We returned home on Friday night after 3 weeks at JTC in Los Angeles. The experience there was so phenomenal that it is difficult to summarize, but I’ll try. Basically, the summer session is an intensive parent-centered program whose goal is to empower you (the parent) to understand your child’s deafness and development and equip you to parent, teach, advocate for, and otherwise make decisions related to the child’s growth, development, and education.
The program included the following topics:
- Speech Acoustics and speech development (phonetic and phonologic)
- Auditory Learning
- Anatomy and Physiology of the Ear
- Cognitive Development
- Language Development (Expressive and Receptive)
- Interpreting Audiograms
- Hearing Aids and Cochlear Implants (including troubleshooting)
- Medical issues of hearing loss
- Communication approaches
- US Laws and IEP’s
- Mainstreaming
- Child Development
- Behavior Management
- Books and Literacy Development
Adelina participated in the preschool program and loved it. She made good friends with the other children as well as the teachers and assistants. She worked daily with a Speech and Language Teacher (SLT) and also met with two separate audiologists over the three week period. Parents were provided many opportunities to observe the educational environment, including the time with the SLT, and we met frequently with the SLT and touched base almost daily with the Classroom teachers. The communication modality at JTC is exclusively oral though most of the teachers can understand ASL and will respond to the child’s expressive communication by acknowledging it, giving it back in English, and encouraging the child to use spoken language. This was very effective with Adelina, as her hearing (with her devices) is so good, and she is strongly motivated to learn speech. She still signs quite a bit because it is easier and more comfortable, but her goal is to talk, so we are doing what we can to assist her towards that goal. She is now talking in short, simple sentences and her speech is improving to the point where we can even understand what she is trying to say. For awhile we were dependent on her giving us the signs, which she was often reluctant to do, but now we can usually figure out her message because she is including more words. Frustration levels from all sides have dropped significantly!! (woohoo Praise God!)
Another aspect of the Summer Session is the support system they set up. Some of this is direct and some is indirect. Directly it is facilitated by support group meetings where parents meet with each other regularly to discuss the challenges and difficulties unique to parenting a deaf preschooler. Indirectly we developed support just by living together. We were all on a single floor of a university dorm apartment building. In the beginning, most families kept to the themselves, but by the end, our kids moved freely between apartments and the parents often did the same. Families often went on outings together for sight-seeing or walks to the ice cream store. For me this was a huge part of the benefit of JTC because I was able to learn so much by observing these parents - all of whom have more parenting experience than I have with my short parentage of just 8 months! I came home with a much better feel for what a 5 year old should and shouldn’t be able to do and what is appropriate play for her. It was also just a wonderfully bonding time for Adelina and I.
Was it successful? Yes! I really do feel better equipped now to parent Adelina and make informed decisions regarding her education, therapies, goals, and much more. I learned that I am her primary language teacher, and now I know how to BE her language teacher, at least I know how to get started, and I know where to look for further guidance and support. Honestly, if anyone is considering JTC for their family for some time in the future, I strongly encourage you to give it a try. It provides a foundation that you can build on for a lifetime.
