Wednesday, March 2, 2016

Topics to discuss this week! (March 2nd)

Hey guys! So unfortunately due to being ill,  I was unable to attend class this week, thus I missed out on our guest speaker! But I learned that the topic of discussion was First Steps and early intervention. My question to you would be, how important do you feel early intervention is for a child who is Deaf or hard of hearing being immersed into public education systems? Do you feel that gaining support and community is a necessity? My mother whom is deaf, was raised in a home where no one in her family signed, (her brother has some basic ASL knowledge) and still to this day no one signs. My mother excels in speech and lip reading but never feels a sense of belonging in her own family beginning as a young girl to a woman who is now in her 40's. Last question, if you had a family member who is deaf and no one knew sign language, how would you try to get the message across of the importance of including Deaf culture into the home? If you feel this is important and if not, feel free to share thoughts on the alternative! Why is it or why not?  (We don't necessarily have to all be vanilla milkshakes here, chocolate or strawberry or banana milkshakes are totally welcome!) ;)

13 comments:

  1. I believe early intervention is VERY important to making sure that the child is on a good path to success. With experience being a mom I just want to point out that a child grows more and more each and everyday. In fact my daughter left for two weeks to visit family and when she came back I swear she acts completely different from talking to attitude. If my daughter became Deaf I would immediately start working with her on her ASL skills as well as continue on her oral skills if we could. I would reach out to as much support groups as I could because I know being a single mom is hard but being a single mom not knowing to to communicate with her child seems like it would be MUCH more difficult. Now I have no family that are Deaf or Hard of Hearing (some with selective hearing but....) anyways, when I started school and told my family I was going into the ASLIE program they kind of looked at me like I was crazy. In fact one of my family members pointed out that "no one ever uses sign language why would you want to learn a deaf language". After realizing how little my family actually understands about the Deaf community I try to make it a point when I talk to them to sign as I speak (even though ASL isn't translated English, I know) I do this to help them understand that there's alot that goes into a visual language that they didn't realize. Also when I finished volunteering at KSD I immediately called my mother to let her know about my experience and I enjoyed trying to answer any questions she had. I wish I could answer more about what I would do if.... But the truth of the matter is you may think you would do this or that.. but then if it actually happens its no longer thinking about it, it's a reality.

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  2. Early interventions for every child are important. Things like preschool programs make a huge difference in a child's readiness for kindergarten and further schooling. For a Deaf child, intervention is crucial in order to be able to communicate with their family, no matter what mode of communication that may be.

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  3. i feel that early intervention is very important. After watching those few videos in class about how children who are deaf grow up in different learning environments. early intervention is a great way to get a child started and get their foot in the door to learning new language rather it be ASL, lip reading, and other techniques. if I had a child that was born deaf I would forsure start learning ASL and help them with any possible thing I could help them with, I would be 100% supportive of any decision they make.

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  4. I feel that early intervention is always extremely important. However, I do not necessarily think that being immersed into a public school system is always needed. If I have learned anything in this class, it's that each child is unique and has different needs. It is quite possible that a d/Deaf or Hard of Hearing child could benefit greatly from early intervention in a public or mainstream setting. But he/she might benefit more from a residential school or setting or day school. I think it completely depends on the child and the goals the child's family has for him/her. So yes, I do believe early intervention is important, in that we should establish the best possible method and/or strategy for that specific child as soon as possible.

    In regards to introducing my family to ASL and Deaf culture, I would encourage each family member to meet with a Deaf individual, a Hard of Hearing individual, and maybe an individual with a cochlear implant. I could set up these meetings and provide my family with as much information as possible. I think it would be important for my family to see the various perspectives that make up Deaf culture in order to understand the various options available to d/Deaf and Hard of Hearing individuals.

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  5. I feel that early intervention is always extremely important. However, I do not necessarily think that being immersed into a public school system is always needed. If I have learned anything in this class, it's that each child is unique and has different needs. It is quite possible that a d/Deaf or Hard of Hearing child could benefit greatly from early intervention in a public or mainstream setting. But he/she might benefit more from a residential school or setting or day school. I think it completely depends on the child and the goals the child's family has for him/her. So yes, I do believe early intervention is important, in that we should establish the best possible method and/or strategy for that specific child as soon as possible.

    In regards to introducing my family to ASL and Deaf culture, I would encourage each family member to meet with a Deaf individual, a Hard of Hearing individual, and maybe an individual with a cochlear implant. I could set up these meetings and provide my family with as much information as possible. I think it would be important for my family to see the various perspectives that make up Deaf culture in order to understand the various options available to d/Deaf and Hard of Hearing individuals.

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  6. I feel like early intervention is important. When families have hearing children, they start talking to the children right away, the same should go for deaf children. The early we start introducing them to language, whether it be ASL, lip reading, or any other technique, this will help them to strive. This will not only help the children with their social skills, but also with school. The child will be more ready for school, and won't be behind. It will give the children a sense of belonging and people to reach out to.

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  7. Loved your quote about milkshakes!
    I am learning now as a mother of two boys, one in which will need First Steps. He will be turning 2 next month, an early intervention is much needed as he is delayed in some areas, mostly speech. My husband and I work with him on a daily basis but we feel that a professional would be more beneficial for his needs. If we did not bring in early intervention, he would be very behind when starting school. A child needs to be on the right level of his age group. For an example, our child is babbling and imitating a baby who is 6-9 months old. As I said, he will be turning 2 next month. We feel that there is a hearing problem as I was around the same age when my doctors first noted my disability. If he is needing hearing aids, then we can get them now so that he can be successful as an individual throughout the rest of his life. Since I am interested in becoming a Deaf and Hard of Hearing Educator, I have taken an interest in ASL and I have a close friend who is fluent in this language as she and her husband are deaf. I will be taking her classes to get started, I will be teaching my children ASL. I feel that with my disability being present, and my children being at risk, learning ASL will be something that helps with their confidence in case they ever need it and they can communicate with others who know ASL. I want my children to be social and to strive for success. Putting them on this path right now is the right thing for me to do!

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  8. I feel that immersing any child in situations where there are opportunities to communicate and build relationships is crucial. Building a sense of community is important for the family and the child. It seems like it should be important to schools too. The public education system have additional resource that would be beneficial for children who are Deaf. With the lack of early intervention services and First Steps providers, public schools would be a resource for families. They may have a Teacher for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing on staff. KSD Outreach Services appears to be a useful resource, too .How would I get this message across to the families and into homes is a big question. I think that bringing in a Deaf role model that could talk to the family would be helpful.

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  9. I think early intervention is extremely important not only to Deaf children but to all children in general. As we saw in the last class, hearing children emit brain waves when audible stimuli is given to the child. Deaf children must receive that stimuli all through their vision. Signing to the child and teaching them communication is the first step in language development. I think in order to stress the need for ASL, i would put the hearing people in the shoes of the Deaf person. I would ask them to try and complete a task completely without speaking to enforce the language barrier. They would realize how difficult it is and how common the Deaf person sees this in his/her every day life.

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  10. I feel that intervention is really important. Each child is different though. I don't think a child should have to go to a mainstream school because someone says so. I think maybe a residential school or day school setting should be an option for the child. This is a tough question because honestly it just depends on the child. Hopefully the child's parents will have his or her best interest in mind.

    If I had a family member who was deaf I would get more knowledge on deaf culture. I would learn ASL so I could communicate better with my deaf family member. If my deaf family member were to be my child then I would ask him or her about schooling options. I would see if there are any deaf clubs nearby. I would just want my deaf family member to feel comfortable.

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  11. I love how Mrs. White uses the vanilla and strawberry milkshake to discuss that there are many ways and options for deaf kids to learn in schools today. You don't have to teach every deaf kid the same because they may have different learning styles. If I had a family member who was deaf I would want to learn more about deaf culture and how everyday routine affects them. As you teach the deaf and hard of hearing students, you are not expected to know everything after you graduate. The more we study in our careers the more information and answers you will get to become a better educator to the deaf.

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  12. I find it extremely difficult to wrap my head around the fact that some families have no desire to communicate with their child. I suppose everyone is different and I'm sure you're mother found other people to connect with, but no one can ever really take the place of that initial connection with family that should live on forever. So, so sad that some children are denied the chance to experience that. If I had a deaf child in my family and no one took the time to learn sign language, I don't know if I would be able to hold the angry in. I would work and work to improve my own signing skills to give the child some family connection and I would strongly encourage others to follow suit. I would be sure to engage in lively signed conversations with the child in front of the family and purposefully exclude them so they could feel the pain of the exclusion they have put on their child. Maybe that's harsh...so sue me. ;)

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  13. I definitely feel like Early Intervention is important because no matter what language choice your family makes it is important that that Deaf child is being exposed to language before the critical language period ends. I feel that the most important thing is that you find a way to communicate with your child.

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