Educational Placement

 

Educational placement for students with hearing loss has been a long debate. What are your thoughts about educating students within the “mainstream” versus in a centralized program/school?

I feel this question does not just have one correct answer. There can be multiple correct answers depending on the child and their background or situation. For one example, if a child was born deaf to parents who are also deaf. The child is then raised with ASL as their first language that child would most likely fit better in an all deaf school. On the opposite is a child born deaf to parents who are hearing. This child is put in speech therapy and is given a CI. The parents wish for this child to be in the public school district along with their siblings. In this case, the child may be better suited in a ‘mainstream’ classroom. These are just two simple examples on a child with a hearing loss and where they may fit better. Other thing’s to take into account are the degree of hearing loss, mode of communication, use of amplification, other syndromes or disabilities,  where the parents see the child, and many others. These all are factors that must be taken into consideration when deciding where a child should be placed. As a Deaf Educator I want to be able to help parents through this process and make them aware of all the options that can be possible for their student. I personally feel that either choice, mainstream or all deaf school, are both great paths. It really just depends on all the factors I listed above. I also feel it is extremely important for the regular education teacher be well educated and prepared to have a deaf student in their classroom.

Thoughts on “push in/pull out” method?

Until class this week I had never heard of this terminology. In my previous courses we had talked slighting about this topic but not very in-depth. I honestly don’t know what to teach a student in they are ‘push in’. I feel that is something that must really be thought out and discussed with the general education classroom teacher. It’s important to find time to clarify any material that the student may have missed or re-teach any information that the student did not understand. I feel this would be tricky when the general education classroom teacher is teaching all day and may not be taking many breaks.   I feel I would benefit from shadowing a teacher who has students who are ‘push in’ to see how they handle these situations.

I feel the pull out method would be easier and more beneficial for the student because they would be more one on one time with the deaf educator. It could go at their pace and really work through some struggle areas. The downside would be; they may fall behind compared to their peers and will not be in the regular classroom as much.

Thoughts on addressing attention span and problem solving with in pushing method or when there is an interrupter?

 If my student was ‘push in’ and they had an interrupter I would sit down with them before school begins and work out a plan of action. This would allow for both of us to do our jobs without overstepping our bounds or making the other fell inadequate.

If my student is having attention span issues in the general education classroom then maybe we need to assess their placement in this classroom all day. It may mean they need more time as a ‘pull out’ student. By pulling them out this would allow me to give them more breaks when it is just me and them. If pulling them is not an option maybe talking with the general education teacher about breaking up the teaching and adding more activities for the student. This would allow them to do be doing something and not just sitting and listening all the time.