Early Intervention What is an "educational plan"? Do I need one to get services? The IFSP/IEP is reveiwed every 6 months and revised yearly. It is recommened that a Parent Guide attend the meetings with you, mostly as a 3rd party who can help explain the goals, etc to you and refer back to them when needed. K-12 Options As the National Association of the Deaf states,"There is no lack of educational opportunities for deaf and hard of hearing children. The secret is in knowing where to look, and once you start finding information, resources, and schools, the challenge is deciding what type of school is appropriate for your child" (NAD website, 2001). School choices include mainstreaming programs, day classes within regular schools, state residential schools for the deaf, and private residential schools. These are very briefly described below, as taken from Paul Ogden's book, The Silent Garden (1996). Mainstreaming is the process of sending children with special needs into regular classes - as opposed to special classes or special schools. For deaf and hard of hearing children, this means attending classes with their hearing peers. Day classes represent partial mainstreaming - the deaf student may attend a local public school but be based in a special room with a trained teacher of the deaf. The student attends selected classes or activities with the hearing students. Conversely, the deaf student may be based in the regular classroom and attend special sessions with a visiting teacher of the deaf at certain times during the week. Day schools, state residential schools and private residential schools are three kinds of schools dedicated exclusively to deaf education. Day schools are for students who live at home and commute; most day schools are located in large cities and serve a large population of deaf and hard of hearing children. State residential schools are boarding schools, but most offer day programs for commuting students. Private residential schools are usually oral programs. Within schools, education may take a variety of approaches depending upon student needs and preferences. Common approaches include: Students in Oregon have many choices, including Oregon School for the Deaf(a residential school), Tucker Maxon Oral school, and self-contained programs within numerous school districts.
Early Intervention services are mandated through the federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). Services are delivered through early intervention programs and local school districts. Oregon law requires that all educationally necessary services must be provided at no cost to families, while other private services may have fees attached to them.
Early Intervention is for babies birth - age 3. Early Intervention for deaf/hard of hearing children focuses on developing receptive and expressive language in the communication mode chosen by the parents. The focus is on language development, communication of language and teaching parents how to facilitate their child's language development through everyday activities. Your child's progress should be monitored on a regular basis (usually every 6 months) to ensure he is on par with this developmental milestones.
Early Intervention is given by a teacher of the deaf who comes to your home 2-4 times per month. Early Intervention is critical to the language development of your child. Your Early Intervention provider should be certified to teach your child. It is imperative that your communication method be honored by your Early Intervention provider.
How Does A Family Receive Early Intervention?
When your baby is identified with a hearing loss by an audiologist the audiologist refers your baby to the Early Intervention provider in your county. Your baby is also referred to EHDI (Early Hearing Detection and Intervention) and Guide By Your Side. (EHDI monitors all babies with a confirmed hearing loss to ensure they receive Early Intervention by 6 months of age.) The Early Intervention provider has 45 days to contact you and make your baby eligible for services. Parents do have the right to seek services through private entities as well. Once baby is made eligible an educational service plan is put into place.
After the Early Intervention team conducts it's evaluation and determines eligibility and needs, team and parents work together to develop an educational plan. This plan describes what outcomes, objectives, and services the family will receive to meet the educational needs of the child and family. For children under age three, this plan is generally referred to as Individualized Family Service Plan (IFSP). An Individualized Education Program (IEP) is developed for older children. Once the IFSP or IEP is in place, services can be provided to the child and family.
Pre-School
In Oregon children age 3 move into pre-school, usually through their regional program. The regional programs typically offer an ASL option classroom and an oral classroom. Some of the oral classrooms are more along the lines of total communication. At this point in your child's language development their are holes that need to be filled. Usually it is the little words like (to, a, with) that are missing. Therefore, a targeted purposeful is required to provide your child with the experiences that build language.
Full access to the communication mode your child uses is important. Your child's IFSP should reflect goals that will continue their learning at the same rate as a typical hearing child so that no gaps develop.
When considering pre-school it is important to assess the current skills, strengths and weaknesses of your child so a proper IFSP can be written and the right placement is chosen by the parents. The preschool program should only have other deaf/hard of hearing children and, if appropriate, typically hearing children. Hearing assistive technology should be consider for pre-school.
The controversy: When it comes to deciding which is the "right" approach to educating their deaf and hard of hearing children, parents are sometimes bombarded with different types of advice. Many people who advise parents are both well-intentioned and strongly opinionated. Parents may have a tough time deciding what to do in face of controversial and conflicting information. We suggest that it is helpful to learn about all the options - and be flexible - in order to make a decision that best fits the needs of your child and family.