Wednesday, March 29, 2000
Deaf tots learn to sign and speak
BY ANDREA TORTORA
The Cincinnati Enquirer
VILLA HILLS — The simple phrases formed by the hands of preschoolers are what excite teaching specialist Jonda McDonald.
As Brittany Gemmer, 3, rubbed her hand in a circular motion on her stomach and pointed to a container of clay, Mrs. McDonald watched and waited.
Then Brittany said, “Please open.”
“Did you see that?” Mrs. McDonald asked. “That's without her hearing aides in.”
The two words are certainly simple ones, but for Brittany and her preschool classmates at River Ridge Elementary, speaking is more than sounds. It is also motion.
These students are deaf and hearing impaired. They are learning sign language and spoken words with the help of Mrs. McDonald and their hearing aides.
Now, thanks to a $2,400 donation from the Northern Kentucky Hearing Aid Bank, students will have more opportunities to improve speaking skills.
Directors of the regional Kentucky School for the Deaf plan to use the money to buy a speech therapy computer and programs, said Christie Bailey, program coordinator.
The equipment will help students learn to control their breath and sounds as they learn to form words.
Many of the students now speak more fluently with their hands than their voices. Their lack of hearing makes it harder for them to learn speech.
Barb Stewart, a volunteer with the Hearing Aid Bank, said the bank is disbanding and wanted to put its resources to good use. The bank once provided free hearing aides to the elderly. Other agencies now offer that service.
“We were so excited when we found there was a regional program right here,” said Mrs. Stewart, who is a hearing aide specialist. “Most people think their sight would be the worst thing to lose, but really it's hearing. Think about no conversations, no music. Without hearing you lose your connections with people.”
Northern Kentucky's deaf education program is a partnership among several school districts and the Kentucky School for the Deaf in Danville. It opened in November 1998 with three students and now serves 23 in preschool, kindergarten and first grade.
There are plans to expand classes to include children through fifth grade.
Before the program started, most deaf students had to attend classes in Danville or at the St. Rita School for the Deaf in Evendale.
The Northern Kentucky program also helps families of hearing-impaired children from birth. Mrs. McDonald and Mrs. Bailey have identified 70 Northern Kentucky children, from 9-months-old to the fifth grade, who live with some form of hearing loss.
At River Ridge, students are learning a combination of Sign English, signs used at the same time as spoken words, and American Sign Language, a version of hand signs used as concepts and not individual words.
American Sign Language is not meant to be spoken. If it were, it would sound like broken English. It is a silent language, Mrs. Bailey said.
Things are not silent inside Mrs. McDonald's classroom. Building blocks fall with a thud. Doors slam. Students giggle when Mrs. McDonalds asks if they want candy.
They can pick the piece of their choice, but only if they say — and sign — “please” first.
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