have ?s on classroom amplifier systems

My suggestion to you as a teacher of hearing impaired children is to first take your child for an audiological evaluation and just see if you can get the audiologist to recommend an FM system for your daughter’s classes in writing in the report.

Next, if your daughter is not significantly delayed academically which would entail special education placement and services, you can attempt to have her referred for a 504 plan. A 504 plan would detail certain modifications that she needs to be successful in the regular education setting because of her hearing impairment.

The only problem with 504 is that it comes with no funding, therefore, the school would have to provide the FM system out of other funds.

Get the audiological first as it will verify the hearing loss and the need for amplification. Then ask the school how to request a meeting for possible 504 placement. You can read more about 504 plans on the Wright’s Law web-site.

I will forewarn you of one thing. The kind of FM system usually prescribed in this situation is a teacher microphone combined with a little speaker to sit on the desk (or headphones). Especially when kids get to 5th grade or higher, they really do not like being different and having attention called to their disabling conditions. You may win the battle but your child may qucikly decide she doesn’t want this system regardless of how helpful it is.

Janis

Thanks Janis…She has been to an audiologist, who last year recommended a classroom system. She is also in Sped in regular ed classroom. Scores from Woodcock-Mcgrew-Werder mini battery

Basic Skills 77
Reading 85
Writing 72
Math 80
Factual Knowledge 63

She is pulled out everyday for Speech and OT 15 min each.

As a teacher are things that could help her with notetaking, she struggles with writing, and trying to hear and comphrend at the same time.

thanks

Are those standard scores or percentile scores? Just out of curiosity, is she labeled LD or HI, or something else? I think the school is very off base in refusing the FM system.

She should not be having to take notes while trying to listen. She has every right to an accommodation of having a notetaker. The teacher would choose another student (preferably a top student with good handwriting) and have them make notes on NCR paper so your daughter could have a copy. The other option would be for the teacher to provide the notes (make a copy of notes other kids copy from overhead projector, for example).

I’ll talk with you more as soon as I know the answer to my questions in the first paragraph.

Janis

Hi Janis,

The scores were standard, they have her labeled EMH and SLD. She is a very happy, social, caring girl, with alot of determination. She reads very well but has trouble comprehending what she reads. They have changed the math ciric to accelerated math which she likes as she can work at her own pace and not get flustered knowing that others are doing something else. she is currently doing 2nd & 3rd gr work.

What flustered me this past year was they started to learn the 12 NE states & capitals, we studied and she did pretty good. Then they switched to something else and then she was out of school for surgery. When we came back I kept asking if there was anything that we should work on and the answer was always no we are doing it in school. I called an IEP in the spring to see where she was at as she had missed alot of shcool and asked the 5th gr teacher if they continue with the states and capitals, she said no, I asked about the rest of states and capitals and they said well we did them when she was gone, and then wonder why her factual knowledge is low. So this summer we have played Trivial Pursuit Jr. and learned the states and capitals.

She is learning just very slowly. Socialy she has a hard time with her peers, we have her in some extracurricular activities, ie 4-H and Girl Scouts.

thanks

Do you have a performance and verbal IQ score? I’m just trying to be sure they have not mislabeled her. Is SLD specific learning disabled or speech language disabled? EMH and LD would be a very puzzling combination.

It sounds like you are doing a great job with helping her study! What kind of special ed help does she receive besides the speech and OT? How do they handle her lower reading and writing levels in the regular classroom? I’m juts trying to get a handle on her program to decide about how much you should push for the FM.

Janis

Janis,

Her Performance scale is 57, verbal scale is 52. The SLD is Speech Language Disability. The only pull out she recieves is everyday speech 15 min and everyday OT 15 min.

For reading there is an aide in the room to help with comprehension, as she reads well. She has done well with spelling, phonics was a definate struggle,here they use clover markings and do not have her do it, to many steps and over all struggle with phonics. For English they modify her work finding something the same in a lower grade level or making a new worksheet. She struggles with writing ie. Caps, punct. and very little space between words, also with sentence structure. She has no organization. We got a binder this year and a simple planner, so far she has not brought it home. In the past she generally forgot her work at school, although last year there wasn’t alot of homework. She is very independent and likes some things certain ways.

she is adament about trying girls basketball this year which starts next week. i am not sure how that will go as physically she can’t keep up with her peers. She does shoot baskets and dribble here at home. I would like to let her try as it may help her with her peers.

Acoustically in the classrooms there is no carpet in the rooms or hallways. So very noisey and distracting.

I appreciate your input.

Her Performance scale is 57, verbal scale is 52
******************
Are these standard scores or percentile?

If they are standard scores then she is achieving way beyond her ability which would make one question the validity for the IQ scores. It isn’t possible to achieve so much higher then ability level.

If the scores are percentile then she shouldn’t be labeled EMH.

Helen

I am about to say some difficult things and I hope you will understand that I am just being truthful with you even though I know some of this will be painful. I have been in schools for many years and just know how things work.

Yes, that is true that she is achieving above what her IQ scores would suggest. She may be a little higher functioning than the scores in the 50’s would indicate which is great.

However, it sounds like she is in a regular class just for the appearance of inclusion when she is really able to do little of the same work the other kids are doing. I have a lot of mixed feelings about this. I understand the benefit from some social interaction between non-disabled peers and the disabled child. But I really feel they are copping out by not giving her a qualified special ed teacher to work with her in a small group of reading, writing, and math. A regular teacher can in no way teach a full fifth grade class and really meet the needs of a child who is functioning two grade levels below the rest of the class. I can go for inclusion for science and social studies with modifications, but not reading, writing, and math. And they are not even pulling her for tutoring in those subjects!

The other issue is that she still needs to be taught systematic phonics if she is to ever read above third grade level. She will have very limited capacity to memorize everything by sight because no one can. I know of people who have sucessfully taught EMH children to decode using Phono-Graphix (Reading Reflex). One of them is Shay who posts often on this board. They are doing a disservice to this child not to continue pursuing teaching her to decode.

I really feel like parents (in general, not you) have pushed the inclusion issue almost to the point of being detrimental to the children. How can the regular ed teacher spend the time teaching a child who needs math at a level two grades below the class? She won’t. I guarantee the aide helps the child along in some sort of workbook or worksheets. And the aide is likely not qualified to be teaching special ed. It’s a very inexpensive way of serving kids under the guise of inclusion. I call it “the illusion of inclusion”. The child is really in a self-contained class within a regular class but does not have the benefit of a special ed. teacher addressing his or her particular deficits.

In your child’s case, and I know this hurts to hear, the reason they did not give you make-up work when she was out for surgery is that they know she is not able to do most of the work in that class and they didn’t feel that it mattered whether she made up the missed work or not.

I’m really sorry. I see this in my district, too. We used to serve the EMH children in such a better way by pulling them for small group instruction part of the day. They could feel successful because they’d be working in a group on their own level as opposed to being always behind the rest of the regular class. They could have friends more easily.

Reading, writing, and math will not just come by sitting in a regular class. It must be taught explicitly and with multi-sensory techniques at the child’s own level. I think inclusion only really works well when a child is very close to grade level and close to an average IQ. I suspect this is why they do not think an FM system is necessary…because she is doing such modified work that she is not following most of the classroom regular instruction anyway.

I know it is difficult to get good services for any special needs child. I have one of my own who is LD. There are no easy answers. You may have tried pull-out and did not have a good experience…I obviously don’t know. Maybe your child is in the least detrimental setting considering your choices. I just think things are not right when inclusion is seen as the optimal environment for all kids. It’s not.

I realize this is just my opinion and there will be some who disagree. But this is just the way I see it in my years of experience.

Janis

Sorry…guess I took so long to type the above post that it logged me out. I didn’t mean to post as a guest.

Janis

Janis,

Thank you for being honest. I think I have known this but in a way our hands are somewhat tied as we live in a rural area and there is no Sped room setup on a fulltime basis. I have feared that there is some “lowering of expectations” . I was ready to fight for FM in the classroom, but I think I will switch gears and fight for more tutoring and one-on-one, and phonics without all the clover markings.

Also, I was thinking with the FM system, it isn’t something that would be available to her all the time and she has to develop some coping or compensation skills to overcome her hearing loss, ie. maybe asking more questions, repeating what was said, etc.

Thank you

I am in the process of obtaining a FM system for my ten year old son. He can not hear low tones and can not always single out where sound is coming from.

The best suggestion thing you can do is get an audiologist to state that this would benefit her. Do not allow them to use words like could, may, etc., they have to be specific. Then take that to her speech teacher and request the system. At that time E-mails will start to fly. But, if you have the documentation from her physician and audiologist you should not have a problem.

Also, have the teacher make notes that she feels her concentration would improve. They can even do a trial basis to see if it works for her.

Good Luck!
Shel

theirmom,

The key thing to remember is that your child’s services are based on what SHE NEEDS, not what the rural district has to offer. I understand the problem as we also live in that kind of district. But there is really no excuse for them not to be pulling your daughter into a resource class to give her the individualized reading and math instruction on her level. I honestly don’t think the FM is the answer in this case. Definitely be sure she has the preferential seating, but in this case, it just doesn’t sound like she’s getting that much benefit from the regular class instruction anyway. And in the small class setting, the FM is not usually necessary.

I don’t envy your having to advocate for more services, but I think you have every reason to do so. (I think you’d win in court, if it came down to it.) Best of luck to you!

Janis

Janis,
I couldn’t have said it better. Inclusion that doesn’t include pull out remediation for a child functioning this far below grade level frustrates the teacher, who feels abandoned, the parents, who want the best for their child, and most importantly the child, who does know they aren’t the same as everyone else, and wants to feel successful just like everyone else on this planet. Children know they need to read, write, and do math successfully, and children with disabilities often cannot receive the services they require in an inclusion setting. Pull-out for basic skills, and inclusion for socialization is the only way that I believe the needs of the whole child in this type of situation, can be met.

Inclusion breaks my heart, because I see it as a cost savings for schools at the expense of everyone directly involved.

keb, I think we must be twins separated at birth. We use the same methods/programs and think alike, too!

Janis