We homeschool. Why? Well...you'll see reason why below. However we have had our share of public school run-ins. I was a mainstreamed hard of hearing person (before the days of ADA and IDEA laws- yeah I'm old), my husband was mainstreamed with 1 year of homeschool mixed in, and now all of our kids are homeschooled but have had done drive-in services with the public school system in the past for a few years. Plus when I worked for the state of Texas as a Regional Specialist, I got the hmm *joy* of attending IEP meetings with parents of Deaf/Hard of Hearing children in that aspect.
So background- what is an IEP? Individual Education Plan or sometimes goes along with a IFSP- Individualized Family Service Plan is a long paper basically written as a contract between you (or your family) and the school system or organization working with your child (see a comparison between IEPs and IFSP here). It's based on IDEA (Individuals with Disabilities Education Act) requirements that "(1) the right to a free appropriate public education, and (2) the right to that education in the least restrictive environment and more.
Now that's where things get tricky. Who defines what is "appropriate public education"? Who decides what is the "least restrictive environment"? Sometimes LRE (Least Restrictive Environment) is interpreted as an environment where the deaf/hard of hearing student is with as many "non-disabled" peers as possible (in other words a hearing class). And sometimes LRE is interpreted as being with as many "similar" peers as possible (deaf class).
And as if that wasn't confusing alone, every school in every district (even in the same town) can have conflicting views about what is an "appropriate public education". And who gets to decide what is best for your child? Well let me tell you right off- it ISN'T usually you the parents.
Some places (like where I worked as an advocate in small-town TX) the school officials can be pretty nice. But the negatives are stacked against them (mostly in the form of lack of money= $0000.... So the school often can't afford a qualified interpreter, hearing aids, assistive devices, hiring a Deaf Ed Teacher, assistants, whatever your child may actually require for an "appropriate public education" whether its required by law or not.
Some places (like big city I live in now) can be pretty idiotic. Money might be a small issue but reality is the officials are just plain dumb. They are run by a chairperson who knows nothing about Deafness, they insist that the parents have NO say so in their child's IEP. (can anyone say hello lawsuit?). They love to intimidate and harass the parents of Deaf/Hard of Hearing children to promote their own desire of power. (Oy- breathing in and out)....
So what can YOU as a parent do? First off- Arm yourself. Learn the laws that the public school is bound by. Read IDEA. Read No Child Left Behind. Read ADA. These laws are there for YOU. Yes they are long and boring and make great bed-time material- but read them anyway.
Two- find a group of local moms with children with disabilities (since these laws apply across the disability spectrum) and start up a think tank group. Discuss the laws and how they apply to each family.
Third- fight fight and fight some more for your rights as parents. Your child will be in public school for roughly 18 years. That's a long time. So get ready to stand strong and not back down from what you believe your child needs.
And last- keep in mind- you don't have to public school! Oh yeah I had to put that out there :) Because the public school system sucks in more than one way and yes Homeschooling is great! There's also a whole lot of other options in between public and homeschool so look into your options. Life in this regard is not black and white.
Next week on Testimonial Tuesdays I will actually look more closely at homeschooling Deaf kids. So I know you'll want to stick around!
Also if you have questions about anything I write or forget to add- ASK! I love answering questions and sometimes I'm a dope and forget to talk about the most obvious things. Leave a comment or send me an email anytime! Deaf.FiningLife@gmail.com
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