A Response to a Comment and a Response to an Article

This will be a long post, so i apologize for that now. I wanted to write this in response to a comment posted on one of my recent blogposts concerning what is happening with deaf education here in Utah. This comment illustrates the views of some who support Steve Noyce. It at least represents the views of one person who supports Steve Noyce. I will not be so naive as to think it represents every parent who chooses LSL. I have more faith in people than that. The comment can be found on my post entitled "An Open Letter to Parents of USDB Kids". Here is the comment in its entirety:
"confused said...
To the deaf community, you all should be proud of yourselves. You and you alone have destroyed the future for all deaf and hard of hearing children in the state of Utah. You and you alone have pushed education of deaf and hard of hearing children in the state of Utah back 50 years. Research what deaf education was like 50 years ago, this is what will happen to our deaf and hard of hearing children if the Utah School for the Deaf and Blind is closed down. You have taken your petty argument with Steve Noyce and ruined what language/education options that are available in the state of Utah. What will happen to the babies who are born deaf or hard of hearing when the PIP (Parent Infant Program) is gone? These babies will get services from the Health Department. Do you think the Health Department will give families a language option? Do you think they will offer ASL as a language option to families? How many of the health department workers have degrees in Deaf Education? How many referrals will JMS get from the health department? How long will JMS survive without the referrals that came from USDB PIP?
What will happen to the preschoolers who are deaf or hard of hearing when the USDB preschools are shut down? Will your local school district offer ASL and provide interpreters for your children? Our deaf or hard of hearing children will be put into resource rooms and educated with all the other children who are on IEPs. If there are no interpreters to go with ASL children to mainstream classrooms they will sit in resources.
The very group that is supposed to be offering support for the next generation of ASL/Deaf and Hard of Hearing children is making that the language options will be gone in the state of Utah. Shame on the Deaf Community/ASL advocates. You should found other ways to make changes in the deaf language options. Making the Utah Office of Education tired of listening is not the way to make changes. It is the way to get all language options taken away from our children. I hope it goes down in history that the Deaf Community itself, ruined the future of deaf children in the state of Utah. You need to wake up and really look at what you are doing. I am sure that this letter will not be posted on your site, because I know of parents that have tried to post positive letter about their services from USDB and you have not posted them.
I guess it is okay if you don’t want to listen to the warning signs of doom. Where would you be without a school for the deaf? How will you community grow when deaf and hard of hearing children are educated in resource rooms because USDB is gone?

MAY 10, 2011 5:56 PM"
I just wanted to take an opportunity to address a few things in response to this comment.
First of all, I wanted to clear something up. I am not the Deaf Education Core Group. I am not a member of the Core Group. Neither officially, nor unofficially, am I affiliated with the Core Group. They have, with my permission posted entries from my blog, as well as a link to my blog, but I am not the the Core Group, so I am afraid that the intended audience for this comment will not be reached. I do agree with the Core Group on some of their agenda, but I am not apart of it. I respect many of the members of the Core Group, but again, I am just a parent of two deaf children keeping a blog. That's it.
Secondly, I wanted to say that no one, that I know of, whether within the Core Group or out, is trying to bring down USDB. If anything, we are trying to work to make USDB better, for all of its students. No one is wanting to eliminate any choices for parents, but many are seeking unbiased support for their choice. Currently, some of us feel that while our choices are tolerated, out of legal obligations, they are not supported. Steve Noyce is a well educated, well experienced oral educator of deaf individuals. Like most administrators, any good administrator, he has an agenda, or plan for USDB. Unfortunately, I do not believe his agenda is in the best interest of all of the students at USDB. This does not mean that I feel that USDB should be dismantled or closed down. I think you will find that those who are part of the Deaf Community would fight to keep the school open.
Next, you bring up deaf education from 50 years ago. I can tell you that those for whom you intended your post will know much better than you what deaf education was like 50 years ago, 40 years, 30, 20, 10, etc. Unlike us, they lived it. They understand much better than we will the oppression they felt in the oral programs of old. Let us all work together to ensure that none of our children, ASL/English, or LSL, must go through that.
I would like to now address your point that the Deaf community should have found another way to address their concerns, than to write to the School Board. I just want to say that these continued accusations by some LSL supporters, that the Deaf community's letters to the School Board was the sole reason why they voted to possibly close the school, are beyond ridiculous. This was nothing more than political posturing by the School Board to let the legislature know there was nothing else to cut but programs to help the blind and deaf kids. I do not believe there was ever any real intent to close USDB. However, if there were reasons to close the schools, perhaps it would have more to do with the lack of representation by Steve Noyce (he was not even at the meeting where they took the vote), and the fact that there was $600 thousand shortfall in the budget last year, due in some part to poor planning by Steve Noyce. The thought was, perhaps the the school districts could provide the needed services for cheaper. We all know this is false, but the fact they believed this shows how little Steve Noyce has communicated what USDB does.
More importantly, when you mention that they should have found another way to address their concerns, what way were you thinking? They wrote to the officials that have been elected or appointed to make decisions regarding their concerns, which had to do with what is happening at USDB. They wrote letters to these officials. This is similar to writing to a member of congress when one is displeased with a law. They were following proper procedure when they did it, and beyond that, in this country, it is their right to do so. If they are concerned with an issue, then they should contact that governing body. That is what they did. I think it would be very un-American to think that they should not have done this. It was their right to do it, and I applaud anyone who would have the guts to write their leaders and let them know what they think.
As far as publishing your comment, I elected to publish it, not once, but now twice, on my blog. I have no control over what is published on the Core Group's website. I published your comment in the hopes that history will record the intolerance of the few LSL supporters who have made comments not just here, but also on any article published on the internet concerning Steve Noyce and USDB. I have been very disappointed to say the least. I have not agreed with Steve Noyce on many professional levels. I have never made any of my posts personal against him, because that is not the proper thing to do. However, it is disgusting to read some of the comments left by a few supporters of the LSL program. The unfortunate thing is that these comments drown out the more moderate, civil voices on either side.
Because this comment was directed mostly at the Utah Deaf Education Core Group, I wanted to post here a recent response written by the Core Group in response to the comments on the recent SL Trib article. This letter describes what they believe and what their issues are with Steve Noyce. This is what their stand, not necessarily mine. I will point out that they do mention a family who was excluded from an LSL play group. my understanding is that this incident was really a misunderstanding, and the ASL Families were not excluded from the play group, yet. Other than that, the information seems accurate with what I have encountered, and it also points out, again, that the Core Group absolutely supports parent choice:
In response to some of the comments that have been posted
in the responses to the article published in the Salt Lake
Tribune on Thursday, May 5, 2011
(http://clicks.aweber.com/y/ct/?l=5nlyw&m=JXKteP5tu8njdw&b=YV5cnmW60lR0yANbo6jJ1g
parents-program-deaf.html.csp), we wish to let our readers
know the following:

We are NOT fighting to get LSL removed
from the Deaf division of USDB. We respect parents' right
to choose LSL if they feel that it would work for their
children. This is NOT an ASL versus LSL battle. We have
never said that our goal was to have USD be an ASL-only
school. We only ask for fair, unbiased options for all
families and students, and for families to be able to
choose both options if they so desire.

Let it be known that in 2007, elementary teachers in the
Central Deaf Division of USDB who taught in the Total
Communication program* asked to be merged with JMS. Later,
in 2009, when Steven W. Noyce revamped Parent Infant
Program, he removed what was called the Total Communication
option (which included both sign and speech) and
restructured the program so that it offers either LSL or
ASL, which upset many parents who wanted both options. Mr.
Noyce also announced the phasing out of the USDB Total
Communication program at Churchill. The Deaf community had
no part of this change.

*The Total Communication program utilized signing and
speaking simultaneously and was ineffective for a number
of reasons, one of which is that ASL and English are two
distinct languages. Advocates of ASL/English bilingualism
support the utilization of both ASL and written/spoken
English in the instruction of deaf and hard of hearing
children, with the understanding that one or the other
language is used as appropriate and not simultaneously.
A thorough explanation of this, however, is beyond the
scope of this report.

Our first concern is for parents who WANT to learn ASL in
addition to obtaining the intensive speech therapy that's
provided to LSL parents and their children. We understand
that parents who choose the ASL/English bilingual approach
do receive oracy training, but that for some parents, oracy
is not enough. Parents who want LSL training should be
allowed to learn ASL as well if they want it.

Along these lines, let it be understood that we support
the concept of ASL/English AND LSL, rather than ASL/English
OR LSL (AND, not OR). As discussed above, PIP has been
restructured so that parents can only choose one option
or the other. We feel there should be a way parents can
choose both.

Our second concern is the apparent favoritism of one
program over the other, particularly in the Deaf division.
In one example, speech therapists have been TAKEN AWAY from
parents who had already had speech therapists from USDB
working with their children, but who then chose the
ASL/English path. Another example is the lack of a
playgroup for ASL/English children. In fact, ASL/English
parents who were attending the LSL playgroup were asked to
stop attending. A final example is the allocation of
$440,000 to the Sound Beginnings, an oral program in Logan,
without an equivalent allocation to an ASL/English program.

It has been said that the ASL/English bilingual program in
SLC is receiving funds that other programs aren't and the
playground has been listed as an example. The fact is that
funds for the playground have come from the PTA and, to
many people's surprise, the legislature - brought up by
an interested senator. USDB has NOT allocated ANY funds
towards the playground. Furthermore, the playground has
been designed to accommodate ALL disabilities, including
those with visual impairments. It has ALSO been designed
to be safe for children with cochlear implants. All
deaf/hard-of-hearing, blind, and deaf-blind children are
welcome to play on this playground once it is set up.

Likewise, the building that's occupied by students in the
ASL/English bilingual program in SLC was obtained after
years of struggle. There are 100 students in this program,
and rooms/teachers are needed for these 100 students.
Parents and teachers of LSL students tend to want their
children to be housed in local public schools so that the
kids are exposed to other hearing children, which is their
right. Parents of ASL/English students want them to be
educated together. Can we have the building for that?

As a side note, while it is true that the ASL/English
bilingual program was expanded with high school classes, a
predicted enrollment of 30 additional students to the
elementary and middle school classes for Fall 2010
mysteriously ended up being zero. It was eventually
discovered that negative information was circulating around
USDB regarding the ASL/English bilingual programs available
at USD and about sign language in general, causing parents
to NOT want to enroll their children at JMS.

Furthermore, there is actually a policy that there would
never be any separate "hard money" funding for special
education charter schools in Utah. Mr. Noyce and a few
others lobbied for this policy and it made the future
possibility of JMS to be a charter school again impossible.
This legislation made permanent, the placement of JMS under
the direction of USDB.

Our final concern is the termination of the two-year
contract for Steven W. Noyce, USDB Superintendent, due to
his 1. Favoring one program over the other programs,
2. Unwillingness to offer parents the option of choosing
BOTH LSL and ASL/English bilingualism, 3. Unbalanced
funding of USD programs, and 4. Bungling of the school's
fiscal-management.

Parents who want the ASL option aren't getting much support
here in Utah, particularly not from Mr. Noyce. We need a
superintendent who provides fair, unbiased options to all
families and students.

Finally and importantly, we, ASL parents and community have
the constitutional right to voice our concerns to the Utah
State Board of Education and it is their job to listen to
us. We feel that it is important for them to hear our
concerns in order to make effective decisions for USDB.

In addition, all of the information included in our website
can be verified by minutes from various meetings held by
the Advisory Council and other organizations. All of the
letters from parents were written by real parents who
actually went through the experiences that are recorded
in the letters. The information is real, not lies like
one of the comments to the article states.

FYI, we as a group have declined to meet with Mr. Noyce
face to face regarding these issues as we feel that such a
meeting would probably not be productive because of a long
history of his trivializing ASL/English bilingual issues.

Utah Deaf Education Core Group

Please forward this to as many people as possible. Thanks
Utah Deaf Education Core Group
Utah Deaf Education Core Group, 12268 Laurel Chase Dr, Riverton, 84065

A Plea to the Advisory Council

Dear Members of the Advisory Council,

I would like to take some time as a concerned parent to discuss what Steve Noyce has accomplished over the last year and a half as our Super Intendant. I hope this letter finds its way to you at this critical time as you are reviewing his recent 360 surveys.

In the time that Steve Noyce has been Super Intendant at USDB, he has developed our school into one of the premier state run oral programs in the nation. This can be evidenced by the fact that he has been invited to numerous events throughout the country to talk about the LSL program in our state. I believe he has one more to Delaware where he will be the keynote speaker on this subject. There is no doubt that the oral program has flourished under Steve Noyce. He has spared no expense here, by building a new therapy center in ogden for the LSL pip kids and parents to come to, as well as bringing some top professionals in the oral field, like Day Mullings, who is the director of the deaf PIP. She also has been recognized as one of the best in her field.

But what about the blind kids? To Steve Noyce's own admission, the blind kids remain in deplorable conditions in some of their classrooms. He points out that it could very well be a fire hazard to have all of their needed walkers and other mobility equipment in the halls of their little portable class room. If their conditions are so bad, why is it that the LSL kids are getting some new center in Ogden where they and their parents can come and see what life is like for them, but we have done nothing to improve things for the blind kids?

As Steve Noyce continues to promote himself and his model LSL program throughout the country, how are things going at home? Since Steve Noyce has been Super Intendant, relations between USDB and the Deaf community have never been worse. When asked about this, Steve seems to have the attitude that he doesn't really care what they think, and that his community is out to get him. He dismisses their concerns as it being none of their business because they don't have kids in the program. This wrong. There are many in the Deaf community who do have kids in USDB. In addition to that, those I have had contact with in the Deaf community are concerned because they don't want this generation to have the same struggles as they did. They understand that a quality education is the key to a successful and bright future for any child. They fight for all deaf children, because they see them as their future. It is their business, yet Steve Noyce continues to try to distance himself from them.

Since Steve Noyce has been our Super Intendant, we have seen outside attacks on USDB, the most recent being the vote by the State Board of Education to possibly close down USDB. This was fought by the community, and the notion was taken off the table, but I wonder, under what other Super Intendants has this option been presented? Under what other Super Intendants, has it ever happened that they have voted to close the school?

Since Steve Noyce has been Super Intendant, USDB has had to face a major budget shortfall. Over half a million dollars. This has affected staffing and budgets throughout the program. This was a result of a rule the State Board passed in 2009, that went retro active and charged some districts for services provided by USDB, and then by USDB not being able to collect those funds, thus creating the shortfall. If this rule was nonexistent before that time, and the school districts were not planning on being billed for their services, then why did Steve Noyce include this in the budget to begin with? Now, not only is USDB short staffed as a result, but our kids will now suffer, almost all of them will miss three days of school because of the furloughs. Not to mention how this will affect the teachers and other staff at USDB. I wonder if we had not planned on this money coming in because it never had before, would we have ended up with a surplus, that could have been used to help with new facilities for the blind kids?

Since Steve Noyce has been the Super Intendant, we have seen numerous staff changes at USDB. Many people have been laid off. This does have more to do with the current economic situation than with Steve Noyce. However, there have also been numerous members of USDB staff who have left, or who are contemplating leaving because of Steve Noyce. I believe this shows a solid track record of not working well with those who do not agree with him. I think it shows a lack of leadership and management skills.

In short, since Steve Noyce has been Super Intendant at USDB, I, as a parent, have only seen a track record of mismanagement and blunders. Other than the booming success of the LSL program, I do not see vast improvements anywhere else. Yes, JMS is in a new school, but that process was already started and finalized before Steve Noyce came in. The relations with the school board have worsened to the point that they almost closed us down, relations with the Deaf community have worsened to the point that either side cannot talk with the other. There have been numerous and large budget and money issues. This does not look to me like quality work.

Thank you for your time in reading this letter.

Sincerely

Jake Dietz

Interesting Comments from Steve Noyce

A new article is out from The Salt Lake Tribune. It can be found here: http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/home/51268716-76/deaf-language-noyce-parents.html.csp?page=1

It has some interesting comments from Steve Noyce in it. He says: “I don’t have any problem with people being an advocate for American Sign Language,” ... “I wish those who advocate for ASL wouldn’t have a problem with those who advocate for listening-and-spoken language. My role is to support very strongly both programs equally.” First of all, I think this statement clearly shows that he considers himself someone who is advocating for the LSL path. The last part is true, that his role is to support both equally, but clearly, since he wishes those who advocate for ASL did not have such a problem with those who advocate LSL (Steve Noyce), he does not strongly support both. This is all I have been asking for from the beginning, is someone who is more moderate as our superintendent. He or she should not have strong feelings one way or the other, but instead should truly support the choices for parents. Steve Noyce also says that he hopes that the two tracks will empower parents, but in reality they take that power away from parents. I can't speak for everyone, but I sure felt empowered as i was told by USDB after we chose ASL that we would no longer receive the auditory and speech therapy Eliza needed. I felt even more empowered as I heard from USDB employees that because we had chosen ASL for our daughter, she would not be considered a candidate for a cochlear implant. You're right, Noyce, this two track system is very empowering. What was the most empowering was how I sent emails to Noyce and Day Mullings, and got no responses. Made me feel like king of the world. Let's be honest, if you are choosing LSL, the new two track system is very empowering, but if you want a bilingual, bicultural approach, the new system is anything but empowering. I support any plan where all parents are truly empowered.

According to part C of IDEA (Individuals with Disabilities Education Act), which governs early intervention, it discusses the Individualized Family Service Plan. This is where, at the beginning, the family meets with USDB, in this case, and sets up services based on what is available, based on the needs and concerns of the family. This means it should vary from individual to individual, and should not be a choice of two predetermined paths. That is not individualized at all. I felt like this was closer to what we had when Johnny and Eliza were first identified, but then last year I had to pick from two different paths for Eliza, neither of which I felt met her individual needs. We were assured by Day Mullings in a town hall meeting that it was the ASL/ENGLISH path. What we were not told was that if we picked it, the English part does not start at all until pre-school. So, after a year of listening and auditory therapy, our daughter had no services for listening or spoken English. She would end up having a break from this for almost 18 months, meaning she would probably regress in her oral skills, and she would have to make up even more ground when she started pre-school. Which brings up an interesting point. Steve Noyce mentioned that teachers in PIP are trained in oracy, just like in the pre-school and k-12 programs. I can tell you that our ASL specialist is very good about having an "ASL" day and a "talking" day, but this does not compare to the therapy that is available to Johnny at JMS. The same therapy that was available to Eliza, but is not now. The oracy available at JMS is amazing, but it is absolutely not available to children in PIP. In fact, like us, other parents we have talked to have informed us that they have been told they shouldn't pick the ASL path if they are considering cochlear implantation for their kids. Like us, they have been told that oral and auditory services are not available through JMS at all. So while Steve Noyce is saying in the newspaper that "oracy" is available in the infant program, as well as the k-12 program, his employees are telling parents the opposite. Our experience has shown that speech and listening services are in fact not available to ASL kids in PIP, and the oracy that is available at JMS has more to do with Jill Radford than Steve Noyce.

I am happy that there is a new orientation program for PIP. My wife sat on the committee which designed this orientation process. I was shocked, however, to read that this was established by Steve Noyce, and that he also was the one who made sure there were two representatives, one ASL and one LSL. I guess it was shocking to me because this was suggested in the committee meetings over and over to ensure the parents would receive unbiased information. However, Day Mullings made sure to mention that Superintendent Noyce would not allow there to be two, it would only be one, and all of her suggestions were LSL- either specialists or deaf adults who were LSL. I remember being frustrated along with my wife because after the committee meetings were over, this was how it was going to be: One orientation specialist, LSL. Then we met with Jennifer Howell, who was at the time the associate superintendent. She informed us that she had finally gotten it approved for two deaf adults, one ASL and one LSL. I fail to see how Steve Noyce set up that program the way it is now, when he wanted it to be one specialist who was LSL.

The stats in the article were also interesting. They mention that 74% of infants in PIP are in the LSL path and 15 % are in the ASL path, while 10% are undecided. I would love to talk to some of these parents that have chosen the oral path, just to find out what they would have chosen if there had been a true bilingual/bicultural path available. I am not questioning the validity of their choice, but I wonder how many of them chose oral because they were told if they chose ASL they would not receive any of the oral services. Like all parents of children who are deaf or hard of hearing, I yearn to communicate with my child, like any parent really. It would be hard if someone told me that if I chose the ASL path, I would not be able to communicate with my child, that they would never learn to speak or listen, I would be cut off from them. If I was told this, and was told that the only way they could get any of these services was to pick the LSL path, and I only had three months to choose, I would have picked the LSL path. We were lucky because we had more time, and we were able to get to know our kids first. We also knew that JMS was not "voice-off" all the time, so we felt like we would be ok choosing ASL for our daughter. I wonder if other parents would have chosen bilingual/bicultural if that option were there, if they had an option other than just ASL or just LSL.

My mother read the article. She called me right away, and being someone not as familiar with everything, she said she got the impression that the LSL path was just amazing, that these cochlear implants were amazing, and if she didn't know better, Steve Noyce was great for really pushing this LSL. In other words, she felt he was doing a really good job campaigning for LSL. Sure sounds like someone who strongly supports both sides equally.

Letter to Parents of USDB Kids

Dear Parents,

I am writing this letter and posting it on my blog to explain why it would be in the best interest of every parent and every student of USDB to have a new superintendent at the Utah Schools for the Deaf and the Blind. I hope, as you read this, you will do so objectively. I will try to keep my biases out of it, and will attempt to give objective reasons why I am concerned about the current superintendent.

Recently, the Utah State Board of Education voted on possibly cutting the USDB budget and closing down the schools, if $20 million dollars needed to be cut. This vote happened on February 4, 2011. On Monday, February 7, 2011, the Advisory Council for USDB held an emergency meeting to discuss the vote by USBE. At this meeting, it was reported by numerous sources that part of what caused the vote by USBE was all the infighting going on within USD. It appears this was only a small part of why the USBE voted the way they did.

According to other sources who are close to USBE, the main reason that the School Board voted the way they did was because they were trying to send a message to the state legislature and governor's office: there is nothing left to cut! Education is down to its bare bones already, and if you want more cuts, then fine, let's cut the one thing that will get the most attention: Schools for deaf and blind kids. Unfortunately, this backfired, and the USBE ended up looking like the bad guys.

There was another reason why USBE was willing to cut the funding to USDB. This reason was alluded to by the Superintendent himself. He mentioned in the meeting with the advisory council that in the few times he had appeared in front of the State Board of Education, he did a poor job educating them on what services USDB provides. This same issue became apparent in the PubEd Appropriations Sub-committee meeting that happened on February 8, 2011. In this meeting, Dr. Schumway, State Superintendent of Schools, deferred to a finance expert from USBE when asked about the possible cuts. This expert said that the reason why USBE saw this cut as a possibility was that most of the services provided by USDB were in fact provided by the school districts anyway, so there was no real need for a separate entity. Mr. Noyce informed the sub-committee that this was not true, that most of the services were provided by USDB through the school districts, but not by the school districts. Sources close to the USBE confirmed that what was shared by Steve Noyce in the sub-committee meeting was news to the Board of Education. They had no idea how USDB operated or what services they provided. By Steve Noyce's own admission, he has done a poor job informing them of this.

This is my first reason for having little to no confidence in Steve Noyce's ability to do the job. He does not know how to work with the State Board of Education. In the 18 months or so that he has been in his position, the communication between the State Board of Education and The Utah Schools for the Deaf and the Blind has broken down so much, that the State Board has no idea what is happening at USDB. This concerns me as a parent. How can our school get the funding and support they need, if the State Board does not know what they need it for? Steve Noyce should be our voice with the State Board, and he has obviously failed us there. Our superintendent should be there at every meeting making sure he is fighting for us all the time. Instead, Mr. Noyce was not at the USBE meeting because USDB was not on the agenda. As a result, a vote was taken where the door was opened for the end of USDB.

The second reason I have no confidence in Mr. Noyce has been his inconsistency. He has said from the beginning that he absolutely supports parent choice. I agree 100 % with this idea. I positively believe that the people best able to choose the communication path for their child are the parents. No one knows their child better than they do. Mr. Noyce would say publicly that he agrees with that. He has told me that privately. Normally, I would take him at his word. However, his actions speak louder. He believes in parent choice, as long as they choose one of two paths he has set up. He believes in a "one size fits all" kind of philosophy. Every deaf or hard of hearing child fits completely in one of two categories: LSL (Listening/ Spoken Language) or ASL. That's it. There is no in between. Despite what has been said concerning it being the "ASL/English" path, there is no true bilingual option within USDB right now. This is an option that many parents want, but cannot have. My wife spoke with a mother who was frustrated because she chose the ASL path for her child, which has caused problems because she also wants a cochlear implant for her child. She was wanting him to learn both ASL and spoken English. This is not an option within USDB. In fact, Steve Noyce has worked very hard to ensure that the LSL kids are completely separate from the ASL kids. If Mr. Noyce truly believed in Parent Choice, there would be a bilingual option. To make this clear, bilingual is different from TC or SimComm. Bilingual would mean the child would become fluent in two different languages, in this case ASl and spoken English. We need a superintendent who truly believes that each child is different and the services each child receives from USDB should be catered to that individual child's needs, instead of forcing each child down one of two paths. Mr. Noyce does not believe in parent choice, but he says he does. What else has he said, that is not true?

One of the comments made in the advisory council concerning the ASL/Deaf Community was that they needed to know the proper channels to file complaints. They needed to know that a complaint should be filed with the teacher, then the principal, then the superintendent, then the advisory council, before anything should be sent to the school board. This is my third issue with Mr. Noyce. I have voiced my concerns to him in emails. I never received a response. I asked him about an email I sent to him one time, and his response made me believe that he rarely checks his emails. In any case, I never received a response. It was at that point that I sent an email to a member of the schools board. People know the proper channels to go through, but Mr. Noyce chooses to ignore that part of the population which does not 100% agree with him. Then when they complain higher, he gets upset and defensive. He calls them nasty, mean emails, and he calls the people who wrote them fanatics. He is not looking to work with people he disagrees with, instead he goes to work slandering them and tries to drag their names through the mud. In my opinion, we need a superintendent who is willing to work with every part of the diverse population USDB serves. We need someone who is willing to see both sides of an issue instead of blindly calling the other side bad and nasty. We need someone who is more moderate. Steve Noyce has never made an effort to reach out to the Deaf community. He has ignored them from the beginning, and as they voice their concerns, he ignores them.

These are my main concerns with Steve Noyce. These are the reasons I would like to see a change at USDB. He does not represent our kids well at the State level, according to his own admission. He says one thing, but then does another, eliminating my right as a parent to choose what is best for my kids. He makes no effort to reach out and work with the Deaf community, the adults who have been through the education system and only want to make it better for every deaf or hard of hearing child. These three things are unbecoming of any person who would hold the title Superintendent, and we as parents should not stand for it. Whether your child is LSL or ASL, he does not have the children's interests at heart, but rather, as it seems, his own agenda.

I am not a "fanatic". I am a hearing individual. My first contact with the Deaf Community happened about two years ago after we found out our son is deaf. My wife is also hearing. We are hearing parents of two deaf children. We only want the best for them. We feel that anyone who steps in as superintendent and goes to work eliminating options and choices for any parents is in the wrong. Our son, Johnny, uses ASL as his primary form of communication. He also has a cochlear implant. Fortunately for us, he has access to both ASL and spoken English at JMS, but the access to spoken English for him at this point is limited. He is luckier than our daughter. She wears hearing aids and has shown great interest in both signing and vocalizing. She was excelling at both through USDB services until last summer when we were forced to choose one or the other. We chose ASL. Immediately, any oral or auditory services we were receiving ceased. We fought this, all the way up to Martell Menlove, but nothing changed. We were fortunate to find some form speech therapy outside of USDB through DDI Advantage. However, her speech therapist does not specialize in working with kids who have hearing loss, like a USDB therapist would be. She will have access to these therapists at JMS, when she turns three. That would have meant a year without any kind of therapy for her. These are the "choices" Steve Noyce believes in. That is why I do not believe in him.

Sincerely,

Jake Dietz

USDB: In Memoriam?

The Utah State Board of Education voted on a measure this last Friday that could possibly put USDB out of business, meaning closing the place down. Of course this is all based on a required base budget going into the legislative session, and chances are there will be enough funding to keep USDB going. For now, however, USDB is on the chopping block. I have spent a lot of time this last weekend and the last couple of days reading about what happened and writing to my local legislators to make sure this does not go any further. I have also attended an emergency meeting of the Utah Schools for the Deaf and the Blind Advisory Council, as well as this morning I attended a meeting of the PubEd Appropriations SubCommitte, where USDB funding was on the agenda. The good news is that it sounds like very few of the legislators want to cut any funding to USDB. The bad news is that I am hearing a lot of reports about why this happened. One keeps being brought to the front of the conversation. It has to do with all the infighting. This comes up again and again. The story says that Utah State Board of Education recently received numerous emails concerning the current Superintendent at USDB. According to sources who have neither seen nor read said emails, these were very nasty emails, and very rude. According to sources who have spoken to a majority of the School Board members, the School Board is fed up with USDB, and doesn't want to deal with them. All of that may be true. These same sources are now using every opportunity to point out that this whole situation is the ASL community's fault, because they sent the letters, and according to this source, all they do is complain. This is all done under the flag of unity. It's disappointing. Now is not the time for us to let extremists from either side have the floor. The state is threatening to take away our school completely. Now is the time for us to truly stand united, find a moderate voice, and use it. Let the state legislators know about all of the good things that have come from your experiences with USDB, whether your child is blind or deaf, whether the speak or sign, it does not matter. The bickering and fighting must end now! I understand that later there might be battles, but right now we must come together and stand for the School, not against each other. No school program is perfect, and parents and other concerned individuals should always have the right to make recommendations for how to make it better. Sometimes, though, we need to put that on pause, stop pointing fingers and be one school, one community, or we may lose it all.
I am so thankful for USDB. The programs we have been a part of have made our lives so much better. My son Johnny would not be where he is today without USDB. He has found a piece of his identity there. He has found friends there. He loves it. Likewise, Eliza has grown so much through her experiences at USDB. She is so smart for her age. Most importantly, through USDB we discovered a new way to connect with our kids. These are the positive affects USDB has had on my life. They have done it through programs like the Parent Infant program, where we have had a USDB employee in our home every week since it was discovered our children were deaf. Our PIP advisor, Mindi Allen has been an anchor for us through a lot of stormy weather. She has helped us through a lot. Our kids have also received speech therapy through USDB, from Carrie and Paige, both have been awesome. It is these kind of services that the school districts will be unprepared, and possibly unable to provide. I hope we will take this opportunity to write to the school board here in Utah, to write to the legislature here in Utah and let them know how much good comes from USDB. I hope we will spend our time doing that, instead of going on the internet and writing about how bad the other side is.

2 Years

Reaching this time of year, I began to think back to two years ago as we were in the middle of having our whole lives change all around us. In September of 2008, our beautiful daughter, Eliza, was born. While in the hospital, we found out she failed her newborn hearing screening, and we were totally shocked. This led to questions about Johnny, who was almost two and not saying a word. By December of that same year it was confirmed that both Johnny and Eliza had progressive, permanent hearing loss due to enlarged vestibular aqueducts. I remember how strange it all felt at the time, and how lost we felt as parents. We never imagined having to deal with such a tragedy!
Two years later, having two deaf kids is just the norm. We have since had a third child, who is hearing. Now that's strange for us. I remember feeling heartbroken for my kids, thinking about all the things they would miss out on. Now, I look at my kids and am amazed at how wonderful they are. I don't think they miss out on anything.
It's been a crazy journey for us. When the possibility first arose that our kids might be deaf or hard of hearing, we started learning a few signs, and teaching them to Johnny. We looked at ASL as a way to temporarily communicate with him until he got hearing aids or a cochlear implant. We were sold on the ideas from doctors that despite being deaf, our kids could still have a normal happy life. We continued to use sign with Johnny as we waited four months while he tried the hearing aids before he could get a cochlear implant (this was shortened from six). Then we took him in to have the procedure done. He was so tough and handled it all so well. After a month, we went in for the magical day called " Hearing Birthday" (we don't remember the exact date anymore), when they activated the processor and our son would hear for the first time. A funny thing happened. He heard, and he didn't really seem to care one or the other. He was still the same old Johnny. We worked with him on his speech and listening skills, went in regularly to get his mapping done, and went at least once a week to therapy. Johnny continued to be Johnny, and continued not talking. Our parents kept waiting and wondering when he was going to start saying his first words, but they never really came. However, he was soaking up new signs like a sponge. His whole world was open to him now, in a way he could understand, and a way he loved. A funny thing happened as we went to pre-schools, trying to decide which was right for him. He sat in the oral pre-school and just stared as the teacher spoke to the other kids. He then got up and went over to the toys and decided he was done with that class. We took him to the TC class (no longer offered), the class we were leaning toward, and it was similar to the oral class. Then we took him to the signing class. He came alive. I remember they were learning about apples. The teacher read a book about apples, then they went over to a table where they had some apple peelers and peeled some apples. Johnny was totally engaged. We stayed in that class for over an hour. I think it was then that we realized, as much as we thought we were making a decision for the rest of Johnny's life, he had already made it for us. He had already chosen the visual path for himself. He still loves his school. He comes home everyday ready to go back.
Eliza has been a different experience. She signs. Last time Erica counted, she uses over 200 signs. Not bad for a 2 year old. But she also says a few words,and responds to sound. Her hearing hasn't dropped as much as Johnny's yet, so her hearing aids still do quite a bit of good. I think, as Eliza continues to grow in both the hearing world and the deaf world, she will continue to grow in both languages. She is a talker, and she will talk in any language to anyone who will listen. She wakes up in the morning, and the first thing she does is bring us her hearing aids and wants them in. Totally different from Johnny. But just as great and wonderful.
I suppose having two deaf kids in our family has been a huge blessing for us. One thing that we have learned is to value that everyone is different. What works for our son may not work for our daughter, let alone someone else's child. The other thing that we have learned, probably in conjunction with the first thing, is that the child really does know sometimes what they want, and how important it is to follow their lead. We thought we knew what we wanted for Johnny, but he showed us what he wanted. I am grateful for my wife, who was smart enough to be paying attention.
I remember two years ago venturing out into the Deaf community. It was scary. My wife went to the first few activities without me. She was nervous. I was nervous the first time I went. We had heard from the medical professionals about how closed off the Deaf community was. How if we chose signing, our kids would grow up in a different world from us, and we would never be close. I am so grateful that despite these warnings we did venture out into the Deaf world. Some of the best people I know, I met at these activities. Meeting some of these people gave us the courage to follow Johnny's lead, to know that if he did choose ASL as his primary language, he would turn out just fine. He could still be normal.
Where does this leave us now? We are not giving up on Johnny's CI. We have an appointment set up for a different audiologist next week. This has been something we have been considering lately, something we have not been opposed to, but something we needed to decide on our own. I think we view his CI, and maybe CI's in general, not as a cure, but a tool for communication. I think that for Johnny, learning spoken english will still be an important skill for him, but ASL will always be his primary, first language. I think Eliza will have a little easier time with spoken english, but ASL will still be her primary language. I think their signing has become a part of who they are. They have made it part of their identity.
More importantly, I am looking forward to the next two years, and the two years after that and so on, and for all the surprises that will come our way.

Response to a Blog Post

I recently read a blog post written by a blogger in my local community. In this post, she was posing a question about a girl she knew of with a CI who started attending a "voice off" signing school program when she was three. This girl was 18 months old when she was implanted, and primarily signs at home. According to this blogger, she knows 75-100 kids who have CI's, and in her "expert" opinion, this girl was the only implanted at a young age who cannot understand spoken language. So she poses the question: Does she primarily sign because she cannot understand spoken language, or does she not understand spoken language because she primarily signs? Reading the post,and the comments afterword, it was clear that she felt it was the latter. I read that post last night. Shortly after that, she read my wife's post, "life Doesn't Get Much Better Than This" (link can be found on my blog). In her comment she mentioned that my son, and this one girl are the only children she knew of who were implanted who could not understand spoken language, and then again pointed out our short comings as parents because we will not go up to Logan for our mapping. She then said that every child should respond well to a CI unless they have some other disability. Well I want to clear a few things up for her, and anyone else who might be interested.
The first thing I want to clear up is that neither of my children have a disability or multiple disabilities that would prevent them from learning spoken language. Being deaf is not a disability. They can do anything that anyone else can do, and I won't let anyone say they are handicapped or disabled, including such a fine expert as this blogger obviously is.
Another thing I want to clear up is her point about knowing 75-100 CI kids. I believe this to be true. I would be curious to know how she knows these kids though. My guess would be that she has met many of them from her AG Bell meetings or the likes. Most of the kids whose parents are involved in AG Bell meetings would most likely be primarily Auditory/Oral kids. It just stands to reason. I wonder how many kids with CI's she doesn't know who primarily sign, and she doesn't know them because chances are, they and their parents don't go to the AG Bell meetings (I personally have never been to one). It would stand to reason then, that the only kids with CIs that she would know would understand spoken language very well.
Also in her post, she mentions that the school this girl goes to does not have any auditory or speech therapy. That the classrooms are completely voice off. I have to call this bluff. There is a giant hole in this story. A hole the size of Texas. Simply put: It is not true! My son goes to the same school, and he receives therapy everyday, from a qualified therapist. They are in the process of even having an audiologist qualified in mapping CIs at the school. It doesn't sound to me like the "voice off", anti-speaking environment that this blogger was portraying it as. I can say, having had occassion to sit in meetings with the principal of this school, she is dedicated to showing that JMS is completely capable of providing any and every service for any and every deaf child in Utah. So while this blogger will attempt to paint a different picture, I can tell in my experience, her picture is a fantasy and nowhere near the reality.
Finally, to add my two cents about the "discussion" she was trying to start, just because a child prefers signing over oral and auditory communication, does not mean that they are in any way inferior to the children who prefer auditory and oral communication. I don't care what the reason is why my son prefers signing over oral communication. It doesn't matter to me. I don't think anyone has the right to examine the choices I have made concerning my children, and decide if they are right or wrong. The right to raise my children is my own sacred right, and I believe it is everyone's. I may not feel this bloggers choices are right for my children, but I would certainly never tell her her choices were wrong for her. I know, because I've chosen ASL for my kids (they chose it, actually) that makes me an extremist, but in reality, the only thing I am extreme is allowing each parent to make those choices for their own kids. No one knows their kids better, so who is better qualified than them?
I love my son. I love who he is, and his language is part of who he is. I am so proud of him. He is unbelievably smart and perceptive. I wouldn't change a single thing about him. I know it may be hard for some people to understand, but I believe my son prefers to be Deaf. I remember one time, we were trying to get him to wear his processor, and he told us no. He told us, "I'm deaf. I don't hear." I am so proud of my son and who he is, because who he is is amazing. He is totally capable of learning spoken language, but he loves his sign language. It is a part of who he is. I know, this blogger might respond that no one is saying that I should take that away from him, that her daughter does both. And that is all true. I only say it, so that when I say that it's not an issue of mapping or which audiologist we go to, that it is an issue of his choice and his preference, that when I say that, it might somehow make sense to her, and she can lay off us. I am glad she has found a good path for her daughter. Can she say she is glad we found a good path for our son and our daughter? Or is she still bugged because it is different than the path she chose. Isn't that what an extremist does? Try to push their beliefs and experiences and opinions on others?
For the girl in the original story, does it matter which caused which? Isn't the most important thing that she is happy, that she has a language and friends and peers? Or does that only count when that language is spoken English, and those friends and peers are hearing children from the mainstream school? Is happiness only found when kids go to the neighborhood schools, or can they be happy going to a deaf school with their deaf peers? Can hearing parents only really have a meaningful relationship with their deaf child when their deaf child can hear and speak just like them? Or is it possible that those hearing parents could become proficient in a new language and a new culture, and have just as meaningful relationship? I guess, again what I am saying is, does it really matter, or is the only path to raising a successful deaf child the one that this blogger chose for her daughter?