Spokane7
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June 11, 2009 in Washington Voices
Children missing out on learning
The May 21 Voices article (“Words of hope reach hungry ears”) left us at a loss for words.
Are we to believe that a 5- to 6-year-old can act as a language model to a child with profound hearing loss? Since a profound hearing loss is defined by the inability to hear loud speech and sounds, we can only assume that the deaf or hard of hearing students at HOPE School have no choice but to rely on lip reading for access to communication that occurs in the classroom.
Research has proven that, at best, only 30 percent of English speech is discernable on the lips. Meaning these children are still missing out on a majority of the conversation and education taking place in the classroom. Because of this, it is presumptuous of instructional assistant Jennie Wheaton to predict that her student will “be fine in school from now on.”
The overall message seems to be that if everyone with a disability would emulate nondisabled role models, they could resolve their issues and barriers and be just like so-called normal people.
Eloisa Williams and Betsy Jordan
Spokane Valley
Genesis Church finds new home 
mmbenavides on June 11 at 12:08 p.m.
In regards to your apparent criticism of the HOPE School, I am confused why nowhere in your letter does it address the fact that the children that are hard of hearing are using hearing aided devices (either cochlear implants or hearing aids). Your letter implies that the children are relying on lip reading and then explains why lip reading is not a feasible solution.
What humors me is that if you ever took the time to visit the HOPE School (visitors are welcomed and encouraged) you would know that the whole focus is to teach these kids to hear and to listen, which due to their hearing loss is something they must train themselves to do unlike hearing for you and I that happens without self discipline.
You may also realize that, for example, when a child at the HOPE School is read a book that they are purposely sat in the readers lap so that the child’s back is to the reader for the sole purpose that they cannot see the readers lips and therefore must rely on their listening skills and HEAR what is begin read to them.
The article (“Words of Hope Reach Hungry Ears”) addresses that this is a school of LISTENING and SPOKEN LANGUAGE. Listening, as you know is done with your ears… your hearing ability. Spoken language is just that… speaking to communicate. Therefore your conclusion that these students “have no choice but to rely on lip reading to access to communication” is a straw man fallacy. The point of teaching kids that are hard of hearing to be auditory means that they are not relying on their visual communication skills such as sign-language and lip reading. As you may know, our society is a highly functioning hearing and speaking world and giving these kids the tools to be one of the hearing and speaking members moves them from being impaired and restricted.
I don’t know the statistics on the number of Americans that know sign-language, but I can venture to guess that it pales in comparison to the number of society that communicate exclusively through spoken language.
Hearing aids and cochlear implants, which is what the HOPE School is all about, gives these little tykes an opportunity to keep up with the mainstream auditory world that they live in. I encourage you to read up on how technology has vastly changed the opportunities of people with profound hearing loss. Thirty years ago they did not have an option to be speaking and hearing and today, thank goodness, they do… without lip reading nonetheless!