Cchlear Implant Educatin Center Cchlear Implants and Sign Language: Building Fundatins fr Effective Educatinal Practices Discussin 3: Designing Services and Prgrams in the Mainstream 1
Discussin 3: Designing Services and Prgrams in the Mainstream The printing f this publicatin was supprted by federal funding. This publicatin shall nt imply apprval r acceptance by the U.S. Department f Educatin f the findings, cnclusins, r recmmendatins herein. Gallaudet University is an equal pprtunity emplyer/educatinal institutin, and des nt discriminate n the basis f race, clr, sex, natinal rigin, religin, age, hearing status, disability, cvered veteran status, marital status, persnal appearance, sexual rientatin, family respnsibilities, matriculatin, plitical affiliatin, surce f incme, place f business r residence, pregnancy, childbirth, r any ther unlawful basis. 2
Discussin 3: Designing Services and Prgrams in the Mainstream Mderatr: Mary Kch is an auditry educatin cnsultant at Bys Twn Natinal Research Hspital Panel Members: Susan Russell is supervisr f prgrams fr students wh are deaf and hard f hearing Mntgmery Cunty, Maryland Tina Tingler is an assistant principal at Mantua Elementary Schl in Fairfax Cunty, Virginia. Candi Mascia- Reed is supervisr f schl prgrams fr the deaf in Hackensack, New Jersey fr Bergen Cunty Special Services, New Jersey. Gina A. Oliva, prfessr in the Department f Physical Educatin and Recreatin at Gallaudet University and authr f "Alne in the Mainstream: A Deaf Wman Remembers Public Schl" (2004). She is currently researching the phenmenn f d/deaf Camps. Sarah Dawsn Wainsctt, aural habilitatin specialist and directr f Research and Outreach at Chattering Children. Sarah is als the mther f 4 children; tw f her children are deaf and have a cchlear implant. Discussin: During the panel discussin, Susan Russell, Tina Tingler, and Candi Mascia Reed described their rles and respnsibilities as administratrs prgramming fr children with cchlear implants. Gina Oliva discussed her persnal experiences in mainstream educatin. Sarah Wainsctt discussed her perspective abut wrking in a private auditry verbal center supprting the spken language develpment f diverse children with cchlear implants (including thse wh use sign language) enrlled in a variety f educatinal envirnments. Susan Russell discussed: The cntinuum f prgram placements and cmmunicatin appraches in Mntgmery Cunty, Maryland fr the apprximately 350 students wh are deaf and hard f hearing in the cunty and hw their prgrams include bth center- based prgrams as well as supprts t individual students in neighbrhd schls. She emphasized that they d nt prgram in a different manner fr the 20 % f their students with cchlear implants and instead lk at the individual needs f each student. The benefit f their lng standing center- based ttal cmmunicatin prgram at ne schl in their cunty in regard t the supprts it prvides nt nly t the deaf and hard f hearing students it serves, but als t the hearing students enrlled there and t the schl culture. Cnsideratins fr interpreters wrking with children with cchlear implants, including: The imprtance f including interpreters n the educatinal planning and implementatin team. The imprtance f interpreters familiarizing themselves with a student s backgrund and functining with their implant (when was the implant activated, hw t knw if a 3
student s equipment is functining, what is a student s auditry functining level, what des a student s auditry functining have t d with hw interpreting services are prvided). The imprtance f interpreters teaming with teachers in regard t prvisin f interpreting supprts (i.e. listening in nise, listening fr cmplex infrmatin). The imprtance f interpreters needing t gauge and assess interpreting strategies in regard t when a student needs interpretatin knwing when t give the student the pprtunity t listen t/watch the teacher, and when t fill in what infrmatin may have been missed. Having a sense f the student's language level and knwing when t rephrase, and when t use ther visual supprts such as a white bard. Tina Tingler discussed: The Fairfax Cunty, Virginia public schl prgram that includes a variety f placement ptins. She described hw their sign based prgrams include deaf staff and a range f specialists wh can sign, and hw they have a number f different mainstreaming pprtunities (with and withut interpreters). She stressed that as decisins are made abut placement in the mainstream, they recgnize the imprtance f lking beynd the audigram and cchlear implant and f lking at the whle child. Regardless f whether students with cchlear implants are in self- cntained classrms r inclusive classrms, they all have case managers wh are Teachers f the Deaf (TOD). Sme strategies they use in their cunty t include bth spken language and sign language such as: C- teaching, where a teacher wh has training wrking with deaf children is paired with a general educatin teacher. Interpreted stries during read alud time, where a TOD cllabrates with the general educatin teacher. During this time, reading materials that supplement the curriculum are read alud in spken English and signed in ASL thrugh the interpreter. The TOD knws the auditry/language functining/cgnitive levels f each child and adjusts the stry level as needed fr individual students. After schl prgram inclusive f deaf and hard f hearing children, CODA (Children f Deaf Adults) children and siblings f students in the classrm. Individualized strategies fr the use f spken English with identified students (i.e., phnetic strategies in language arts and persnalized lessns prvided verbally). The use f interpreters in the prgram (emphasizing the dynamic rle f interpreters and the imprtance f a gd fit between the student and the interpreter). Candi Mascia Reed discussed: The cmpnents f the prgram she currently wrks with under Bergen Cunty Special Services, called Cmmunicatin Cntinuum. This is a separate ttal cmmunicatin prgram in their schl system t supprt children frm pre- K thrugh 12. (This prgram was previusly part f a larger auditry and ral prgram in Midland Park, in nrthern New Jersey.) She discussed the need t reassess their prgram as the number f children with cchlear implants increased and hw they then attracted mre children with cchlear implants. The cnsideratins fr children with cchlear implants which include: Individualizatin fr students in regard t mainstreaming nt being based n their implant but n the academic capabilities f each child. Nt segregating students based n their use f an implant. 4
Use f interpreters in the mainstream fr children with implants based n individual child characteristics. Gina Oliva discussed: The imprtance f children alne in the mainstream having pprtunities fr interactin with deaf peers thrugh after- schl, weekend, and summer prgrams. The imprtance f parents cnsidering what it is like t grw up with an interpreted educatin. The imprtance f learning frm cllege students wh have started in mainstream envirnments and later sught ut and enjyed an envirnment where everyne signs and can readily cmmunicate. Her cncern f interpreters being used with yung children wh are nt cmpetent in sign and the imprtance f cnsidering whether this is really effective mainstreaming r the nly thing a schl district can ffer. Sarah Wainsctt discussed: The philsphy f the Auditry Verbal prgram at Chattering Children and hw it is inclusive f children wh use sign at hme and/r in schl. The bjective f Chattering Children t cach families t prvide them with tls t facilitate their children s develpment f auditry and ral skills. The gal f Chattering Children t supprt families f children wh use sign in mving alng a cntinuum t a mre ral placement in a regular classrm (yet recgnizing the imprtance f develping functinal language skills). Their services t a range f students and families wh may sign including: Families building early fundatins in sign, while als wrking with an AV apprach t build auditry/ral skills. Older elementary students in a sign based prgram that are lking fr a prgram t supplement their auditry/ral develpment. (i.e., students with cchlear implants in transitin t an ral prgram and late identified and late implanted children frm nn- English speaking families) Children with additinal special needs including thse wh may have the capacity t develp receptive auditry skills yet may be limited in their expressive spken language due t mtr r cmmunicatin issues. Children frm culturally Deaf families wh have made a decisin t chse a cchlear implant fr their child yet may nt use spken language at hme and are seeking supprt in develping spken language skills. Highlighted was the imprtance f reframing their practice t develp spken language yet validating the child and family in their use f ASL and the necessity f including strategies that capitalize n the capacity f these children t use their first language in a visual mdality t bridge t and build language in the auditry mdality. 5
The Laurent Clerc Natinal Deaf Educatin Center is cmprised f tw federally mandated demnstratin schls fr students frm birth thrugh age 21 wh are deaf. Lcated n the campus f Gallaudet University, these schls wrk in cllabratin with a natinal netwrk f exemplary prgrams and prfessinals t identify, research, develp, evaluate, and disseminate innvative curricula, materials, educatinal strategies, and technlgies fr students wh are deaf r hard f hearing. The Clerc Center als prvides training and technical assistance t families and prgrams thrughut the United States, and serves as a mdel individualized educatinal prgram, wrking in clse partnership with its students and their families. Wrking fr Deaf and Hard f Hearing Children Thrughut the United States 6