Need help with the school system

Catherine - posted on 07/31/2012

The first thing you should know is that when an assessment says your child is "pegged" at less than half their age, the real result of the test is discovering that your child does not test well. Seriously. Unless the test was performed by an independent (not being paid for by the school district) reliable accredited agency, the tests are not as reliable as one might hope.

I have a son who is profoundly deaf - bliateral - and wears digitally programmable hearing aids.
There are risks wiht the FM systems some school use - if they are old, cheap or improperly programmed they can actually cause harm to what hearing is left.

You can request an ASL translator OR you can request actual closed captioning for every class. Both of these are expensive. The law prohibits them from denying services based on cost - so they will try to talk you out of them by explaining why these aren't good for your child.

I don't know what state you're in, so I'll tell you about California. In your IEP - which you should ALWAYS TAPE RECORD - you can ask for NPO placement after school hours. Non-Public Organizations are private one-on-one services that will get far greater results than any pull out service during the day. Pull out services actually compound the problem by taking your child away form things that are happening in the classroom at the same time.

Educational Therapy - one-on-one - can help you child learn how to learn. You should also ask for tutoring. If you don't get these services, you can ask for a State hearing where someone outside of your school district will evaluate the situation. If that doesn't work, you should call an attorney. THERE IS NO CHARGE FOR HIRING AN ATTORNEY TO SUE THE SCHOOL DISTRICT. Unfortunately, most school districts won't tell you this. As you exhaust the internal process (IEP, hearing, etc) you should always let them know that you're hoping this works so you don't have to hire an attorney. Sometimes that lights a fire under them.

Ultimately, your child will benefit most from services that come AFTER school and support the classroom curriculum.

I wish you the best of luck!

Kellie - posted on 08/18/2011

I highly suggest gettin him onto speech therapy both in and outside of school, they will work with him on listening as well as with his speech. If he's not fluent in ASL already....I would definitely see about him learning that as well. there are sum great sites n videos I have used w/ my daughter (who is 7, deaf, implanted bilaterial w/ cochlear implants at age 3) www.starfall.com is great in an educational POV, if he don't know ASL there are DVDs called "Signing Time", u can either order off the net or check out at ur local library. If your wanting the school to provide an interpreter or a deaf/HOH teacher my advice would be have his Dr right a letter of recommendation and summit it to his school to have it put in his IEP, and they will have to provide him w/ one!! Hopefully this helped you a little!!? Good luck in the future! =)

Linda - posted on 08/16/2011

He would definately benefit having a Teacher of the Deaf, but I agree with the other Mom, check into a school for the Deaf, in your area, you will both have the support you need.

Dena - posted on 08/15/2011

He would benefit from a teacher of the deaf.I had one for my son for preschool for 2 years.He has done so well. He wear a bone conduction hearing aide and fm system.He just turned 6 and is starting kindergarden this year.

Golda - posted on 09/12/2009

What kind of school does your son attend?? Does he have and IEP(individualized education plan)?
If your child attends a school for the deaf, the will be more helpful in terms of communicating with him, and teaching the entire family how to help. Does he get speech therapy, learning ASL, these a great bases for language development provided by deaf schools. If he is struggling with attention and expressive language, he may not be getting what he needs from the hearing aids. If you don't want him in a "school for the deaf", depending on what state/city you live he can get individual assistance in the classroom. I live in NY, my son attended a school for the deaf from pre-K to fifth grade. He has a CI, since two years old, and while the deaf school was great, I felt he needed more challenge, he just transfered to my local middle school (where they are not as attentive as the deaf school) so its now a bit of a struggle, especially since he is a pre teen!
My bottom line is that a teacher of the deaf will be a great asset to you, until you get over your challenges, and they are always willing to help when you think he should be in a more "average" setting.

Angela - posted on 09/11/2009

Quoting Lori:

Need help with the school system

Hi , My name is Lori and I am the mother of a seven yr old boy with mild to profound sensorineural bilateral hearing loss. My son wears hearing aids and the school supplis am FM system. I have been told that he would benefit greatly with a Teacher of the Deaf. He is very bright but struggling terribly with attention and has severe speech delay. I believe he is pegged as a 3 yr old. He can definately understand but really struggles with expressive language. Any body have any ideas for getting the proper help in and out of the school? He was born with normal hearing but had a bonemarrow transplant at 6 mnts. The meds damaged the nerves in his ears over time so he has only been aided for about 2 years, and he cant always wear them due to ear infections. I would appreciate any comments or suggestions. Thanks so much.......

both of my childred are hearing impaired and if you do not feel like the school system is meeting your needs i would speak to a special education advocate.

Angela - posted on 09/11/2009

Quoting Lori:

Need help with the school system

Hi , My name is Lori and I am the mother of a seven yr old boy with mild to profound sensorineural bilateral hearing loss. My son wears hearing aids and the school supplis am FM system. I have been told that he would benefit greatly with a Teacher of the Deaf. He is very bright but struggling terribly with attention and has severe speech delay. I believe he is pegged as a 3 yr old. He can definately understand but really struggles with expressive language. Any body have any ideas for getting the proper help in and out of the school? He was born with normal hearing but had a bonemarrow transplant at 6 mnts. The meds damaged the nerves in his ears over time so he has only been aided for about 2 years, and he cant always wear them due to ear infections. I would appreciate any comments or suggestions. Thanks so much.......

both of my childred are hearing impaired and if you do not feel like the school system is meeting your needs i would speak to a special education advocate.