Back to normal

So, Miss Kat loves school again. I think our prior freak out was due to two separate issues. First, it's growth spurt time! Miss Kat is growing like a weed, and eating like a pig. Second, the 1st grade had it's Christmas program. It didn't go very well for Miss Kat (or for any of the deaf kids in the class). In the past, at the bi-bi school, the Christmas program has always been one of my favorite events of the year. They are super creative, and always have really funny skits, and the kids and parents really enjoy it. I cried from happiness every year. It always reminded me of what a perfect fit the school was and how much they understood the needs and personalities of the Deaf kids. This year was very different. I still cried, but for a totally different reason.

I hated the program. It was literally, nothing but the kids singing. Miss Kat couldn't follow any of it, and she was totally lost. She was a trooper, and she enjoyed standing on the stage, winking at me, and having me take pictures, but she didn't know a single word of any of the songs. None of the deaf kids did. It was horrible to watch. They had been working on these songs for weeks, no wonder she didn't like school! I wouldn't want to go to a place to try to learn 6 songs in Ndebele (a regional dialect of Zimbabwe) it would be overwhelming, frustrating, and in the end, completely futile. That must have been what Miss Kat was feeling too. I spoke to Miss Kat's teacher, and she felt the same way. She was very upset and cried during the program too. She knew that the kids weren't understanding, but the whole thing was out of her control. Maybe next year, I'll raise a fuss, and have Miss Kat excluded from things like this, it seems like an opportunity just to frustrate her, and waste time, not something I'm looking for!

So, on Friday, the last day of school before break, I went by the school and surprised Miss Kat. She was very excited to see me, but much more to show her Grammy around the school. She showed her the classroom, and taught her everything that she could. She is very happy again, and tells her teacher that she loves her. I'm so glad the crisis has past. But, we are still keeping our eyes open, and we are actually seeking out professional advice on how to make sure this time of transition of a positive one. We are trying to make sure that Miss Kat continues to know that we love her, we love that she is Deaf, and we love ASL and the Deaf community. We want her to know that we do NOT believe that she is "broken" or that she needed "fixed" by a cochlear implant. She will know that ASL is a beautiful language, equal in importance as English. She will know that we want her to be forever Deaf, and for her to celebrate that.

And on that note, I would like to thank my anonymous commenters for nothing! If you don't actually have advice, but instead want simply to spew your own dogma, write your own blog, don't comment here. I choose not to moderate my comments at all, but seriously, if you don't actually have something constructive to say, why are you commenting?

She doesn't like school?

Ok, I'm really upset, so I might ramble.

Miss Kat goes to an oral school now. It is new this year, she had been in a signing school since she was 3. She has always been very excited about school and been a very good student.

This week she has been telling us that she doesn't like school anymore. She says that she doesn't like her teacher, and that she is mean to her. She says she doesn't like her new friends and wants to go back to her old friends.

She also says that she wants to sign AND talk, but that her teacher says that she isn't allowed to sign.

So, I called the teacher. The teacher confirmed everything. She said that Miss Kat seems unhappy, and that she has been being a little defiant. (Which is NOT at all like her, she is very eager to please) She said that she feels like Miss Kat is being "very dependant on sign" and that every week-end she shows back up "not using her voice" and that she has stopped using sign with her too. She says that she tells Miss Kat to stop signing during class, that she can do it at recess, but that in class she isn't allowed to, that she needs to use her voice.

I'm terribly upset. We were scared of just this thing. There is no TC environment. It is oral or voice-off ASL. We want her to be bilingual, and when we placed her, they promised that "our focus is on listening-speaking but sign is not forbidden". She has only been hearing well for a year! Her first language is ASL! Why would she be getting in trouble for signing? This isn't ok with me.

I'm so scared. I want her to succeed, and I want her to be happy. What do we do now?

Last week-end we had a big Deaf community event and she got to see all her Deaf friends. She had a really good time. Is she just missing them?

Teacher also said that after every week-end she shows up not wanting to use her voice. I felt like she was implying that we are signing too much at home, and so she has to "start over" every week.

Please, help. I know most of you aren't in the same situation, but does anyone have advice?

This is my worst nightmare, having her be unhappy. We always promised that Miss Kat's happiness was more important than anything. We will give up or change anything to make sure she is happy.

Thanksgiving Grace

Our wonderful 6 year old chose herself to say grace before Thanksgiving today. Her prayer went as follows:

"I am thankful that Mommy, Daddy and I can come here to Grammy's house to eat turkey. Tomorrow I will come and sleep at Grammy's. Then, it will be Christmas! We will open presents. I will get a music box. Surprise! And then, I will go to see The Princess and the Frog. AMEN!"

*Note: This is an ASL to written English translation. You are missing out on all the enthusiasm and "matter of factness" than comes from a 6 year old laying out her plan.

*Second note: My kid is an idiot.

1 year ago today

There is more to come on this post. I'm working on spliting the video and add subtitles.

Miss Kat's first report card!!!

Today was parent-teacher conferences and we got Miss Kat's first official report card.

She did amazing!!!

Her strongest subject is math, she is grade level appropriate and will pass her goals (which are just the 1st grade curriculum requirements) with no problem. The only problem she is having in math is that she says "three one" for 31 (and so on).

Her weakest subject was reading, but that was to be expected. She is completely changing modalities of reading (from sight words only to phonics) and that is taking some adjustment. When we started the year Miss Kat knew the sounds of 4 letters. She now can name and produce all but: Z (very tough sound, very high frequency), Y and Q (are you kidding me??) WAY TO GO MISS KAT!!! She has also gained 32 sight words.

Miss Kat also got very high marks in "Respects self and others" and "Works cooperatively with others". That's because she is the sweetest girl ever, and a really good friend. (And she got a "perfect" in turning in homework, but that is really mine and Daddy's grade!)

Not bad for a first quarter!

Miss Kat's teacher also showed me a piece of work that she did in class around Halloween. The teacher asked the kids the draw a picture of their favorite candy and write "I like____" The kids all knew how to write "I" and "like" but they were supposed to try to figure out the spelling for their last word. Miss Kat wrote "I like apl" and she drew some caramel apples. She sounded out APPLE!!!!

When I started researching literacy and the deaf child, one of my biggest concerns was phonics and this very stage. Kids, when they are learning to read and write, need to go through a stage when they sound out the words and invent a spelling. I really, never thought in a million years that Miss Kat would be able to do that! And, here, after less than a year post-CI, she can do it. And developmentally, right on time! And it wasn't a bad guess, if I do say so myself!

Town Hall

So, I don't know how many people who are reading this follow Deaf education politics in Utah, so I will summarize....

Utah Schools for the Deaf and Blind recently appointed a new superintendent. He worked for USD in the past, but his most recent job was running Tucker Maxon Oral school. He is an oral advocate. The Deaf community, here, is up in arms about it! They think that he is too biased to provide appropriate services to those who do not choose and oral path for their children. So, he appointed an assistant superintendent. She is also hearing, but she is a strong advocate for ASL and she is a fluent signer.

So, we had a "Town Hall" meeting to discuss the "future of Deaf education in Utah".

The superintendent gave his presentation. It was focused on parental choice, and technological advances. But we did get the good news that the bi-bi school will soon have a high school option. That is AMAZING news. It is wonderful that ASL kids will now have the option of direct communication with their teachers in high school. I could not be happier about that!

He also emphasised that they will be putting a lot of time and energy into the Parent Infant Program. He believes that the birth to three age range is the most important for language growth. He says that too many of our kids are showing up to preschool with no language. I agree with this as well. I think Miss Kat did OK during PIP, but that, if given the right professionals and access to quality interactions (therapy, etc) she could have done much better. He said that he wants all his PIP advisers to be highly qualified (AV or ASL certified).


That was all very good.......and then we opened the floor for questions.......


I asked the second question. My question was:

"We have these two really great paths for education (oral and bi-bi) BUT what do we do about the kids in the middle? The bi-bi school can't provide access to fluent spoken language on a daily basis but there are kids who can't, or don't want to, be oral only. What can we do for these kids?"
They didn't really answer my question. I didn't hear any new thoughts or strategies on how to educate a child who uses ASL but also has access to spoken language. Oh well, I guess we will keep blazing a new path for Miss Kat....

Some of my favorite highlights of the night:

(The superintendent said he was tired of the infighting between the people who choose an oral route and those use ASL) So a Deaf adult said "I'm sure you are sick of the fighting after (the few years of his career), we Deaf people are sick of it after 300 years!"

Another Deaf adult claimed he worked at the Oregon School for the Deaf, and had encountered "all the students that Tucker Maxon had failed". The superintendent was livid about that statement. He said that Tucker Maxon followed ALL of their graduates and that over 95% went on to graduate college. YIKES!

One last Deaf adult asked how he can allow parents to choose AVT when "There is so much research out there that shows that learning ASL improves literacy." The superintendent said that he was no going to "Get into a war of research, but that we need to respect parental choice. If the Deaf community wants parents to feel comfortable with them, and have their children interact with the community, they need to welcome families with open arms, regardless of their communication choices."

So, it wasn't a terribly productive night, but it was interesting. I continue to reserve judgement on the superintendent, until I see what changes he makes, and what direction the School for the Deaf is headed.

Conference, part 3

Miss Kat's audiologist also gave a lecture. It was called "I'm lost, I need a MAP". Cute, isn't it! He went over exactly what happens when you MAP a cochlear implant, and how each of those things help the child hear better.

I didn't go to his lecture. He told me it would be too boring. He said that he tells me what he is doing, when he is doing it, when he MAPs Miss Kat. He said I was already too well informed, that I should go listen to something else!

So, I went to the lecture aimed at professionals. It was about using an auditory skills curriculum (in her practice, the AuSpLan) to measure and facilitate growth.

In aural/oral education, there are three areas of skill that must be developed. They are auditory skills, speech, and language. (See, Au Sp Lan....clever) All three areas need focus, and they are all important. Without auditory skills, a child will be unable to understand the things that are being said to them. Without the speech, they can not make their thoughts understood by others. And without language, well, we all know the issues of not having language....

So, back to the Ausplan. The idea of the curriculum is that it is a very, step by step, progression of skills. A child needs to master one before they can move on to the next. It goes piece by piece, in all three areas, showing goals and the steps toward spoken language fluency. I like that it gives very real, measurable things to work from, and a sort of timeline to help gauge the progress.

I ordered my AuSpLan today!


So, I learned a lot at the conference. I feel like it was a good use of my time, and I can apply the things I learned toward Miss Kat's language skills.