Deaf Children and Literacy

My daughter recently had her three year school evaluation in accordance with IEP elegibility requirements. Yes, she is still deaf. Yes, she still qualifies for an IEP. However, her academic test scores were all at or above grade level, so she only qualified for audiological services, not academic assistance. We were very happy with her progress.

That got me to wondering about reading literacy in general. When we first became involved in the early intervention program, the current data at the time ( http://gri.gallaudet.edu/Literacy/ ) coming out of Gaulladet showed a 4th grade reading literacy level for Deaf kids graduating high school. This was 10 years ago. I searched the web, and while I found a lot of small studies, with mixed results, there hasn't been a comprehensive overview that I could find since then! I am stunned and saddened that this issue has been so poorly followed up on. I would have thought that every Methodology out there would want to show the world the Holy Grail of performance, which is a high literacy level in the deaf children who follow their method.

I found a lot of studies touting the importance of (fill in the blank) in teaching deaf children how to read. This includes early ASL language acquisition, which I do not dispute. But even Gally does not have current data to show how early ASL helps with higher literacy levels. What does it take to get enough interest in this issue for academic programs to start requiring regular testing and follow up, and then to get it published?

Maybe I am just missing it, or not using the correct search words. If you know of published studies that actually show literacy levels in high school students graduating high school, that is less than 5 years old, I would love to have it. It would be especially helpful if the study showed what specific educational program they used.

Show and Tell

Last month, while we were at a family birthday party, my niece came over to ask a favor. Could my daughter and I come to her high school ASL class for show and tell? It seems that she (my niece) missed a number of days and her grades are not the best. She could get extra credit points for doing a presentation on different deaf related subjects. She asked her teacher if having her cousin who has cochlear implants do a presentation in class would qualify. Yes, it would.

So, My 11 year old and I will spend the day in her ASL class, talking about implants, sign language, speech therapy, audiologists, mapping, and anything else the kids can think to ask regarding my daughter's journey. My daughter and I have visited other ASL classes, and she loves it. The kids have alwasy been amazing with her and make her feel very special. I hope my niece gets lots of points for inviting us.

Gallaudet Professors' CI Journey

Gallaudet Professors Josh and Sam Swiller received their cochlear implants a couple of years ago, and this video summarizes their journey since then.

Gallaudet Professors' CI Journey

Anti-CI vlog/movie

In response to the furor over these two anti-ci vlog (My Son Is Deaf, Finally!) and movie (I Sign, I Live), it is very important to keep in mind that not all of those who are members of the deaf community think the same way.

The most important fact here is that many of us in the deaf community either have children with cochlear implants and/or have cochlear implants ourselves. We have many friends within the community who are supportive of our decision, and this number is increasing rapidly. The other side knows it too, and it is hard for them to see past the history of oppression within the community to the facts of the present. With time, hopefully soon, the community will finally come together and embrace everyone for who they are, regardless of their choices.

Conundrum – Why Parents Make the Decision

Many Deaf children’s advocates recommend waiting to implant until the child is old enough to decide for him or herself if they want to get an implant. If all else was equal, I would be right there with them. The problem is that for the implant to be successful, the brain needs auditory input during the critical first three years. If hearing aids work for the child, great, waiting is good. However, for the profoundly deaf infant, hearing aids are rarely adequate in providing the needed auditory information across all the pitch ranges necessary to acquire verbal language. Therefore, waiting for the child to decide is the same as choosing not to implant at all. Because the chances are good that if you implant the 10 year old child who has had little to no previous auditory input, the implant won’t work for them. It is not that the implant can’t give them sound, it is that the child’s brain is no longer able to adequately process that sound into meaningful information. So parents actually have no choice about letting their child decide. If they choose to wait and let their child decide, they ARE deciding. They are choosing not to implant. To implant or not to implant is by default, a decision the parents WILL make, whether or not they even recognize that they are the ones doing the deciding.

If you truly believe that this is a decision the child should make when they get older, how do you address the reality that by the time they get old enough to decide, they are too old to make good use of the sound the implant will give them? Again, we are only talking about profoundly deaf infants who do not get adequate use of hearing aids.

K.L.

Why Sign Language is So Important

I was scanning the DeafRead blogs this morning and came across this one:
http://souggy.wordpress.com/2009/08/27/deaf-shame/
It so clearly explains some of the hidden pitfalls in the path of kids being raised as oral deaf. As a hearing parent, I have grieved over my child's loss of hearing, and rejoiced over the success she has with her implants. She loves music, and is considered a very successful implant user.

But...

She is still deaf. She does miss out on things being said around her. Going bilateral last year has gone a long way toward helping her expand her hearing range, but she is still deaf.

She is most comfortable around kids like herself. Her favorite summer camp is the one for deaf kids. She is very much looking forward to starting school next week because there will be other deaf kids at school this year.

We have given her as many communication tools as we can. Implants and sign language. She has no problem interacting in the hearing world without needing an interpreter. And she has no problem walking into a Deaf social get-together and having fun.

Middle school can be a difficult time and place for anyone. We will find out soon enough if we have given her enough tools to get her through this difficult growing up time.

New Technology for Deaf/Blind

Here is an interesting article published in the Seattle Times about new assistive technology for deaf/blind people.

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/education/2009642696_deafblind12m.html