearing peers.

The hearing members of Elaine Schroyer's fourth-grade class were asked if they like having deaf and hard-of-hearing students in class with them. All raised their hands.

Asked the same question about hearing children, the hearing-impaired students were less enthusiastic.

"I want to go to Fremont and be with deaf kids all the time," said Cebellos, referring to the California School for the Deaf -- Fremont, which has a sister school in Riverside.

Deaf classmate Cheyenne Tusmon, 11, enjoys going to school with hearing students. Like Cebellos, however, she prefers playing with those who have mastered sign language.

It's just easier, she said.

The terms "deaf" and "hard-of-hearing" are interchangeable.

There is an official distinction -- although members of both groups may wear hearing aids. If the child's primary way of learning is visual -- sign language, pictures, graphics and drawings -- he or she is considered deaf, said Jim Beaucamp, Tulare County Office of Education audiologist. If the primary learning method involves sound -- even though the child may use sign language -- he or she is considered hard of hearing

They can't hear as well (or at all), so they can't learn as well (or at all).

The term "deaf and dumb," which began with Greek philosopher Aristotle, may have left some with a false impression. The deaf and hard-of-hearing are as intelligent as their hearing counterparts, Thomas said, but may lag in grade level because of language barriers early in life.

Children need a language base before learning to read and write, said Linda Mckean, director of the Tulare County Office of Education program for deaf students, and language development suffers when they can't hear words. In Tulare County, she said, interpreters and teachers of the deaf work together with other teachers to close the gap.

"One of the biggest obstacles they face is that people assume children with hearing loss are not [mentally] developed," said April Densmore, who teaches preschool-age deaf children. "That's just not true. They are just like every other kid, except they can't hear."

Coming Thursday: Part two of this series looks at the ongoing debate in the deaf community over whether signing or verbal communication is the better option for schoolchildren.

 

[Alex]

By Anita Stackhouse-Hite
Staff writer

Editor's note: This is the second of two stories dealing with deaf and hard-of-hearing schoolchildren in Tulare County.

A battle in the deaf community has raged for years. The issue: Which form of communication -- speech, sign language or a combination of the two -- is best for hearing-impaired children?

Kathy Carlson, coordinator of Deaf and Hard of Hearing Service Center, Inc., in Visalia, is an advocate of "total communication," the use of both speech and sign language. Sign-language communication is an important option for deaf and hard-of-hearing children as they grow older, said Carlson, who was born deaf.

"Oral [speaking] deaf people tend to be frustrated later in life," she said, "because they have a hard time getting a good education or a job because communication is not clear."

Carol Sonier, principal of Juvenile Detention Facility, Visalia, disagrees. Sonier, who hears, said she has two deaf children who are academically successful without the use of sign language.

She and her husband considered sign language for their firstborn, she said, but decided that the number of people he could communicate with would be too limited.

"We wanted him to be able to communicate with as many people as possible, like he would if he was hearing," Sonier said. "For us, that meant oral communication."

Her son went on to become an Eagle Scout and editor of his school newspaper and is about to graduate from high school and go to college, she said.

Cochlear implants

When a child has so little hearing that hearing aids won't help, cochlear implants provide an option. With this technology, a tiny receiver is surgically placed in the bone behind the child's ear, which is connected to 22 electrodes inserted in the inner ear.

Hanford resident and Advance-Register copy editor Dave Cooper went the cochlea-implant route eight years ago for his now-15-year-old daughter. Cooper, who did not choose an implant for his 10-year-old, hearing-impaired son, said it's the parents' responsibility to look at all options and make decisions based on their family's best interests.

Cooper said that because he lives in a small community with few deaf people, the total-communication approach works best for his family.

Educators' approach

Whichever method of communication parents have chosen for their children, the Tulare County Office of Education combines a variety of teaching methods in its program for the hearing impaired at Frank Kohn Elementary and Live Oak Middle schools in Tulare. The program stresses the importance of educating those with disabilities alongside other students whenever possible, director Linda McKean said.

Also, teachers wear small auditory trainers -- similar to a walkie-talkie system -- that transmit their voice directly into children's hearing aids.

Sonier's children benefited greatly from Tulare County's program, the principal said. Her son's lack of self-consciousness about his deafness became apparent when he ran for class treasurer in fifth grade, she said.

Figuring that he might have to give a speech, Sonier asked her son if he needed help.

"He said, 'I've got to make a speech and make a poster ... [and] I'm going to need help with the poster,'" Sonier said. "That's when we knew we'd done it right."

Other parents, of course, are equally convinced that they did the right thing by giving their children as many communication options as possible -- including sign language.

Claudia Garcia's outgoing 10-year-old son, Salvador, signs, reads lips and speaks -- in English and Spanish. He says he likes having choices.

"I like to talk to my dad in Spanish," he said through a sign-language interpreter at Kohn School, where he often signs with hearing students who are learning the skill.

His dad is getting more choices, too, Salvador said.

"He is learning to sign, so sometimes I sign [with him]," the boy said.

In the end, decisions about using speech or sign language or whether to use a cochlear implant are personal ones. One method does not work for everyone, Sonier said.

All, however, agreed on one thing: the importance of patience. It takes years -- and a lot of help from a lot of caring people -- to successfully raise a deaf child, they said.

Juan de Ocha, 5, gets help putting on his auditory trainer during the Tulare County Office of Education Hearing and Speech Center preschool class at Frank Kohn School. The trainer is a kind of walkie-talkie system to allow for more direct communication between teachers and hearing-impaired students.

 

[Maria]

That's cool ! It's what I taught my students last month in April at High School. They want me to teach again this fall ! The students that I was teachin' from the ages of 14 to 60.